A Breakdown of "Power Book II: Ghost"'s Shocking Season 2 Finale

Last we saw Lauren (Paige Hurd), she was taken to the woods by Brayden (Gianni Paolo), where she thought he was giving her an out to leave town safely. Instead, Effie (Alix Lapri) shows up to kill her for catching Tariq, Brayden, and Cane (Woody McClain) on a wire and messing up their drug business. Though episode nine teased the possibility that Lauren could still be alive, the finale confirms her tragic death was caused by a "car accident."

During a run-in with Cooper Saxe (Shane Johnson) at a bar, ADA Jenny Sullivan (Paton Ashbrook) reveals that locals outside of the city found her body. Saxe's guilty conscience prompts him to relay the news to both Tariq and his partner, Davis Maclean (Method Man). He tells the latter, "We have blood on our hands," as they're responsible for letting Tariq know that Lauren was working with the prosecutor on his case. Tariq has his own suspicions around Lauren's death, knowing it likely wasn't an accident, but he still doesn't know who's really responsible for it.

After Councilman Rashad Tate (Larenz Tate) embarrasses ADA Jenny Sullivan during Tariq's trial, she tries to bring in Brayden to attest to Tariq's criminal activity. But Brayden quickly flips the script on her when he covers for Tariq, confessing that he's been the one dealing drugs at Stansfield University under Course Correct and the real subject of Jabari Reynolds's (Justin McManus) novel. The full immunity deal Brayden previously arranged gets him off the hook and Tariq's murder trial dismissed.

Now that Tariq's free, he attempts to part ways with the drug game once and for all so he can gain custody of his little sister, Yasmine (Paris Morgan), again. He tells his lawyer, Davis Maclean, that after he reunites with Yasmine, he'll no longer need his services. But Davis is quick to remind him that he will, in fact, need him in the future if Sullivan decides to come after him again with more criminal charges. Still, Tariq is determined to do things on his own terms, so he bets on Mecca's money to give him the out he needs. He teams up with Monet once again to secure the funds, agreeing to help her with her plot for Mecca. Part of Monet's plan involves Tariq helping Cane murder his own father — a subject Tariq knows all too well. While in his dorm room with Cane, Tariq warns him not to take the task lightly. "You'll never be the same again," he says.

Later in the episode, Tariq meets up with Daniel Warren (Geoffrey Owens) — the executor of the St. Patrick estate — and learns custody of Yasmine has been reversed back to him. But then Cooper Saxe shows up with some terrible news for Tariq: Lauren is dead. The news immediately sets off suspicions for Tariq, but he has nothing to go off of. Meanwhile, his mother, Tasha, is still in protective custody, but Tariq makes an executive decision to send Yasmine to live with her. Together, the two can have a normal, safe life without Tariq's interference — for now, at least. Tariq ends up sneaking a note to Tasha that reads, "Ma, I will do anything to get back to you and Yas. It will take time, I'll need money and power to do it, but I promise I will do whatever it takes."

Tariq later joins Cane to help execute the plan against Mecca and Lorenzo. But he finally reveals to Cane that the real target isn't his father and stops him from killing him just in time. With Mecca's bag in his possession, Tariq arrives at the former's apartment but finds that Monet has already killed him. Without Mecca's money for his exit from the drug game, Tariq and Monet find themselves back in business together. But trouble is just around the corner after Tariq is spotted on security footage at Mecca's apartment building around the time of his murder — by his old nemesis, Detective Blanca Rodriguez, nonetheless.

After Monet gets ousted from the family, the rest of the Tejada clan struggle to come together. But her plan to eliminate Mecca and save her family offers her a chance to get back in their good graces. Together, the Tejadas come up with a plot to recover the precious bag Mecca has been looking for (hidden by Tariq) and kill him all in one fell swoop. Everything goes smoothly until Diana — who was instructed not to look in the bag — tells Lorenzo what she discovers inside of it: papers with bank accounts made out to everyone except him, courtesy of Mecca.

Lorenzo's pride gets in his way when he runs off to Mecca's private jet, hoping to kill him himself. But instead, he accidentally shoots and kills Zeke (Daniel Bellomy) — whom he mistakes for Mecca — as he's boarding the jet. Unbeknownst to Lorenzo, Monet has already killed Mecca. Lorenzo finally realises his error when he sees the news report that Mecca's body was found at his apartment, not his private jet. The last scene of the finale shows Detective Kevin Whitman (Jeff Hephner) calling Monet to tell her Zeke is dead.

From the very beginning, Mecca has been plotting something bigger than just being the connect for the Tejadas. While we know he's been trying to be active in his son Zeke's life, Mecca's also been on a mission to reunite with his childhood love, Monet. And he planned to do so by getting Cane to kill his father, Lorenzo, so he could whisk Monet and Zeke away from New York City on his jet. However, Mecca's plans go awry when Monet fools him into a trap, killing him in his own apartment. She shoots him right in the head, leaving his lifeless body for the police to discover.