Reviewer Rating: 4/5.0
4
Maybe it’s time to have a serious discussion about the final season of Book II: Ghosts.
We’ve now only got four hours to digest and process this series, and at the rate they’re going, I can’t confidently say I don’t like the direction.
Something feels wrong now, but this isn’t an example where I can’t pinpoint the problem. I know exactly what the problem is.
Shows need to stay fresh and to do this they add recurring characters and different things to keep the characters and storylines from becoming stale.
You introduce a new villain to challenge the good guys and change the stakes so your audience sees something new while still feeling connected to the character they’re connected to.
It’s not always easy, and sometimes TV shows make the critical mistake of focusing too much on temporary characters to expand the story, which can turn viewers off because they don’t have any investment in the new characters.
I’m worried that this will happen with Power Book II: Ghost.
In Book of Thrones II: Ghosts Season 4 Episode 5, Carter played a dirty cop, which makes us think he’s going to be the villain for the rest of the season, which is good.
Of course, we already have Norma posing a threat to Tariq, and the Tejadas can always step up and fight Tariq if necessary.
Carter being a bad guy is supposed to mean everyone comes together to take down a common threat, and maybe we’ll get there, but this hour spent so much time on Carter and his team that it’s meant to be the final episode of the series Scenes were spent tracking down people whose names we didn’t learn until this week.
I hate being harsh, because if you know me, you know how much I love everything about the Thrones universe. But the OG series also did this by introducing the political angle of the Ghost in the final season and spending too much time on the issue and characters we simply didn’t care about.
Brayden happened to be at this time. Not to mention Davis, who they’ve forgotten is somewhat of a linchpin to the entire board, the power ghost.
Now, he’s just there when Tariq needs him? What’s going on?
Carter’s presence and nastiness are the themes of this moment. Drew and Monáe were determined to rise up from his reign, but they did such a bad job of stalking and ignoring him that he grew impatient.
Carter has dabbled in a lot of different areas, as we’ve discovered over time, but it’s clear that he now sees Tejadas as a vital part. They had the information and were major players in the drug-dealing game, so it was good for him to have that information in his own hands, perhaps more so than it was for anyone else.
On top of that, what he gets from them doesn’t offer much in return other than something like staying out of jail.
When Carter and his team showed up at Tejadas, things seemed a little ridiculous because these were the cops who had done the most. Dirty cops, shouldn’t the team as a whole be a little more cautious?
If Carter’s entire goal is to basically save innocent lives lost to street violence and eradicate drugs (sort of?), then it’s going to be huge for him to find out whose drugs Monet and Drew are after harvest.
But giving up Norma would put Kane in danger, and beyond that, simply giving this information to Carter without getting anything in return wouldn’t do Monet any good in the long run.
Drew being caught and sent to prison to kill this guy whose name I don’t know was just another moment in an hour where I had to rack my brain to figure out who they were talking about and why things were so scary.
And poor Drew, because they put him through this this season, and what was it all for?
There’s no point in trying to play the game of “Who has it worst?” When it comes to super gamers, because everyone’s life sucks in some way. Nary introduces a power character who has an absolutely perfect life with zero complications.
If such people existed, they certainly would not have come into contact with anyone on these shows.
But back to Drew. I’m not even sure what he wants right now, other than to get out from under someone. His relationship with Monáe was rocky at best, and Carter’s situation was confusing, once again putting him on the defensive.
Although Dru was never meant to be a part of life, he has shown signs of being very capable. His little plan to get himself injured and then go to the infirmary and kill Zay (I know you don’t even remember his name!) turned out to be a little too good, but showed off what Drew is capable of.
And then take the inside information and use it to the benefit of Team Carter? Who is the mastermind behind Cane Tejada?
Of course, now that things are ostensibly in shambles, his plan might not go exactly the way he wants.
See, Norma was a solid villain last season because she was intrinsically connected to Mecca, a villain who had a connection to one of the main characters.
But now, Norma is kind of on the island and Kane is there, yes, but no one cares about this deal she’s trying to make with a politician. Unfortunately, the most exciting part of this storyline is when the politician dies.
