Pressure intensifies for Tariq.
Tariq gets a text message from 2-Bit demanding $50,000 for saving his life. Since he’s short on the cash, he calls Maclean and asks him if he can pay him late. He lies and says his grandmother needs money. Maclean tells him that he can pay one week late, but he’ll cancel the expert witness he had for Tasha. So Tariq changes his mind and ends the phone call.
Maclean later tells his assistant Paula, whom he’s sleeping with, that all that matters is that he’s paid. He doesn’t care what Tariq is doing and why he’s short on money.
Things are now complicated for Zeke.
Zeke and Milgram wake up at her place. She says that it’s a one-time thing and it’s not safe for Zeke to spend the night. After she notices the bruise on Zeke’s back, she asks him what happened the night before. He eventually comes clean about his run-in with GTG. And he said he was terrified when a gun was pointed at his knee but misfired. His whole future was at stake. While he’s afraid, he recognizes the gang from his old neighborhood. And he doesn’t think it’s a good idea to talk to the police about what happened.
Later on, Milgram attends a staff meeting and talks to Detective Santana about the dead person found at the pool. They are told that the victim had a tattoo for the Get That Guap gang. After Milgram makes it clear that she’s heard of GTG before, it comes out that she used to be a prosecutor.
Santana wants to talk to students to find out what they know. But Milgram suggests that they allow students to leave anonymous tips instead. After Professor Reynolds notices Santana’s interest in Milgram, he interjects and volunteers to work closely with Milgram to find out what happened.
Plans have changed.
Tariq meets up with Dru and Monet for his re-up. He’s not happy to learn he must now sell the c*caine that DC Joe had in his vehicle before Monet killed him. If they don’t sell Joe’s product, people will eventually figure out Monet had something to do with Joe’s disappearance.
Tasha calls Tariq and tells him she’s worried. She’s not ready to move past the fact that someone connected to Monet just tried to kill him. Tariq tells her that it was Cane and he made the move on his own. He has since worked things out with Monet and they’re moving forward. After Tasha tells Tariq he needs to slow down and back away from selling drugs on campus, Tariq says he has to be able to pay Maclean who just told him he has an expert witness. Tasha was not made aware of an expert witness.
Lauren offends Tariq.
While in Tariq’s class, the students and Reynolds discuss “Frankenstein.” They discuss the racial undertones of the book. When they touch on the criminal justice system, Lauren irritates Tariq when she says some people deserve to be in jail. Tariq asks if Tasha deserves to be there and Lauren says no as she’s surprised by his question. At this point, Tariq says that maybe Frankenstein became a monster because of the way he was treated.
Reynolds is impressed by this perspective and says it was the answer he was looking for.
He also tells the students that he will be talking to everyone one on one to find out what they know about the dead male found at the pool. While he’s working with police, tips will be anonymous.
After class ends and everyone begins to leave, Lauren tries to explain her previous comments. But she only makes things worse when she says that murderers and drug dealers deserve to be locked up. And Tariq isn’t interested in talking to her after this.
Saxe worries Ott.
While Tasha is in her cell, the security guards announce they are doing a random check for contraband. One of the officers who secretly works with Lorenzo comes by and tells her to give him the burner. He’s the one who left it in the cell for her in the first place. And he promises Tasha that he’ll give her a new one.
Ott later tells Saxe that Tasha’s cell was clean. Saxe says he ordered the search because he believed Tasha had a burner. But now that he called an unauthorized search, Maclean will use this against him. Although Saxe doesn’t think Maclean will hear about the search, Ott isn’t convinced. After he ends his conversation with Saxe, he calls Special Agent Pope to look into Saxe.
The pieces come together.
Milgram is in Reynolds’ office, she looks at photos and files on Zeke. She learns that he was adopted by Monet and Lorenzo who is incarcerated. So she googles Lorenzo to find out why he’s in prison. She finds out that Lorenzo is actually affiliated with GTG.
Reynold returns at this point and scares her. He notices a picture of Zeke and his family members. Although he recognizes Dru’s face, he tells Milgram that he doesn’t know anyone in the photo.
Cane wants Dru to pick a side.
After Cane takes out Monet and Lorenzo’s corner boys, Dru goes to confront him. Cane has no regrets and tells Dru that he’s running the streets now. So Dru should leave Monet and join him. They can get their drugs from Rico and make major moves without Monet.
Dru sees that the leader of GTG, Little Guap, is still alive. And Cane says it’s not an issue because Lil Guap is loyal. So Dru needs to make a choice. Monet has chosen Tariq. So if Dru doesn’t choose to work with Cane, Cane will take it as Dru’s against him.
Monet has to depend on Tariq.
Dru later tells Monet and Diana about his conversation with Cane. He’s not happy to be put in a situation where he’s so far in the family business. Dru wanted a different life. However, Monet tells him that Cane’s choices have made things this way. And she needs him now more than ever.
After Dru walks away in frustration, Diana asks Monet what they are going to do when Rico finds out they don’t have dealers to sell their product. They have to count on Tariq to push it all through Course Connect. And they aren’t sure if he will be able to sell it all on campus.
Epiphany is wanted on the stand.
Tasha meets with Maclean and says she wants to be transferred to another prison. Maclean tells her no and she then asks about this expert witness he told Tariq about. Maclean tells Tasha to just keep trusting him and he’ll have her out of prison very soon.
It seems as if Epiphany may be the expert witness Maclean was talking about. He and Saxe meet with her and inform her that they can have the recent charges against her dropped if she testifies about her time working at Tasha’s daycare center.
While Tariq is in his room, Brayden pops up to get his things. He’s been staying in the frat house with Trace. He’s still mad at Tariq but listens after he says Cane killed the person found at the pool.
