Source: Courtesy / Starz
On last week’s episode Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) and Brayden (Gianni Paolo) came up with the genius ‘No Cap, All Frap’ coffee business idea. At the beginning of this week’s episode which is titled ‘The Land Of Opportunity,’ we see that business is definitely booming. Effie (Alix Lapri) is running the day-to-day while the boys continue to handle their business on Wall St. At the same time that half of the organization is seemingly living good, the other half is working on getting there. Lorenzo (Berto Colon), Cane (Woody McClain) and Dru (Lovell-Adams Gray) surprise Monet (Mary J. Blige) with a mural of Zeke outside of the family bar. Shortly after, Diana (LaToya Tonodeo) shows up. Before the family can truly bask in the moment, they are interrupted by Detective Whitman (Jeff Hephner), who begins to once again badger Monet about the deaths of Carrie Milgram and Dante Spears. Despite everything going on, Obi (Kyle Vincent Terry) decides to up the ante one more time. When the gang arrived at the warehouse, they were in for a big surprise. Speaking of arriving, we have to shout out Tariq! Our boy finally has a car, a blue Porsche at that. The conversation Effie and Cane had before entering the warehouse is noteworthy too. Cane reveals that he knows that Effie was the one who actually took Lauren out (so they think). He threatens to tell Tariq but Effie pleads with him to let her do it herself when the time is right considering how complicated the situation is. Back to Obi now. He admits that he was surprised that the gang met their quotas but is very interested to see what will happen with the next few reups. Obi then presents them with a shipment of guns. He emphasizes that Mecca not only sold drugs for them, but he also moved arms and since they wanted to replace him, that was now what they did too.
TARIQ, BRAYDEN & EFFIE
In class, Professor Bonet (Keesha Sharp) had the students right down one word to describe what they wanted out of life. Tariq’s word was ‘family’ while Effie’s was ‘freedom’ (Diana’s was independence). After class, the two further discussed what they meant when they wrote their answers. Tariq wants to finish school so that he can get his inheritance and take care of his family. Effie wants to be able to pay for her robotics grad school program at Stanford. it’s obvious that both of them want out of the game but they know it’s something they have to stay involved with for now. Tariq makes Effie feel comfortable and seen when he sympathizes with how she feels. Feeling vulnerable, Effie hints that she needs to tell him something. Before she can get it out, Tariq gets a text from Brayden saying that his Uncle Lucas (David Walton) wants Tariq in his office ASAP. At the office, Tariq is fortunate enough to sit in on a meeting between Lucas and RSJ (Gbegna Akinnagbe). Unfortunately for Weston Holdings, after Lucas makes a tone death remark, RSJ declines to sign with them. Tariq gives Lucas insight on why RSJ turned them down. Pissed that Tariq didn’t say anything sooner, Lucas gives him an ultimatum: get RSJ to sign or he’ll lose his internship. It’s important to note that before he left the meeting, RSJ mentioned that he heard that Tariq has an estate and he should do something smart with it. Tariq goes to councilman Tate (Larenz Tate) to try and get some information on the billionaire. Tate advises him to figure out what it is that he has that RSJ wants and use it to his advantage. Tate also shares that Blanca has been pressuring him to solve her Dante Spears case.
After Lucas apologizes to RSJ for his behavior at their last meeting, he allows Tariq to take over. Tariq did his research and found out that RSJ wanted to build a shopping mall in Queens but there’s a building blocking his project. It just so happens that the building was the Queen’s Child Project that Ghost left for Tariq. Tariq is able to leverage a deal where he gets RSJ to signs with Weston Holdings. The QCP building will be knocked down and when Tariq gets his inheritance, there will be more money waiting on him than before. Everyone got what they wanted out of the situation. This move was very reminiscent of something that Ghost would do. As Effie and Tariq discuss him signing RSJ, he mentions pulling up to California and kicking it with Effie at Stanford after he gets his trust fund situation handled. He then asks Effie what it was she needed to talk to him about earlier. Instead of using the opportunity to be honest, she tells him that she forgot. While Tariq is sleeping, she texts Cane to let him know that she’s never had anyone in her corner like Tariq and she can’t tell him the truth yet. She wants him to keep his mouth closed about what he knows and surprisingly, he agrees. When will Effie find the courage to tell Tariq the truth? Will she ever? What will Tariq’s next move be now that he knows that Blanca is implicating him in Dante Spears’ murder? Is RSJ going to be a mentor to Tariq?