I believe Zion was just trying to scare Norma, but killing a politician in such a high-profile way would only be a recipe for disaster. Found out that Carter was also choking him? Well, it’s a fun little twist just because it ties everyone together.
If we’re going to deal with Carter and his crew, there has to be a web woven between everyone so that the story doesn’t feel isolated.
One of his minions, Zion, provides that connection, just as Diana chooses to go to Tariq when she’s put in a difficult situation by the aggressive Felicia.
I think we all know by now that Power Ghost doesn’t have many, if any, truly happy endings. This is not the current trend. But in another life, Tariq and Diana might have accomplished something.
Of all his past relationships, these two probably had the most in common, coming from extremely dangerous and unstable homes. If Tariq decides to do something different in the afterlife, I can see them happy together if I squint.
Well, maybe it needs to be another world above another life, but maybe, y’all!
No matter what, they were bound together for the rest of their lives by their children, but that didn’t mean Diana owed him anything now. Not long ago, he had put a gun to her head, and there was a long history of betrayal between them.
But in her last-ditch situation, Tarik was an option she chose, and Tarik accepted it, I’m sure, because he knew what it could do for him in the war against Norma, and because he wanted to protect Dai Anna and her children.
He can do whatever he wants, but family means something deep down.
I’m starting to worry about Brayden! He wasn’t doing well, and getting deeper and deeper into drugs wasn’t helping anyone.
Tariq pulled him off the stage like he grabbed his kid, who was supposed to be at home watching his little sister and her friends spend the night at home, but instead he went to a family party.
Taric’s first priority now is to become the apex predator he thinks he is, and he can’t do that without his right-hand man having no brains in the game.
Brayden barely asked any questions when Tarik told him that Zion had to die, and the whole process of them trying to kill the guy was just too hilarious in its own right. Zion forced them many times, but they survived because of two people.
Zion compared Tarik to the Ghost before his death, which might have tickled the old Tarik, but the new and improved Tarik has buried that trigger and seems to understand that he does have pieces of the Ghost inside him , he would need them if he wanted them.
Zion also revealed Carter to Tarik and Brayden, giving them more leverage. What’s the point of it all if it doesn’t end with everyone putting aside their differences, defeating a common enemy, and settling their personal scores once and for all?
Speaking of Carter, if you didn’t know what it was like before he went crazy, you’d know that he tried to recruit Kamal to the dark side and promptly killed him when he found out that his evil propaganda wasn’t working.
Kamal is one of the few morally good people on this show, but he’s lucky to be alive today.
Losing Kamal wasn’t a big, jaw-dropping twist in the final season, but it did open the door for an angry, sad Councilman Tate, and that can only be a good thing.
I can already hear him attacking Tariq now, making him do some ridiculous things.
After the midseason finale left it without a cliffhanger, they bring it back here and have us see Felicia (what’s her problem?) beat up Diana and repeatedly kick her in the stomach over the whole Zion situation , so that she can express her point of view.
It used to be poor Drew, but now it’s poor Diana as she tries to mind her own business in so many ways but can’t catch a break.
Hopefully she and the baby end up okay, but no matter what, Carter and the other nobodies have waged an absolute war against a group of enemies who don’t care about pursuing the police once things get personal.
If you’re going to spend my final hours dealing with these characters I don’t know, then someone I know better plot their demise.
Everything else you need to know
- Effie and Diana have more in common than they think, but Tariq makes it so they can be frenemies at best.
- Almost dying during that raid upset Effie, I understand. If she wanted a future, she needed to leave New York. And put down the sugar cane.
- Kane and Monáe try to protect each other without explicitly saying it to each other because they are who they are, which is the peak of Tejada’s energy.
- If Tarik’s fate is to not make it out of the series alive, or to lose everything, then I have no doubt that Anya will end up being a part of it, and I don’t know how to feel about that.
Can you believe this is it? We only hear “They said it was a big, wealthy town…” four more times before a new episode begins. I’m sick.
But let’s not dwell on the coming sadness; instead, let’s break down the running time from start to finish!
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think about this and what you’d like to see going forward! I can’t wait to hear all your thoughts.
The Season 4 finale of Power Book II: Ghosts airs Friday at 8/7c on Starz.
