‘Power Book II: Ghost’: Divided We Stand In The Season 3 Finale

(WARNING: Spoilers (or maybe not) for this week’s Power Book II: Ghost episode will be found below.)

It took ten weeks, shocking deaths, turns in relationships, and countless drug deals, but season three of Power Book II: Ghost has come to a close. The finale aired after a penultimate episode that followed the aftermath of Cooper Saxe’s death in episode eight. After a tip to the feds from Rashad Tate, Weston Holdings was raided for their alleged Ponzi scheme that left Brayden, Tariq, Kiki, and the rest of the staff in trouble as Lucas prepared to tell the police everything he knew about the Ponzi scheme and then some. Luckily for them, Brayden (quite literally) pushed Lucas to his demise, saving them from legal trouble. We also have Effie, who is locked up on her attempted murder charge for trying to kill Lauren, the Tejada children, who discovered that Monet was the one who had Lorenzo killed, and Tommy Egan, who made a shocking return to try and kill Tasha in her witness protection home. For that last, Tommy’s mission was somewhat thwarted by the arrival of Tariq, and that’s where we left off in episode nine.

In the season three finale of Power Book II: Ghost, things begin with Tariq waking up unsure of his mother’s whereabouts. He later finds out that she ran away after the incident with Tariq and Tommy, but not before squashing her beef with Tommy. Through all this, Tariq believes that Monet sent Tommy after his mother by giving up Tasha’s location to Tommy. However, it was really Diana who did that in a grand scheme to take down Monet. She put together the plan, with help from Dru, as they saw it to be their only opportunity to free themselves from Monet’s rule. That plan also had Tariq going down as collateral, but it all went sideways when Tasha showed up in the heat of the moment. This is the spark for an all out war between Tariq and the Tejadas. Brayden sticks beside Tariq, and Effie, who gets out of prison in this episode, picks the Tejadas and Noma as her partners.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways that we have after season three’s final episode, “Divided We Stand”:

Nothing went according to plan in the final minutes of the Power Book II: Ghost season three finale. In the end, we watch a war come to life with Tariq and Brayden set up to bat against the Tejadas, Noma, and Effie. Tariq and Brayden are outnumbered for this war, which puts them at a disadvantage. Then you add that the Tejadas and Effie know everything about him and that they’re working with Noma, and it’s clear that this is lining up to be Tariq and Brayden’s toughest battle yet. We’ve known Tariq to be someone who can get himself out of any jam, but it’s going to be much harder to do that this time. Tariq tried to wiggle out of it by mentioning Noma’s daughter, but that fell as flat as his trust fund dreams. Tariq and Brayden will need a lot of time, a whole lot of luck, and some more help from the man upstairs to get themselves out of this jam because man, it is a thick one.

Tariq proves to be your know-it-all young adult in this season three finale. During conversations with Tommy and Tasha, he claims to have learned all the lessons necessary from his father Ghost’s mistakes, but as Tasha reminds him, Ghost was not dumb. Still, it’s safe to say that Ghost had his slip-ups, and as Tommy explains, it came from his attempt to have a life in the business world and the drug game at the same time. Tommy tells Tariq that he’s doing the same thing with school and the drug game while warning him to pick a side as his focus must be 100% if a way with the Tejadas is what he wants. Tariq was around to see his father’s downfall, and while he’s smart enough to know what they were and avoid them in his journey, his confidence and cockiness make him forget that. Ahead of this war, Tariq needs to not only acknowledge the advice and mistakes from his elders, both dead and alive, and put them into action.

Man, I thought Cooper Saxe’s death would mean that the former St. Patrick tormentor would no longer effect the show, but boy was I wrong. Before his death, Saxe had numerous letters made for people in his life, from Jenny Sullivan to Monet to other detectives. One of those letters had the address to Tasha’s witness protection home, and one way or another, the letter fell into the Tejadas’ possession. It was later used as bait to motivate Tariq to join Diana’s plan to “kill” Monet. Diana delivered that letter to Tommy’s mother and instructed her to give it to Tommy, and when he received it, he drove to the address where he found Tasha, but luckily for her, Tariq was already there. Another one of Saxe’s letters was given to a detective with a flash drive filled with yet-to-be-revealed contents, but we’re sure it’ll become an issue for Tariq and company in season four.

Diana hasn’t really gotten her respect throughout Power Book II: Ghost, but after this season three finale, she’s due for some. Diana helped create a plan to free the Tejada family from Monet and Tariq. She used her charm to get Tariq right where she wanted and sold him out to Noma and Cane without a blink of an eye when things didn’t go according to her plan. When Diana’s back was against the wall, she did what she needed to and stood up for herself in the process. She sold drugs for her dad at Stansfield when he asked to her to, she exposed Salim and put him at a disadvantage when he tried to take her down, and she did what she needed to (possibly) kill her mother and remove her from her life. She may not be strong like her brothers or an authentic street dealer like Effie or Tariq, but there’s room in this game for Diana, and she’s making great use of it.

At the conclusion of Power Book II: Ghost season three, love is a thing of the past. The season started and continued with Tariq in a relationship with Effie, Monet with Lorenzo, Salim with Diana, Brayden with Kiki, and Dru with Gordo. Now, all of that is gone. Lorenzo and Gordo are dead, Effie and Tariq broke up and now she’s enjoying her time with Cane, Salim hasn’t been seen in a few episodes are Diana told him off, and Kiki is heading home to clear her head after the Ponzhi scheme mess. So, just like that, all the love is gone, and while we can be sure that it’ll find new ways to exist in season four, its absence at the moment really speaks to how foundations, structures, and relationships falling apart was the theme of this season of Power Book II: Ghost. People were pushed to their limits and the results of that brought damage to one of the more normal things in their life: love. Now, a group that was once united (Tariq, Effie, Brayden, and the Tejadas), is now split in ways that we may not have imagined. With that, say goodbye to the love and season three of Power Book II: Ghost as well.

‘Power Book II: Ghost’ season three is available to watch on the STARZ app.