'Power Book II: Ghost' Episode 9 'Monster' Spoilers: Will Justin Marcel McManus' Jabari end up dead?
Intriguingly titled 'Monster', the upcoming Episode 9 of the show could reveal Tariq's (Michael Rainey Jr.) monstrous side, thanks to all the pressure he is under. In the trailer for the episode, Effie (Alix Lapri) — the girl who understands him best — even asks him to embrace his inner monster. As Cane (Woody McClain) takes the fight to the streets, chopping up bodies like the OG 'Power' character Kanan, Tariq might not have a choice but be brutal. The synopsis says that Tariq is concerned with who he is and who he’s becoming — but he will not have the luxury of nursing those concerns. With Tasha’s (Naturi Naughton) trial taking a turn, the stress is only going to increase.
Monet (Mary J. Blige), however, will continue to put her clout behind Tariq as they expand into the cocaine business. We see her uber cold response in the promo when Tariq brings up Cane in a conversation. "We don't say that name around here anymore," she tells Tariq while Dru (Lovell Adams-Gray) looks bitter and tense. Meanwhile, 2-Bit (Michael J. Ferguson) is continuing to kill anyone posing a problem for Tariq but his billing is off the charts. After 2-Bit kills someone referred to as a "gang banger", he asks for $50k — Ouch! Tariq is obviously frustrated because he never asked 2-Bit to kill anyone for him. and we see Tasha concerned about the stress her son is under as she tells him to "slow down".
Tariq doesn't have a lot of people in his corner. After his tiff with Brayden (Gianni Paolo) and his relationship with Effie being too new to trust, he has no one who has his back completely. This is making things especially tough for him. There is also a lot of police scrutiny on campus which will make Tariq's drug hustle a problem and cause "problems as he tries to settle up debts". But Monet doesn’t want to stop the gravy train it seems as she will do whatever it takes to circumvent problems or excuses to get her business back in order.
Jabari (Justin Marcel McManus) and Carrie (Melanie Liburd) will also make use of the contentious climate on campus to educate students on the parallels between Frankenstein and their environment — question is who will become the misunderstood Frankenstein's monster? Cane or Tariq? And who will they kill to sell their identities as monsters?
According to the official synopsis of the episode, there is going to be a "head-on collision of Tariq’s worlds" at Homecoming. In the promo, we see a shot of Carrie seeing a video of Lorenzo (Berto Colon) in his orange jumpsuit being escorted by police as Monet stands by him. This means that Zeke might have told her all about his dangerous family's secrets, looking to confide, or she might have done some snooping on her own. With Jabari investigating the Tariq's Course Connect app, if these two professors put their heads together, all secrets might be out.
This is why there is a strong possibility that the "gang banger" that 2-Bit kills is the sleazy professor Jabari played by Justin Marcel McManus because he will piece together Tariq's drug delivery modus operandi with inputs from Carrie. This will jeopardize the profitable drug enterprise — something 2-Bit would hate since Tariq is his golden goose right now. Monet would also not be ok with Jabari, or for that matter Carrie, knowing the truth about the Tejada family. What's more, unfolding events might not even let Zeke (Daniel Bellomy) keep himself insulated as he has before this, especially since he now knows everything. Carrie and Jabari might be killed just to warn him not to snitch on family.
'Power Book II: Ghost' Episode 9 airs on Sunday, December 27, from 8 pm ET on Starz. Episode 9 will drop early on Sunday morning/Saturday night on December 27 at 12.01 am ET on the Starz app.
