Zeke receives some good news.
Monet and Maclean ride with Zeke to the precinct. Maclean urges Zeke not to talk to any of the inmates or the press. When Monet promises Zeke that she will be on the outside doing everything to help him, he tells her he doesn’t think she has any control over the situation. And it is too late for her to do much.
When Zeke walks into the precinct to voluntarily turn himself in, the ADA, Jenny, says he’s no longer a suspect. With Ramirez’s corpse popping up, they have now moved on from Zeke. Kamaal tells Whitman that he’s been reading Jabari’s novel. And it seems as if Jabari knew about a drug organization being run on the campus of Stansfield. This is what they need to look into because it’s possible Jabari got caught up in this.
Brayden is feeling the pressure.
Tariq drops by his dorm room before class and grabs some of his things. Brayden tells him some of their runners got busted with the drugs. So there will be an on-campus sweep. Tariq tells Brayden to not worry and just move everything to the roof. He also tells Brayden not to tell Cane or his family where he is and to try to stay away from them as much as possible until he figures things out. After he leaves, Brayden looks stressed. Hours ago, he helped Cane dig up Ramirez’s body.
Monet calls Carrie and tells her that Zeke has been cleared as a suspect. And if Carrie wants to keep her job, she needs to stay away from her and Zeke. Later, Carrie reluctantly agrees to read Jabari’s manuscript after Kamaal and Whitman come to her office.
Mecca has an offer for Monet.
Monet updates Mecca/Dante on the current status of Zeke. He tells her she deserves a better life. And he can provide that if she allows him to set up trust funds for all of her children. Then they can be together and she can live the life she wants. But Monet feels she can take care of herself. She needs for him to back off some. Mecca tells her that he’s not leaving New York without her.
In class, Carrie confuses everybody, including Tate, when she switches up the lecture and focuses on karma. She asks for Tariq’s perspective and warns him that he can’t escape his sins and will have to deal with the consequences of his actions. Tariq is confused by Carrie’s sudden focus on him.
Tariq has to prove himself to Monet, again.
Monet tells Tariq they need to take a ride. She questions why he didn’t tell her that he killed Jabari. Tariq tells her that Cane didn’t tell her the whole story. And Cane actually shot Jabari because Jabari figured out all the GTG stuff and said Dru’s name. So Tariq had no choice but to clean up the mess. Monet says Tariq has to earn her trust back. But he has to find out Cane’s connect to do that. If Cane finds out what Tariq’s task is, she’s going to kill Tariq.
Carrie tells Whitman and Kamaal that Jabari’s drug-dealing character in his book is Tariq and she’s sure about this. Whitman says this can’t be the case because the students said the dealer on campus is white. So Carrie says that only means Tariq may be working with Brayden. Whitman then says they would need to find evidence that Tariq knew about this book so they could have a solid motive.
Monet gives Cane a mission. She needs to get in control of Tariq. And to do that, she’ll need Cane to find out his weaknesses so she can hurt him. Thus, keep him in line.
Cane meets Lauren.
Carrie tells Lauren to keep wearing the wire and find out what Brayden knows since police think he’s the white preppy dealer on campus. And if she does this, she and Tariq will be in the clear.
While Cane is questioning Brayden about Tariq’s whereabouts, he meets Lauren and she says she and Tariq are getting ready to look for an apartment. The wheels in Cane’s head begin to turn. He tells Lauren his name is Lorenzo. But he admits Monet is his mother. Lauren was recently informed by Tariq that Monet is Zeke’s aunt.
Tariq asks the lawyer of Ghost’s estate, Warren, to give him a positive recommendation in family court to get custody of Yas. He says he will only do this if Tariq meets all the requirements.
Mecca continues to advise Cane about Tariq.
Cane is disappointed Monet didn’t go hard on Tariq for killing Jabari and putting Zeke in danger of losing his NBA future. After he vents to Mecca, Mecca says Tariq is dispensable because Cane can always find another “corner boy.” The supplier is more important and Cane is the one who got Monet a new connect. So Cane has to find a way to make Monet see he’s the only option and not Tariq.
Zeke crashes by Everett’s place and he’s surprised to see Dru there. Dru lies and says they met each other the night they had drama after the club.
Diana doesn’t trust Cane.
