NOTE: this post contains spoilers for Power Book II: Ghost season 3 episode 4, "The Land of Opportunity."
There's a moment about a quarter into Power Book II: Ghost season 3 episode 4 where Stansfield professor Harper Bonet (Keesha Sharp) tells several students, including Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) and Effie (Alix Lapri), to write what they want on a piece of paper and stand in a line in front of the class. Tariq writes "Family" on the paper while Effie simply writes "Independence."
Bonet then asks students various questions that place them ahead and behind each other in line. Do they come from a two parent home? Did their parents leave them an inheritance? Have any of their parents been incarcerated? Who has faced sexual harassment? Effie ends up in the back while Tariq ends up near the front behind two white students, one being Brayden's sister Becca (Samantha Blaire Cutler). This leads to an interesting conversation about the nature of opportunities, factors that can affect them and the probability in overcoming them.
Tariq, Brayden (Gianni Paolo), Effie and Cane (Woody McClain) learn that exact lesson as they get comfortable pushing Noma's product. Tariq and Brayden's coffee business front is working better than ever; especially with Effie running the day-to-day. Meanwhile, Cane and Dru (Lovell Adams-Gray) are providing drugs to more territory thanks to some new alliances with Gordo (Erik Hernandez). However, Obi (Kyle Vincent Terry) adds a new layer to their illegitimate business. It turns out that Mecca was not only dealing drugs for Noma but guns as well.
This gives Cane an opportunity to get his feet wet with gun running. Through their alliance with Gordo and his family, a sale is orchestrated with some militant white supremacists. To make the sale go a bit smoother, Cane gets Brayden to make the deal happen. Everything is going fine until Brayden refuses to give up any information on who he is and who he deals with. After the leader of the militia takes a picture of Brayden, they follow him to a hotel where he drops the cash up to Cane and Lorenzo.
Immediately, Cane and Lorenzo are attacked by the militia. Just as one of the white supremacists is about to shoot Cane, Lorenzo fires a shot and saves him. As the number of militia members dwindles one-by-one, Dru and Gordo arrive to kill the rest of them. The situation leads to another opportunity for Dru to find a romantic relationship with Gordo. On the other hand, Tariq and Effie's relationship gets deeper despite her hesitance to tell him she killed Lauren (Paige Hurd); though as we know, she's not really dead.
Speaking of Lauren, she's annoyed she's under witness protection and hasn't been able to speak with her parents or enjoy decent food. Jenny (Paton Ashbrook) continues to advise her that once the case is over she can get her freedom.
Tariq begins understanding his role as the "token Black man" at the Weston firm as he attempts to get into business with Ron Jenkins (Gbegna Akinnagbe). The powerful mogul decides not to work with the firm after Lucas makes a tone-def remark about Jenkins "pulling himself by his bootstraps." Lucas immediately fires Tariq from his internship for failing to give him the heads up prior to their meeting. The only pathway to earn his internship back is through getting Jenkins back on board, which he eventually does.
After spending the past three episodes not speaking with each other, Diana (LaToya Tonodeo) gets an opportunity to mend her relationship with Monet (Mary J. Blige). After being harassed constantly by federal agent Kevin Whitman, Diana sets a plan together that ends up with him dead at the hands of Monet.
As Monet mends her rift with Diana, another split begins to develop. Monet finds out that Lorenzo (Berto Colon) has something to do with Zeke's murder after Davis (Method Man) gives her the NYPD's folder on the case. It then makes sense for the episode to end with 21 Savage’s classic single from the 2021 film Gully, titled "BETRAYED."
New episodes of Power Book II: Ghost season 3 air on Fridays on Starz.
