‘Power Book II: Ghost’: The Land Of Lies In Season 3, Episode 6

(WARNING: Spoilers for this week’s Power Book II: Ghost episode will be found below.)

At this point in season three of Power Book II: Ghost, trust is a thing of the past. In episode five of the new season, the big reveal finally happened: Tariq learned that Lauren was still alive. Lauren, who was fed up with being under the watchful eye of Jenny Sullivan, broke out of the home she was in to meet with Tariq and confront him. Through it all, Tariq learned that Effie attempted to kill Lauren and that practically shatters him. In that same episode, Lorenzo confesses to Monet that he accidentally Zeke, and while he hoped his wife would forgive him, Monet told him to pack his bags and get out of the house. To make matters worse, she enlisted (or so we think) Gordo to kill Lorenzo by letting his family know that Lorenzo was the one who killed their father, Frank.

In the sixth episode of Power Book II: Ghost, titled “Land Of Lies,” Tariq is determined to figure out what happened with Lauren and what Brayden and Effie have to do with it. He confronts Brayden with a few punches and learns that Effie hijacked their original plan to get Lauren out of the city. Tariq turns his attention to Effie and confronts her about the situation. Unwilling to hear her reasoning, Tariq breaks things off with her and leaves her to fend for herself. He even takes things further by reconnecting with Diana, which sends Effie over the edge. Speaking of Diana, she and Salim are finally a thing of the past, and I couldn’t be happier about that.

Elsewhere, the Tejadas also hold a funeral and repast for Lorenzo in this episode. Dru is hell-bent on finding out who killed Lorenzo and retaliating. Dru believes the Russian gang is responsible, and though he wants to retaliate, Cane and Diana tell him to hold off and make sure before starting an all-out war. Dru goes against their wishes and attacks the Russians, and just as we all predicted, he sets off a war as they fire back at Lorenzo’s funeral. All of this went down with Monet’s approval and Gordo’s help despite both knowing the truth about Lorenzo’s death. It’s complete chaos and drama, on-brand with the Power franchise.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways that we have after season three’s sixth episode, “Land Of Lies”:

Tariq Can Blow Up Effie’s World Just As Badly As She Can Blow Up His

Tariq wasted no time confronting Effie about what happened to Lauren now that he knows she’s alive. Tariq pretends to take Effie out on a nice drive, all to bring her to the same lake that Effie tried to drown Lauren in. He demands answers from Effie, and when he gets them, he leaves Effie to figure out her way back to Stansfield while declaring their relationship as good as dead. To take things further, he re-sparks the flame between him and Diana. Effie finds out about this and sets out to shut down the coffee app they used to sell drugs through the Weston Holdings building. Thankfully, Cane stops her from causing irreversible damage, but in this moment, we see that while Tariq can blow up Effie’s world, she can blow his up just as badly. Deleting the app would’ve been a huge blow to the operation, just as Tariq removing Effie from the operation would be a huge blow to her longterm goals. At this point, Tariq and Effie can stay afloat together or make each other drown. It’s up to them.

Dru Did Everything He Told Cane Not To Do

Though they claim or try to act like they’re complete opposites, Dru and Cane share a lot of similarities. Earlier this season, amid Cane’s power trip, he suggested that they take out their childhood friends in order to assume a larger piece of the pie in the drug landscape so that they could sell more of Noma’s product. It was an idea Dru hated so much simply because of the consequences that would come of it, one of them being an all out. Fast forward to now, and the roles are reversed. Dru desperately seeks revenge for his father’s death, and he’s sure that the Russian gang is responsible as he believes it’s retaliation for them killing the Russian connect. Though Cane and Diana see the logic behind it, they tell Dru to calm down and not make a move until they’re absolutely sure because an all-out war will the result from a move like that. That only lasted for so long as Dru eventually orchestrates a plan, with help from Gordo, to kill one of the Russian gang members, which he successfully completes. As Cane and Diana predicted, a war is now in session as the Russians retaliated with a drive-by shooting at Lorenzo’s funeral. Cane is often described as impulsive and a hot-head, but in this episode, Dru showed those qualities from start to finish. Sure, it was all for his late father, but it could’ve been handled with more care as the Russians had nothing to do with Lorenzo’s death — something Gordo is well aware of.

STARZ Saxe Is Shameless In His Search For Redemption

Ever since the original Power series, Saxe has gone great lengths to put the St. Patrick family behind bars for as long as possible. He failed to do it with James and Tasha St. Patrick, and it’s been the same with Tariq so far in the series. There were moments that he did whatever was needed, legal and illegal, ethical and unethical, to imprison the St. Patricks, and it cost him a job as a prosecutor. Even though he’s working as a defense attorney for Tariq, Saxe has yet to give up on his goal of putting Tariq behind bars. Truthfully, Saxe is warranted in his pursuit of Tariq, but man, he could have some shame in it. He’s thrown himself at the feet of Jenny Sullivan, which could be a result of both his feelings for her and his desire to lock up Tariq. However, he’s also playing Davis, who is the guy who saved from being thrown into the streets without a job in season one. Saxe’s morals, ethics, and anything else he could stand on are all out of the window. Even if he wins and puts Tariq in jail (and keeps him there), there will be some price he has to pay for the way he’s gone about it. Sullivan may dispose of him, and Davis will surely do the same. It all remains to be seen in future episodes.

Tariq, Brayden, And Effie Share Equal Blame For Their Impending Downfall

Within the main events in episode six, there’s a bit of blame game happening between Tariq, Brayden, and Effie in regards to the Lauren situation. Tariq believes it’s Effie’s fault for how things have played out, as she took things too far with Lauren, which led to the feds finding her and using her for their RICO case. Effie casts blame on both Tariq and Brayden. In her eyes, Tariq is at fault for thinking Lauren would relocate and keep her mouth closed, and Brayden is at fault for not handling business and taking care of Lauren to avoid a mess like their current one. Brayden blames Effie for the same reason Tariq does — for interrupting their plan and putting them in their current mess. The fact is that each of them shares equal blame in this situation. Tariq leads the operation, so getting too close to Lauren with everything he has going on is why he has to take some of the blame. Brayden is Tariq’s sidekick, yet, he didn’t make sure he and Tariq’s plan was complete. Lastly, Effie took things to a new level by trying to kill Lauren and not completing her plan. Tariq, Brayden, and Effie all have their faults in the situation, and with the new information they have about the feds current case against them, they should spend less time finger-pointing and more time staying low and out of trouble.

New episodes of ‘Power Book II: Ghost’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am EST and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm EST.