THE TASK FORCE (JENNY SULLIVAN & BLANCA RODRIGUEZ)…& COOPER SAXE
The sneakiness of Jenny Sullivan (Paton Ashbrook) is becoming a real problem for Saxe (Shane Johnson). The on and off couple are using each other for different things (Jenny wants evidence for her RICO case, Saxe wants Theo Rollins’ unredacted files) but only one side is really holding up their end of the bargain. While meeting with Jenny, Saxe comes across a burner phone in her purse (Jenny had to take a call from Blanca). He takes a picture of the number calling her and then asks her about it when she returns to the table. She lets him know that the phone is used to communicate with CI’s. The next time the two meet, Jenny finally came through and got Saxe what he was looking for. Once again though, Jenny’s CI phone is ringing off the hook. Saxe asks her if she’s seeing someone else. After she tells him that she isn’t, he pleads her to tell the truth because he knows she’s hiding something from him. Tired of lying and sneaking around, Jenny decides to spill the beans (some of them at least). She takes him to meet up with Blanca (Monique Gabriela Curnen), who is just as surprised to see Saxe as he is to see her. Both Saxe and Blanca air out their grievances with each other before Jenny tells both of them what’s going on. After they all agree to put their differences aside, Jenny gets another text from her CI phone.
Jenny finally visits Lauren (Paige Hurd), who is beyond miserable. She tells her that she has to stop blowing her phone up or she’s going to ruin things. She promises Lauren that if she continues to cooperate, she’ll do everything in her power to put Tariq and company behind bars and get her normal life back. After Jenny shows Lauren pictures of Tariq and Effie living their best life, Lauren starts to give her information. She details an interaction between Tariq and Monet and also seeing Diana leaving the rooftop spot that she put Tariq onto. The next day, Blanca shows up to the scene of the crime (we’ll get to that below). We find out that the CI that was shot in the back survived but is in critical conditioned and being transferred to a nearby hospital. Will he make it? If so, what will he able to tell Blanca? How long can Jenny keep the Lauren secret away from Blanca and more importantly, Saxe? Will Saxe ever see that he’s being played?
THE TEJADAS, DAVIS MACLEAN…& KEVIN WHITMAN
Everyone on this show is conflicted, but there are very few who can claim to be more conflicted than Diana Tejada. At the beginning of the season, Diana got her wish and is now attending Stansfield. With that, came being shunned by her family, more specifically her mother. Yet and still, Diana played her role and made sure she moved the work that her father brought to her at the end of the last episode. Di clearly hoped it was a one time thing though. When Lorenzo shows up to her room again with another two bricks, she lets that be known that she doesn’t want to keep doing it. He reminds her that if Cane doesn’t get Noma’s money, she’s going to kill all of them. He also brings up the fact that he paid for her to be at school before eventually leaving the drugs there for her. Little did Diana know, her family would once again need her help. After Monet goes to tell Davis MacLean (Cliff ‘Method Man’ Smith) about the latest run-in with Whitman, he comes up with a plan that will give Whitman an alibi. The only thing is they’ll need Diana to be the one to feed it to him. Although she’s initially against it, Monet finally gets on board. She pays Davis to find someone to break into Whitman’s house (while he’ll be meeting with Diana) to steal documents in order to find out exactly what he knows. Monet makes her way to Stansfield (Their family might as well live on that campus) to break the play down to Diana. Before agreeing to hold the family down yet again, Di expresses how Monet’s harsh treatment towards her made her feel. In true Monet fashion, she gives Diana a half a-s apology then quickly gets back to the important business at hand. Although the apology might not have been exactly what she was looking for, Diana said it was a start.