Tariq meets with Diana and asks her to get him drugs from Cane behind Monet’s back because he needs money to fight for his sister in family court. She agrees after he promises to give her information on Cane. She’s convinced he’s the one who switched the drugs out with sugar to get back in with the family. Diana then meets with Cane and tells him what Tariq needs and why. When he refuses, she threatens to tell Monet what he did to the drugs.
Lauren’s conversation with Brayden and Cane is recorded on her wire. When she meets with Carrie, Kamaal, and Whitman; they begin to have questions about Cane. They look into his file and see he has a violent past. Whitman tells Kamaal that he thinks it’s possible Zeke had Cane kill Jabari and Ramirez.
As Monet updates Lorenzo about Zeke’s good news, he gets a call from Saxe who happens to be working on getting Lorenzo out of prison. Lorenzo doesn’t share any of this with Monet and asks her to leave so he can talk in private. She’s surprised by his request.
It doesn’t go well for Tariq.
Tariq has Brayden pick up the drugs from Cane so he can secretly follow Cane to his connect in Lauren’s car. However, Mecca’s henchman Nuff catches him and beats him up in front of the camera. Cane lies and tells Mecca’s associate Chef that he doesn’t know who Tariq is. Chef doesn’t believe him and tells Nuff to let Tariq go.
Tariq pulls up to Monet’s place bloodied and bruised. Dru and Everett pull up not too long after and Tariq takes a close look at who Dru arrived with before Diana helps Tariq into the house. Back at Mecca’s place, he has Chef kill Nuff because he thinks Nuff was reckless to rush to assault Tariq who Cane continues to deny knowing.
Turns out Nuff took Tariq’s phone and Cane looks at it, seeing that the family court hearing is the next day.
There are skeletons Maclean has been hiding.
Maclean visits his brother Theo again and says that if Saxe can get Lorenzo out of prison, it means he can do the same for him. But Theo says that doing so can put Maclean at risk and he could end up in prison himself if the truth of what he’s done comes out.
Lauren and Tariq meet to look at an apartment but once the landlord sees Tariq’s bruised face, she says the apartment is no longer available. So Lauren shows Tariq her brother’s old apartment he no longer uses since he’s in a halfway house. She says he can stay there and hands him a lease to use in court. He’s grateful for her help. Lauren brings up Brayden since she’s wearing a wire. Tariq tells Lauren there’s no way that it’s Brayden that Jabari was writing about in his book and he told him who it was about.
Kamaal and Whitman listen in and Kamaal says they now have a motive for Tariq because he used to sell drugs at Choate and was kicked out of school for it. Now they can get a warrant and search Tariq’s dorm room.
Monet gets a reality check from Cane and Tariq.
Cane goes off on Monet for sending Tariq to spy on him. He says he sees now that it wasn’t Tariq who was the issue, it was her. She doesn’t even treat him like a son because business comes first. But he refuses to keep being played by her. Before he storms off, he tells Monet to make sure Tariq gets his phone back.
Before Tariq can walk into the courthouse, Monet demands he gets in her car. She wants him to see she’s in control as she causes him to miss out on helping his sister. But Tariq talks himself out of this. He tells Monet she’s not really in control. It was Cane who switched Rico’s drugs out for sugar. Dru is still seeing Everett, the young man who gave Zeke’s name to officers. And Diana stole money from Monet’s bar. Tariq says that Monet needs him because he’s a set of eyes she’s going to need. So she lets him go.
Things go in Tariq’s favor as he is granted temporary guardianship over Yas. And he will pay for Estelle’s rehab program. Meanwhile, Kamaal finds Ramirez’s badge in Tariq’s dorm, which was planted by Cane.
Monet tells Mecca she does want a fresh start. She just needs time to talk to all of her children.
Ghost gets the last laugh from the grave.
When Tariq gets on campus, he is put under arrest for the murders of Jabari and Ramirez. While he’s in prison, he is told his lawyer is there to see him. It turns out to be the lawyer over Ghost’s estate, Warren. He hands Tariq an envelope Ghost told him to give Tariq if he’s arrested for homicide.
It’s a short letter that reads: I knew you’d end up here, lil n*gga. Right where you belong.
When Monet returns home, she’s surprised to see Lorenzo sitting at the dinner table laughing with the kids. They are under the impression she knew Lorenzo was getting out and she plays along.
What are your thoughts on the midseason finale?
