Tameika is on the case.
On the day of Tasha’s arraignment, Tariq runs into his grandmother and his little sister Yas outside the courthouse. His grandmother Estelle Green wants him to leave school and live with them. But Tariq doesn’t want to do this because staying in college is what Tasha wants for him. Plus, he can’t get his trust fund until he graduates with at least a 3.0 GPA.
Tameika Washington walks up to them and introduces herself. She’s now Tasha’s lawyer. Tameika tells them that the best thing Tasha can do is admit to killing Ghost and saying it was in self-defense. This way she can get a lighter sentence. And Tariq says he’s okay with Tameika saying some bad things about Ghost in court to help Tasha.
Unfortunately for Tasha, she isn’t able to get bail.
Tasha gets a deal.
Afterward, Tameika and Tasha have a meeting with the prosecutor, Jenny Sullivan. They would settle for a criminally negligent homicide conviction, which is an E felony and results in probation. But Sullivan isn’t okay with this. She wants Manslaughter 2, with a recommendation of five years. At this point, Tameika pulls out photos of corpses, including LaKeisha’s. And she says that Ghost is responsible and Tasha agrees she would have been next if she didn’t defend herself.
At the risk of the Democrats also being put on blast if things go any further, Sullivan has some things to think about.
Tariq will have to tutor a basketball player.
Tariq is late to the meeting with his new school and Simon Stern. He apologizes and had a family emergency. And he says that he’s ready to start classes at Stansfield so soon after Ghost’s death. Part of the agreement Tariq has to sign off on is tutoring a basketball player named Ezekiel Cross. He will also be Tariq’s roommate on campus. And he has to tutor him for all his classes. If he doesn’t do a good job, Tariq will be kicked out.
While lost on campus, Tariq runs into a young lady on campus who helps him. She shows him around and she tells him there’s only like 4 black students at the school. And she warns him that not everyone is proud of their blackness. Her name is Lauren.
Tariq has a plan.
Tariq meets with Professor Caridad Milgram. She’s a professor of law. She talks to Tariq about how hard it was for her parents to be in an interracial relationship. But Tariq isn’t sure why the Dean wanted him to see Professor Milgram. But she explains that Ghost’s death and Tasha’s arrest are things that they know can be issues that hinder Tariq from being able to focus.
He wants to study Canonical Studies. And she teaches this. Tariq also mentions that students who study this can graduate early.
Professor Milgram does confirm that most students can graduate in three years studying Canonical Studies, but she wants him to understand it will be a lot of work. And he will need to take a verbal exam first. Tariq is fine with this.
Tameika is fired.
Tasha learns from Tameika that the DA agreed to four years probation for criminally negligent homicide with all the other charges included. So she will serve no jail time. Apparently the Democrats want to keep Ghost’s criminal life secret. Tasha will go home tomorrow. But Tameika still needs to know how Tasha knew Ghost would be alone at that place and time, so someone had to help her. If Tasha lies and this is proven, Tasha can go to jail and Tameika can lose her license. She suspects it was Tariq who helped Tasha so Tasha fires her on the spot.
This now means the deal could be off the table.
Not too long after, Tameika calls Tariq and tells him she was fired. And Tasha won’t tell the truth and she’s protecting someone. So Tariq needs to find a lawyer who doesn’t need the truth to win.
Davis Maclean requires a hefty payment.
So Tariq goes to the courthouse to talk to Davis Maclean. He’s a criminal defense attorney. Tariq confirms he’s Ghost’s son and he needs to get Tasha out of prison. But Davis doesn’t want to help and says that Tariq should just take everything that happened as an opportunity to start a new life. Tariq is relentless, and Davis says they can only talk when Tariq gets $500,000 liquid.
Tariq goes to look for the books for Tasha’s daycare business. Tasha calls and tells Tariq she will figure everything out because she has a public defender. She wants Tariq to focus on school and not try to get her out of prison. He reluctantly promises that he will respect her wishes. After they end the call, he locates Epiphany Turner’s contact information. She’s the dancer that helped Tasha push drugs while the daycare was running.
Brayden’s back.
Later, he meets Epiphany outside the club she works at. After being a little hesitant, she agrees to help Tariq out and make some money. But she doesn’t want to be responsible for supplying the connect this time. Tariq agrees to this.
When Tariq gets back to his room, he sees Brayden there who has already made himself comfortable. Brayden was Tariq’s roommate at Choate. Tariq questions why he’s at Stansfield.
Brayden says he goes there now and everyone in his family does. His family is responsible for building the school’s auditorium and swimming pool.
Of course, Brayden questions why Tariq would study Canonical Studies because most people flunk out. Regardless, Tariq knows it’s what he has to do.
Effie explains herself.
He also finds out that Effie is at Yale now. Effie was the young lady from Choate who was helping him sell drugs but turned around and told on him.
Tariq goes to Effie to get some product he refuses to pay for. She admits that she set him up because he wasn’t selling enough for her to make enough money to buy books. So she had to “take out the competition.” But she didn’t fake liking him. That part was real.
Tariq disappoints.
Tariq wakes up the next morning and panics. He overslept and runs to his meeting with the professors. When they begin to ask him questions about the book he was supposed to read, “The Stranger,” he admits he didn’t finish it. And he didn’t really relate to the main character anyway.
After Tariq leaves, Professor Milgram says that they should give him another chance because he’s been under a lot of stress.
Sullivan scares Tasha.
When Tasha meets with her public defender, Sullivan shows up and says that evidence shows that whoever killed Ghost was at least 5’11. So that means Tasha didn’t do it. And they already know she tried to pin everything on Quinton Wallace. So since it seems as if Tasha plotted Ghost’s death, Tasha is looking at Conspiracy One but they will only give her a gun charge if she identifies the shooter. So she’s looking at 15 years. Things can get worse if she goes to trial.
