So last week I was so into the show that when Mecca told Monet he gifted her the $1 million to “protect their son,” I swore he was talking about Cane, and the whole time he was talking about ZEKE!! So now that we know Monet isn’t really Zeke’s aunt, but his mother, her struggles with motherhood make sense. Unlike Tasha and Raquel, Monet has yet to demonstrate the ability to be empathetic and nurturing. Monet is somewhat aware of her shortcomings as a mother, though. In this episode, she admits to making costly mistakes, like leaving Zeke at the precinct while she was boo’d up with Mecca. Monet was also unaware that it was Cane who sugared the coke, that it was Diana who took the money from the bar, and that Dru is still seeing Everett. It wasn’t until she tried to punish Tariq by blocking him from being present at his sister’s custody hearing that Tariq dropped these back-to-back bombs on her. We might as well call this episode “What Monet Doesn’t Know!” because she definitely receives the shock of her life when she walks into her home and finds her convicted felon husband, Lorenzo Tejada, sitting at her dining-room table, laughing with their children. What makes matters worse is Dru thinks she was the one who made his father’s release happen. We are midway through the season, and episode five gives us lots to think about before the season break. Let’s get right into it.
After a terrible live interview with Jemele Hill, Zeke, Monet, and Mclean ride to the precinct to allow Zeke to turn himself in. However, when they arrive, the detectives have a change of heart and calmly explain that Zeke is no longer a suspect. This happens without much additional information. Monet, only caring about Zeke’s future (i.e., his chances to make the NBA Draft) and clearing his name, isn’t concerned about an explanation, whereas Mclean is. He demands a full press briefing. With Zeke no longer a suspect, detectives Whitman and Tate turn to Jabari Reynolds’s novel to get closer to his killer. They believe that the book is based on real-life events and people, which leads them back to Stansfield. They boldly seek the assistance of Carrie. At first she refuses, and considering that they accused her of killing Jabari, she has every right to ignore their request. But after reading a draft of Jabari’s novel, she seems confident that the murderer and the main character in Reynolds’s novel is Tariq St. Patrick. She even goes as far as singling Tariq out during a class lecture on karma. According to the professor, “Karma means you cannot escape your sins, no matter how fast or far you run, they’ll always catch up to you.” Tariq remains oblivious to her passive-aggressive bullying. Typically, he can identify when others are trying to outsmart or one-up him, but with his sister’s custody hearing at the forefront of his priorities, he’s been completely distracted. In this game, distractions are costly.
With Monet on his back, Tariq is tasked with finding out more about Cane’s connect. She attempts to use Cane and Tariq against each other, which backfires on all three parties. Tariq uses Lauren’s car to follow Cane to Mecca’s place but gets caught spying and is stomped out by one of Mecca’s men. With the property under surveillance, Cane can watch the whole thing. He had the power to interrupt the beating, but instead he denies knowing Tariq. This seems to work in Tariq’s favor as Mecca’s “chef” orders Nuff to let up on Tariq, and he breaks away and heads to Monet’s house.
While upstairs in the apartment, Mecca questions both Nuff and Cane about the beatdown. Although Nuff insists that the kid (a.k.a. Tariq) was possibly one of Cane’s “little friends” that he allows to follow him, Mecca determines Nuff’s actions put them all at risk; therefore, he deserves to be punished (code for “killed”). Cane, of course, is shaken by Mecca’s dominating presence. He now has access to Tariq’s phone and sees that he’s been occupied with court dates for his little sister this whole time. For Cane, this is the exact ammo Monet has been looking for — Tariq’s soft spot. Even though he had to take an ass whooping, Tariq also got something in return for Monet— a name and an address.
Cane and Tariq are not the only ones with information. Carrie, Whitman, and Tate sort of figure out Tariq and Brayden’s drug operation, which leads them to better understand why someone would want Jabari Reynolds murdered. They still have some holes in their story line, but know that if Tariq knows about the book, he is their guy. But the only way to confirm Tariq’s knowledge of the book is through Lauren. However, Carrie runs into a little problem — Lauren no longer wants to wear the wire. She believes that Brayden is the police’s prime suspect and that Tariq has no involvement. She heads to Brayden and Tariq’s room upon leaving her professor only to find Cane there. Lauren has no idea that Carrie is playing her. She tells the police about seeing Cane in Brayden’s room which connects Tariq and Zeke and makes detective Whitman think that Zeke is still involved. Whitman goes behind Tate’s back and presents his theory about the Tejada family being connected to Ramirez’s murder of Jenny. She listens but requests a solid case to move forward; she has room for little error after publicly naming Zeke a suspect with no real motive or evidence.
Tariq also has room for little error when it comes to Yaz. He manages to convince Daniel Warren, his trust-fund attorney, to represent him at the custody hearing, and Lauren helps him secure an apartment by giving him the keys to her older brother’s apartment. But not only does Tariq show up late, but he also looks as if he just finished a WWE match. The judge reluctantly grants Tariq custody of Yasmine temporarily. Just as things begin to look up for Tariq, bad news comes tumbling down even quicker — it must be the karma that Carrie was talking about. While at the apartment, Tariq admits to Lauren that Brayden didn’t know Professor Reynolds and Professor Reynolds didn’t know Brayden. He also says (on tape, might I add) that Professor Reynolds only writes about white people, and he told Tariq who the book was about. The cops now have probable cause and set out to search Tariq’s dorm room. Of course they find Ramirez’s badge that Cane planted there. They arrest Tariq in the most public way possible and ultimately were able to do so with the help of his naïve girlfriend and wanna-be-down best friend. Is this a case of karma, or is Tariq a mini-version of his father?
