Cane is already having some questions about Lorenzo’s demise.
The Tejada kids are taking Lorenzo’s death hard. Dru wants to go out and handle the person responsible. And he tells Monet and his siblings he heard the Russians are the killers. Diana tells Dru they can’t move off of gossip. Cane and Monet think they need concrete evidence before jumping into a war they really don’t want.
This upsets Dru as he feels as if no action is being taken to avenge Lorenzo’s death. So he storms off. Diana follows behind to check on him. Monet takes her time alone with Cane to urge him to go through the process to collect what is owed to them from Lorenzo’s life insurance. And Cane questions if Monet had anything to do with Lorenzo’s death since she had some questions before he died.
Monet scoffs at this. She denies that she killed Lorenzo because she figured out he lied about International Guap killing Zeke. But she warns Cane to stop being an investigator because he’s not smart enough for that job.
Brayden is confronted by Tariq.
Tariq immediately beats Brayden with his fists once they see each other. While the two friends are fist fighting, Tariq demands to know how Lauren really died because he’s being investigated for her murder. Brayden says he was going to drive Lauren out of town as Tariq asked. However, Cane approached him saying Lauren was wearing a wire. And Effie is likely the one who told him this.
After the fight, Tariq tells Brayden not to tell Effie about their conversation.
Saxe and Tate meet up at a bar. Tate is interested in Saxe’s suggestion to get involved in Theo’s case for good campaign publicity. However, Tate will only agree to this if Maclean agrees to run against Tate’s opponent. That way Maclean can do his dirty work while Tate keeps his hands clean.
Once Tate leaves, Jenny shows up. It’s become clear that Jenny used Saxe to get what was necessary to go after Tariq. But Saxe has no choice but to keep helping her or Jenny will let the authorities know that Saxe went to Truth with a gun the night of Ghost’s death.
Effie and Tariq clash.
Tariq and Effie go for a drive. While they are in the car, Tariq admits to killing Ghost. And he explains he did it to protect Tasha. He then asks Effie if there’s anything she wants to confess to him. She tells him she was abused by her mother’s boyfriend. It devastated her when her mother married him anyway.
At this point, Effie notices where they are driving. It’s the place Effie attempted to dump off Lauren while she was unconscious. She panics and Tariq demands to know the truth. Lauren says she did what had to be done to protect Tariq because Lauren was wearing a wire. And he should have gotten rid of her himself.
Regardless, Tariq is furious. Effie’s actions have resulted in him being investigated for Lauren’s death. He tells Effie he loved her. But she ruined everything. And he’s done with her. So she has to find her way back to campus on her own.
Lauren gets her wish to have a conversation with Saxe after Jenny arranges it. Saxe tells Lauren that it’s unlikely that Tariq tried to have her killed. However, he feels Tariq is still a monster. Lauren learns about Tariq’s drug dealing which began before he was in high school. And Saxe also says that Tariq likely has something to do with the body discovered on campus as well as Jabari’s death. So Lauren has a chance to testify to put him away for good.
Cane tries to get the group back together.
Brayden and Effie get into a huge argument once they learn Tariq has kicked them out of the business. Tariq later tells Cane that they don’t need either to move the product for Noma. He even thinks Diana can help them cover Stansfield.
Cane realizes the sudden change is likely because Tariq found out about what really happened to Lauren. He has no regrets about telling Brayden and Effie that Lauren needed to go. And Tariq should have handled the situation anyway.
Brayden tries to talk Cane into investing the insurance money from Lorenzo with the Weston Fund. But Cane says he’s not going to do this until Brayden gets back in with Tariq. The issue is Noma said they will all die if they don’t move her product. So Cane wants the group to stick together. Brayden is instructed to man up so Tariq will respect him.
Diana’s boyfriend Salim makes some insensitive comments about Lorenzo on the day of his repass. He feels as if Lorenzo’s life of crime is the real cause of his death. So he doesn’t have much empathy. Diana has had enough and kicks Salim out of the Tejada house.
Dru makes his move.
Tariq attempts to get to work back at the Weston Fund. He’s told his access to the building has been cut off. Brayden comes out to remind Tariq he can’t work at the firm until Tariq lets him back into the business they built together. He apologizes for not telling Tariq the truth. Tariq storms off.
With everything falling apart around him, Tariq doesn’t feel like he has anyone in his life that he can really trust. So he visits Raina’s grave to vent. His grandmother Estelle shows up. She has been leaving flowers every week since Tasha and Yas left.
Estelle believes Tariq is the reason why she lost everything. But she still loves her grandson and warns him to stop what he’s doing before he ends up dead like Ghost.
Dru approaches Gordo about his need to take out Lorenzo’s killer. Gordo says he understands this and would do the same. So Dru will move forward with his plan to take out the Russians although Monet asked him not to do this. He ends up killing a Russian named Paz with Gordo and his brother’s help.
Estelle will get the reunion she wanted.
Tariq heads to Diana’s to talk her into moving product at the school. She says she doesn’t want to be in the game because Lorenzo was killed. He confirms he dumped Effie, and they sleep together. The next day Effie comes by to ask Diana if they can move weight together. She’s hurt when she sees Tariq sitting on top of Diana’s bed.
The next day, Tariq walks out of his dorm with a bag. He sends a text to Estelle to confirm he’s on the way to her location. After he makes it to the train station, Noma’s henchmen follow him. They grab him and demand to know where he is going. They open up the bag to find the drugs. And Tariq tells them he was in the process of making a drop. He’s given one last warning about leaving town and reminded to come with Brayden, Cane, and Effie next time.
Tariq leaves Noma’s crew. He calls Estelle to tell her that he can’t make it with her out of town. But he purposely set it up so she’ll be living with Yas and Tasha. She’s emotional, and not wanting to leave Tariq behind. But he promises to find his way back to her, Tasha, and Yas soon. He just has more to do to exit the drug game once and for all.
Dru’s plan comes with consequences.
Blanca and Jenny sit in on Lorenzo’s funeral. While Diana is giving a speech, they reveal they have photos of Diana dropping drugs off at the secret spot on campus. A campus camera recorded the footage. The plan is to approach Diana when they have more leverage.
The funeral eventually turns into a shootout when the Russians show up via a drive-by. Cane is furious to find out Dru went behind his back and caused a war. However, Monet says that Dru made the right decision. And Dru is seemingly going to be the head of the family moving forward. Cane storms off.
Cane feels seemingly bad about Effie’s fallout with Tariq. So he tells her he will quietly give her some product on the side to sell since Tariq kicked her out of the business. This is his way to pay her back for handling Lauren since Tariq didn’t.
Tariq eventually meets up with Brayden to confirm they have to work together if they want to stay alive. But it’s time to make a plan to finally rid themselves of Noma. It starts with the photo Effie pointed out. They will need to locate Noma’s daughter for a real chance.
As Monet is walking back into the house, she receives a phone call from Maclean. He tells her that the feds “roped up the Russians for now.” But she needs to be smart. Once she hangs up the phone, she sees a ghost of Lorenzo smoking a cigar. He tells her that the children will figure out she had him killed. And they will never forgive her.
What are your thoughts on the episode?
