[This story contains spoilers from the Power Book II: Ghost series finale.]
On the very first episode of Power created by Courtney Kemp and rapper-turned-TV mogul Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson back in June 2014, there was no way of knowing that the kid in the nice penthouse apartment asking his mother Tasha (Naturi Naughton) if his father James St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), who spoke fluent Spanish, could “hook up” his Spanish homework as she served breakfast was on his way to becoming a drug kingpin. At that point, the young Tariq didn’t even know his father was himself a kingpin known on the streets as Ghost (Hardwick). And that his mother also knew. Michael Rainey Jr. was just a few months from turning 14. Now a decade later, just over a week after turning 24, he’s closed out another series.
When Power Book II: Ghost premiered Sept. 6, 2020, the pandemic had put the whole country and world on a life-turning timeout. Power, the show’s foundation, had ended that February just before the country went on lockdown, and Rainey Jr.’s Tariq had killed his father. Developing a show around a character as unlikable as Tariq — who was the reason his twin sister, the sweet Raina (Donshea Hopkins), was killed, and who willingly chose to run with the nefarious Kanan (Jackson) — was definitely risky. To make the risk a bit more palpable, Tasha and Tommy (Joseph Sikora), the crazy Irish drug dealer who had been his dad’s ride-or-die best friend, had recurring roles.
Then there was the addition of music icons Mary J. Blige as Monet, the queenpin of the Tejada Family who was both ally and foe to Tariq (“Tariq’s relationship with Monet was weird because one day she wanted him dead. Same thing with Tariq. One day, it’s like ‘Monet’s gotta go,’ and then the next day it’s like, ‘I don’t know,’” says Rainey Jr.), and Clifford “Method Man” Smith as the shady, money-hungry lawyer Davis who evolves into a big brother to Tariq somewhat mirroring their real-life dynamic. Rainey Jr., who says he and Blige “definitely became super close,” considers Naughton a “second mother,” and Jackson “my mentor and father figure.”
But it’s the young cast that gave Ghost its drive. Per his father’s wishes, Tariq was in college, at Stansfield University, barred from accessing any funds until graduation. But whenever he needed money, be it for his mother’s defense or anything else, he felt forced to turn to the street to get it or sometimes forced there for personal survival. Like Ghost, he had his Tommy in Brayden (Gianni Paolo), a trust fund baby. “I think what brings them together is they want to be in this game,” says Rainey Jr. Then there’s Monet’s kids Dru (Lovell Adams-Gray), jealous rival Cane (Woody McClain) and sometimes love interest Diana (LaToya Tonodeo), as well as one-time girlfriends Effie (Alix Lapri) and Lauren (Paige Hurd).
Over the four seasons, Tariq went through so much. From tutoring basketball star Zeke (Daniel Bellomy), who was also Monet’s secret son (not her nephew) to Monet wanting him dead and Cane never liking him. To worrying about his mother’s safety in witness protection and always having the Feds trying to bust him, not to mention battling the Russians and drug dealer Mecca, who was Monet’s old flame and Zeke’s father. All the way to the fourth and final season of fighting off international drug dealer Noma (Caroline Chikezie), using her daughter Anya (Sydney Winbush) in the process, and dirty cop and task force leader Carter (Michael Ealy). And while the series Ghost is over, Tariq is still in the game, on top, and owning his father’s name.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Rainey Jr. about his Power and Ghost journey, locking in on not just Ghost’s series ending but the overall process of getting there, the young women in Tariq’s life, why he believed Tariq would still be standing, if Tariq is headed to the other logical Power franchise — and what the legacy of the franchise and series is.
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How are you feeling now that the Ghost journey is over? What are your immediate emotions?
I’m just ready for the next chapter. Previously I said, it’s bittersweet. It’s kind of emotional, but now that we’re here, the emotions are kind of gone. I’m at a lot more peace with it now. Obviously, we still wanted to continue the Ghost story, but everything has to come to an end. So you’ve got to accept it and keep moving forward.
Talk about Tariq’s journey and how your role as Tariq grew.
As far as my journey on Power and how my role as Tariq grew, I really think it was the hiatus between, I either season two going into three, or it might have been three going into four, when I filmed Barbershop, Barbershop 3. My character in Barbershop, his relationship with his father was kind of similar to Tariq’s relationship with his father, but it wasn’t as extreme. They both bumped heads a lot. I guess they saw that, and were like, “Okay, we could build off this, we could play off him and his father not really getting along.” And I guess they saw just a little bit of potential there in Barbershop 3, and decided to write my story a little bit bigger.
Take us back to that moment when they came to you and said, “Ghost is going to die, and Tariq is going to kill him.“
At that moment, people already hated Tariq so I’m just like, “Damn, y’all really don’t want nobody liking Tariq ever again. Y’all are really feeding into the fanbase not liking Tariq.” Because that’s really what they do: they see certain reactions from our fanbase, from the audience, and they build on it. And I guess that’s what they did with people hating Tariq; they really went forward trying to build on that. My thought process was, “oh no, what’s gonna happen after this?” I was definitely shocked.
