‘Power Book II: Ghost’ Recap – ‘Forced My Hand’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 207 of ‘Power Book II: Ghost’. To revisit Episode 206, ‘What’s Free?’, click here.
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Over the course of the past few months, we’ve talked at length about how the STARZ series, Power Book II: Ghost, does a phenomenal job of teaching us a moral lesson while immoral moments play out on the screen. A feat that this series accomplishes by plunging us into an imperfect world where imperfect people play by rules few of us understand, and that has led to some compelling and powerful television. The kind that features stunning moments and surprises and dynamic characters that we cannot get enough of. In fact, the people that populate this broken world, are so engaging and powerful… that everyday moments for them are sometimes enough to carry this show from beginning to end, as evidenced by the next chapter in this fascinating saga.
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For ‘Forced My Hand’ was a story devoid of moral lessons, so it could indeed focus on the characters and their struggles at the moment and that really did lead to one compelling tale. One that genuinely sucked us in with some engaging dramatic journeys… such as Carrie’s, for instance. Because in this particular tale, the secret about her affair with Zeke finally got out to the student population at Stansfield, prompting all kinds of scrutiny to surround her. To the point where Carrie’s demands to give the eulogy at Jabari’s memorial on campus… ended in outright disaster. Since whispers about what happened between her and Zeke dominated the night, as did disdain from Lauren. Forcing Carrie to leave the event in shame and ponder upon the nature and the power of karma.

While Carrie dealt with that long-awaited blast from karma however, Monet was dealing with new challenges in her life. Because despite having a plan in place to get hers without Lorenzo knowing, his desire to reassert control over his family and his future, put a kink in said plan. Because Lorenzo was all about teaching the family business to Dru, to the point where he is clearly corrupting his son in a manner that Monet wanted to protect him from and to top it all off, he got his meeting with Mecca/Dante and in doing so, was able to gain full control over Mecca’s product. Cutting off Monet’s plans for the future and leaving her and Cane in a lost place at the moment. Plus, to complicate matters further, Mecca took the time to introduce himself to Zeke and of course, spill the beans about his lineage. Forcing Monet to double down on the lie and well, in the end… her journey in this tale was pure chaos. 

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But the fact that Monet will undoubtedly take this downtime in the shadows to ponder upon her next moves, added a sense of comfort to her chaotic journey and allowed for it to pale in comparison to Tariq’s. Because that young man was consumed by a desperate need for control and rightfully so. Because the trial date was closing in and there seemed to be no escaping it. Plus, his revenue stream was now cut off thanks to Lorenzo’s power play and that motivated Tariq to take some extreme actions in this tale. Such as betraying Brayden by revealing to Councilman Tate that Brayden’s pop, Robert, was featured in a controversial photograph in one of the family’s photo albums. One that featured Sweeney in blackface as O.J. Simpson, playfully murdering Robert… who was distastefully dressed as Nicole Simpson in the photo as well.
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A move that will undoubtedly cause all kinds of trouble for the family and reopen the wounds that Brayden and Tariq worked to heal in the last episode. But what truly left the audience worried and nervous for Tariq’s future, were his somewhat arrogant decisions regarding said trial. Because everyone on his legal team, including a resurgent Tameika, made it clear that without some kind of incredible, game-changing testimony, such as say his sister giving him an alibi, or Paula for that matter as well, there was no hope of him winning this case. For all signs pointed to him being the gun behind a double homicide. But none of that mattered to Tariq. Because he firmly believed in his soul, that he could figure his way out of this mess… just like his father used to and that prompted him to stand firm and keep his sister out of the courtroom in the belief that something will come along to save him at the last possible second.

As to whether or not that will be the case, time will tell. But while we wait to see how Tariq schemes his way out of this one and how everyone else deals with the hands they were dealt here, we can revel in one engaging tale. One that quite frankly, was indeed transitional in nature, since it is obvious that most of these moments were designed to set up the home stretch of season two. But since the characters here are so dynamic and so intriguing, you really don’t think about that until later. Because in the moment, you’re sucked into this tale through and through and you’re hanging on every word and moment and that just speaks to the wonder of this series, and now that the setup for the final three episodes is complete… the story will undoubtedly ramp up from here as Monet and Tariq work to secure a future of their own choosing. Until next time.  

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