Tariq then shows Brayden all the drugs that need to be sold. Since police are all over the campus, Brayden will meet with Effie to see if she can sell it all at Yale.
Paula updates Tasha.
Milgram tells Zeke that Lorenzo is connected to GTG. And that his family is most likely involved in criminal activity. If Zeke doesn’t tell the police what he knows, he could end up losing his whole future. She can protect him but he must come clean.
Tasha meets with Maclean’s assistant Paula. She grills her to find out who the expert witness is and finds out it’s Epiphany. And Paula says that Epiphany is actually Saxe’s witness. Unsure of what Saxe is trying to do, Tasha tells Paula that she needs to tell Tariq about Epiphany. And he needs to know Epiphany could be dangerous for her chance at freedom, so Tariq needs to treat Epiphany the same way they treated Slim, a dangerous criminal from their past.
Monet has to calm down Zeke.
Ott goes to Saxe’s office and hands over photos taken of Saxe and Maclean meeting up with Epiphany. Although Saxe says he just wants the truth, Ott doesn’t care. The Democratic Party does not want Ghost’s name sullied. He tells Saxe he must now take down Maclean and Tasha is not to be freed.
Zeke tells Monet that he knows GTG is connected to Lorenzo. And since the person killed on campus was a GTG member, and Zeke was just attacked by GTG members, he has to tell the police. Or he can lose everything.
Monet doesn’t want Zeke to talk because then it puts Dru in danger. Regardless, Zeke says Milgram told him to talk to police. He denies that he has anything going on with Milgram but Monet isn’t convinced.
So she asks Diana what she knows. And Diana tells her she read Tariq’s card from class that said a professor is sleeping with a student. She thought it was about Tariq but maybe it was about Zeke.
Monet confronts Milgram.
Milgram and Reynolds meet with Detective Santana. Reynolds says none of his students know anything about the dead GTG member. But Milgram says some basketball players were jumped by GTG recently.
Later on, Milgram is shocked to see Monet sitting in her office waiting on her. She confronts Milgram about Zeke and says she knows they have been sleeping together. But if Milgram wants to keep her job, she better make sure she keeps her mouth shut and Zeke isn’t dragged into the mess on campus.
While en route to meet with Effie, Tariq finally tells Brayden the truth about Riley. Brayden is shocked to learn that Riley is Saxe’s niece.
After handing off the drugs to Effie at Yale, Tariq says Tasha told him to do something he doesn’t want to do because he’s not a monster. Effie tells him that they are both monsters, and the sooner Tariq accepts this, the better off he will be.
Tariq heads to see Epiphany with the intent of killing her, but he changes his mind when she tells him she would just run if she had the money. He uses the money he owed Monet.
Saxe turns on Maclean.
Epiphany doesn’t show up to court. Saxe calls for a short recess to figure things out. Maclean confronts him and both believe they have been crossed by the other. So Saxe pulls out photos of Maclean and him meeting with Epiphany. He says he knows Maclean is behind Epiphany not showing up. The photos will be used to take down Maclean and Paula. Plus, Saxe is focused on keeping Tasha behind bars and locking up Tariq, too.
When the men get back inside the courtroom, Saxe says he wants Tariq on the stand next. Tasha looks on in shock.
Maclean comes clean to Paula about his plan with Saxe and Tariq’s role in Ghost’s death. He wants her to help him get out of the mess he’s in but Paula refuses. She’s angry he decided to work with Saxe and didn’t talk to her first. She would have told him not to trust Saxe. So he’s on his own.
Tasha calls Tariq and asks him if he spoke to Paula and did his “homework.” Tariq says he lost it but everything is fine. And “she” won’t testify. When Tasha asks what he means, he ends the call.
Rico makes a move.
Cane is with Lil Guap ready to check out their new shipment of drugs. He gets angry when he figures out that they have been given Monet’s re-up. Turns out Rico wanted them to have it. And Cane comes to the conclusion that Rico wants Monet out of the game because he wants a new distro. Meanwhile, Rico is on his way to New York.
Cane rushes to Monet and his family.
Tariq makes it first, as they wait for Rico. He tells Monet he doesn’t have all her money because he needed some for Tasha. Monet pulls a gun on him and prepares to kill him. Tariq says he deserves it because he’s hurt everyone in his life, including his father.
When Rico and his men pull up in their vehicle, they spray the building with bullets. Tariq is able to save Diana. But Dru gets shot in the chest after he tries to run to the back and return the gunfire.
Cane pulls up as soon as Rico drives away, and he tells Monet he tried to warn her. She tells him to put Dru in the car so they can try to save his life.
Monet thanks Tariq for saving Diana but reminds him that they have unfinished business.
Cane goes too far.
Tariq meets with Paula and she shows him the video Saxe took of his confession in the graveyard. She tells him Maclean and Saxe were setting him up. And Tariq needs to get a lawyer immediately. As for her, she no longer works for Davis.
Cane is at the hospital waiting on news about Dru who is now in surgery. He’s probably going to pull through but Monet blames everything on Cane. So she tells him to stay away or she’ll kill him herself.
Emotional from the blowup with Monet, Cane talks to Ramirez. They agreed to kill Tariq but Cane can’t wait on this anymore. It needs to happen now. Ramirez calls Cane stupid and says that Monet will need him now more than ever now that Cane is out of the picture. An outraged Cane then kills Ramirez.
Tameika is back.
Tariq hires Tameika as his attorney and confesses that he killed Ghost. Tariq says he’s not a monster and he did what needed to be done because Ghost was the monster. He wants to take the stand and admit this.
What are your thoughts on the episode?