Elsewhere, Dru meets with Gordo (Erik Hernandez) at their penthouse. As the two flirt and discuss getting respect from their families, Dru mentions the guns that just got dropped off on them. Gordo brings up a white boy that he knows in a militia who has been looking to buy guns. Gordo warns Dru that the white boys are crazy and they needed to be careful. Dru brings the plan to Cane and Lorenzo. The only hitch was that since the white boys were racist, they’d need a white face to connect with them. In comes Brayden, yet again. Before anything could take place, Lorenzo approaches Cane. He urges him to stop the madness. Cane responds by telling him to tell Monet the truth and maybe it’ll all come to an end. Lorenzo tells Cane that his instincts are always to lead and protect his family and he won’t let Cane ruin their family. The disagreement ends with Cane telling Lorenzo he’s not a child anymore. Diana’s also trying to show she’s not a child anymore. While spending time with Salim (Petey McGee), Diana gets some advice that she really has to think about. He tells her that parting ways with her family might be the best thing for her. She didn’t have a lot of time to do that though. Soon after, it was time for Monet and Davis’ plan to get put in motion. Diana played it perfectly. She prefaces the conversation by saying she wants to know the truth behind who killed Zeke. Whitman easily gives up his theories on what happened to not only Zeke, but also Carrie. Diana continues with the plan and tells the detective that Monet sent her to lie to him. She adds that she knows where Monet keeps books from the bar. Whitman shares that he can use that for a money laundering case. Diana discloses that she’s not allowed in the house but she can leave a key for him to get in. As the two agree to work together, one thing to keep an eye out on is if Diana means some of the stuff she’s saying to Whitman (especially about Monet being the cancer that needs to be cut from the family) or if it was all cap and part of the story.
Dru and Gordo pull up to meet Cane and Lorenzo and are surprised when Brayden’s there and Cane says there’s been a change of plans. Unbeknownst to anyone, the white boy that Cane, Lorenzo and Brayden were on the way to make a deal with is a CI for the DEA. Blanca and Jenny start to put the pieces together and realize the ties between Gordo, the Castillo family and the Tejadas. Brayden handles himself professionally during the meet. He doesn’t give his name or any answers to the questions that the white man asks. When the deal is done, Brayden delivers the money to Cane and Lorenzo and they quickly have him leave. Lorenzo is in a rush to leave also but Cane wants to count the money before they leave. (Sidenote: It’s important to add that while all this was happening, the CI was able to take pictures of Brayden and Lorenzo.) The white militia group decide to ambush Cane and Lorenzo. They shoot and kill three of the attackers who try and enter the hotel room they’re in. As they’re making their escape, Cane almost loses his life but is saved by Lorenzo. Dru and Gordo then come at the perfect time to take out the rest of the militia (all but one who was shot in the back but still gets away). Afterwards, Dru helps Gordo with a wound he got from being shot. The two began to get intimate for the first time. On their way home, Cane and Lorenzo discuss what just happened. Lorenzo explains that no matter what happens between them, he’ll always protect and lead his family. Cane realizes that his father is right about family being first. He apologizes to Lorenzo for how he’s been treating him and assures him that his secret is safe with him.
If only that was the only thing that happened involving the Tejadas that night. Whitman makes his way into the Tejada household after taking care of the security cameras. The plan he discussed with Diana was for him to be in and out, since there would be no one home. Once he arrived, he snooped around a bit. He couldn’t make it upstairs to Monet’s room because Diana was standing at the stairs. When she saw him, she called 911 and claimed that someone had just broken into her house. In a matter of seconds, Monet appears with a gun pointed at Whitman. The cop tries to plead for his life but to no avail. Monet kills Whitman right in the living room of their home…in front of Diana. The mother and daughter get into a brief disagreement because the plan was originally supposed to get Whitman arrested. Monet tells Diana to hit her then jimmy the lock on the door so it looks like Whitman broke in and attacked her so she shot him as self defense. When the cops arrived, Diana stuck to the story. Davis also shows up with some news. He tells her that since Whitman was completely in the wrong, they should be able to get away with the murder. He also tells her that he has a file from Zeke’s case. Monet is staying at the penthouse until their house isn’t considered a murder scene anymore. This is where she decides to look at the files that Davis gave her. She realizes that Lorenzo had something to do with the death of Zeke after seeing that his fingerprints matched partial prints found at the crime scene. She calls Davis to see if there’s any truth to it and he advises her to not jump to conclusions. The episode ends with Lorenzo telling Monet that he loves her. She hugs him and says it back but judging from the look she had on her face, it’s not looking good for Lorenzo. Will Monet’s suspicions be confirmed? If so, how will she choose to handle it? Now that Cane and Lorenzo are back on good terms, who will Cane show his loyalty too? How will Dru and Gordo’s romantic relationship impact their business? Is Diana in the game or out of it? Will Monet legitimately get away with murdering a cop? Drop your thoughts about season three’s fourth episode in the comments and also let us know what you think will happen next week!
The Land Of Opportunity: ‘Power Book II: Ghost’ Season 3 Episode 4 Recap was originally published on globalgrind.com