Tasha says that Andre Coleman was the shooter and she used his gun.
Mak applies pressure.
When Cooper Saxe walks into his office, he sees John Mak there with Steven Ott of the DNC. Steven says that certain details of Ghost’s life need to be kept from the public. So they want Saxe to charge Tasha under the Kingpin Statute. But it will be Queenpin for her case. They can go after her for running the organization. All Saxe has to do is say that Tasha was silencing Ghost as a witness.
Saxe says she was an accomplice but she’s not the boss. Plus, Ghost did assault Tasha before his death. So they need to let the DA handle it. But Mak tells Saxe to not forget that he got him his job as the US Attorney for the Eastern District, so he can take it away.
Tariq meets Ezekiel.
When Tariq gets to his room, he finds his new roommate Ezekiel having sex and he asks Tariq to give him 15 minutes. So Tariq leaves.
Saxe has a celebratory dinner with his parents and siblings. His younger brother teases that he can get Saxe another job after he loses his new job. And he knows this is inevitable because Saxe has always been a screw-up.
Tariq’s roommate Ezekiel takes him to his aunt’s home in Queens. They are having a party to celebrate him getting into Stansfield. Everything is fine until Ezekiel’s cousin Cane is caught messing around with Rel’s girl. The two young men fight and Ezekiel’s aunt Monet comes out to stop the commotion. She tells Ezekiel to go back inside the house and keep his nose clean because he has too much to lose. Plus, she tells Cane that Rel will be back later with a weapon. So Cane knows what to do.
Rel returns.
Regardless of the drama, Tariq hits it off with Ezekiel’s cousin Diana who also happens to be Cane’s sister. She tells him that Monet is her mother and she and her siblings Cane and Dru are Puerto Rican and black.
Their father is in prison.
Not too long after, Rel comes back and Cane pulls a gun on him before the police show up. Monet tells the police everything is fine.
Saxe comes clean.
Saxe goes to Tameika’s place and asks what will happen “hypothetically” if someone saw him with a gun at Truth the night of Ghost’s murder. Tameika is furious and says this has to be why Saxe asked her to help Tasha. She tells Saxe he is “f*cked” and to get out of her house so she won’t risk being subpoenaed to spill this information on the stand.
Tariq and his roommate Brayden go to Epiphany’s club so Tariq can give her the drugs to sell. He also gives her a phone to use so she can call him.
Cane goes to Rel’s place and kills him. Monet is waiting in the car when he enters. She wipes Rel’s blood off Cane and they drive away.
Sullivan fills Saxe in on what happened with Tasha and Tameika.
Lauren is impressed.
Tariq meets with Lauren for coffee. She says that Professor Milgram wanted her to reach out to Tariq and see if he read the book, “The Stranger.” Tariq says he read it the previous night and it was “bullsh*t” because the main character acted like he didn’t fully make a decision to shoot someone dead. Tariq says that when you kill someone, you commit to the decision. And, “Killing someone is always a real decision.”
And carrying a gun is a real decision as well. So the main character didn’t want to own up to it and he’s just mad that people hate him for it. But people will always hate you for what you do. So you can’t care about that.
The main character pulled the trigger although he knew what the consequences would be.
Lauren says that Tariq needs to tell Milgram and the other professors what he told her. They want to see the real him.
Saxe wants the truth.
While at the coffee shop, Tariq sees Saxe. He’s worried that Tasha will get them in trouble. And he was the one who set that deal up for Tasha. But she ruined it and fired Tameika.
Even though Tasha said it was Dre who killed Ghost, they know this isn’t the truth because the evidence from his clothes that day showed he didn’t shoot anyone. But Saxe knows it wasn’t Tasha who pulled the trigger. So if Tariq knows who did it, he needs to tell Saxe.
Tariq says he doesn’t know who pulled the trigger but they both know she’s innocent. So if Saxe doesn’t fix this, Tariq is telling the police he saw Saxe with a gun at Truth.
Saxe says he can get Tasha another deal but she has to identify the shooter.
Tariq gets another chance.
Later on, Tariq uses Ezekiel’s Instagram account and goes live to thank Davis Maclean for taking Tasha’s case (something he hasn’t done at this point).
Tariq later meets with the professors again and impresses them with his thoughts on the book. Not too long after, Davis’ phone blows up about him taking Tasha’s case. He later meets Tariq and is given cash. Davis says this will only pay for the week and then he will get him another lawyer. And Tariq agrees to this.
Before they part ways, Tariq tells Davis to let Tasha know that she can stop protecting the real shooter. And if she loves him, she will tell the truth.
Saxe makes his move.
Davis is able to get Tasha the same deal Tameika offered, but he tells her she must tell the whole truth this time. And Tariq says that she needs to come home and stop protecting the shooter.
During Tasha’s next day in court, she pins Ghost’s murder on Tommy Egan. She then says that she told Tommy to kill Ghost. At this point, Saxe walks up to Sullivan and hands her a piece of paper. She then tells the judge she wants to drop all the charges on Tasha. Saxe tells Tasha she’s under arrest for Ghost’s murder under the federal Continuing Criminal Enterprise Kingpin Statute.
Tariq is quick on his feet.
As Tasha is hauled away, Tariq is an emotional wreck. When Davis asks Tariq what he got him into, Tariq says this will be Davis’ biggest case of his career. Tasha is innocent and together they will take down Saxe and the US Attorney’s Office. Plus Davis will get a lot of publicity.
Davis agrees to this and tells Tariq he owes him $450,000 to move forward. Later on, Tariq searches for Diana’s father and learns he was locked up for a murder and he has gang ties. He stares at a picture of Diana’s father in handcuffs as Monet isn’t far behind.
What are your thoughts on the episode?