How did they come to you with the idea to spinoff Power Book II: Ghost?
I don’t even know what made them think to consider a spinoff of my character. I wasn’t really sure of the thought process behind that. I guess they just saw that a lot of people were reacting to a lot of things that Tariq did, even though people didn’t really like Tariq’s character. But the moment the spinoff came out, I feel like they already had a plan on how they could spin it and make fans have a change of heart towards Tariq. I feel like they already knew what was going to happen once they made the decision.
Who was Tariq on Power and who was Tariq on Ghost?
On Power, everything [Tariq] did was out of anger towards his family, anger towards his dad, stuff like that. It was a lot less calculated. He would just do things off emotion. But Tariq in Ghost, he has people to provide for. So I feel his actions on Ghost are completely different than his actions on Power. He has a purpose. He has a reason behind everything he’s doing on Ghost compared to in Power where he’s just young, so everything affects him differently. He got mad and acted off impulse. In Ghost, he’s more calculated and thought out. He knows what he’s doing a lot more compared to Tariq in Power.
Tariq spent so much time insisting he’s not his father’s son, only to be his father’s son. How did he make peace with that?
I think it comes down to the conversation he had with Effie in the past when she said, “Oh, you’re a monster, and once you accept the fact that you’re a monster, it’ll be way easier for you to just be who you are.” And I think this whole season you see him battling that. You see him trying to shy away but then he has that scene where he [realizes], “I gotta be on top.”
Tariq also went from a boy to a ladies’ man, and he had a nice rotation of love interests. What did each of these women represent for Tariq? What were Lauren, Diana and Effie to Tariq? Anya is just complicated.
Anya, she’s just a pawn in the game. Lauren, she was his sense of just living a normal life. When he’s with her, he sees what it’s like being out the game: imagine us being just normal college kids. That’s what he thinks when he sees Lauren. With Diana, he sees so much in her outside of them just being in the game. He sees that she wants to do things differently. He likes it, but it doesn’t change his mind; he still wants to do what he wants to do. He also likes the fact that she’s still in the game, because even though she wants out of it, she still understands certain things. She still understands the reasoning behind a lot of things that he does. That’s what keeps him around Diana. I feel like Effie has been super real with him. She was the one who helped him figure out who he really is, like that scene about accepting he’s a monster. So, all of them bring a different feeling.
When Tariq thought he was going to be a father, he seemed to welcome that. What do you think that child represented for Tariq?
I guess a new chapter in his life. And obviously, Diana didn’t want him to be doing the same thing he was doing, but he didn’t really agree with her. They were both on two different sides of the fence in that situation, but I still feel Tariq would have tried his hardest to be there for the kid. He would have been a good father. But I also feel like him not wanting to get out of the game would have affected [him as a father] in a way that he wouldn’t even expect.
What made Noma a worthy adversary for Tariq?
She was just devious. She was a menace. She came in and she was just going to run New York. She was just trying to call the shots. … she came in and shook things up in a different way.
And then Carter, with Michael Ealy coming in?
Man, Carter. Now that was a whole different beast. Carter, he’s ruthless. He wants to solve a case the way he wants to solve the case, and he doesn’t care who dies in the midst of it. He’s crazy. Aside from Carter, Michael Ealy himself, the way he brought that character to life is super dope. Every time I would see that me and him had a scene on the call sheet for the day, I would just be super excited, because working with him, it’s like sparring; it’s like a little boxing match. He pushes you to be your best in the scene. He’s a great scene partner.
Did you expect Tariq to still be standing in the end?
Yeah. Only because I was like, “who’s really going to take Tariq out?” He always has an answer. I don’t know who would have been the right person to take him out. Imagine Carter coming in the final season and killing Tariq, that just wouldn’t have made sense. Then again, the writers, if they wanted to write it that way, they could have made it make every bit of sense. Even like Ghost, we didn’t think Ghost dying would have made sense in the end of Power, but they made it make sense. He was kind of tripping. He was becoming a different person. So stuff like that made the demise of his character make sense. As far as Tariq, I don’t really know who would have made sense.
At the very end of Ghost, it sounded like Tariq got a call from Tommy, and that he’s going over to Power spinoff Force. So, you tell me where Tariq is going next.
Like we say, Power never ends. So I’m excited to see what’s to come in the future.
What do you think Power and Ghost’s legacy is?
Iconic. One of the greatest TV shows in history. Not just TV show, but one of the greatest TV show franchises with four successful spinoffs. Not a lot of TV shows can say that they’ve done that. It’s crazy. It’s definitely a huge accomplishment, especially when you have something like Power that was so big, especially at the time. It’s huge shoes to fill. Three to four different shows, that’s tough. It’s definitely a great feeling to be a part of an iconic franchise. It’s legendary.
Source: Hollywoodreporter
