Power Book II: Ghost is back, baby!
The Power spin-off was a hit in its freshman year. And they’re coming back even stronger, with a wonderful cast that includes seasoned actors Mary J. Blige and Method Man. They are returning as Tejada family queenpin, Monet, and carnivorous lawyer, Davis Maclean, respectively.
TV Fanatic was lucky enough to talk to the two superstars about all things Power, as they look ahead to a crazy Power Book II: Ghost Season 2.
Heading into the new season, Monet has a one-track mind. And the one thing she’s focused on is her children.
As Blige explained, “Monet’s headspace is in a place where she really wants a safe place for her children. And she’s trying to figure a way to get out where she can still live the way she wants to live and protect her children and herself.
So, people in a lot of trouble because she’s looking for that non-drug dealer way to get out, that legit way, that legal way to get out.”
Her family will always remain her priority because, “Family is everything to Monet. Everything she does is for her children, period. It’s for her children and the safety of her children. So, family means everything to her.”
On the flipside, Davis Maclean swaggers back into the new season, coming off a significant win. Method Man stated, “I think Davis is riding a high right now,” when asked about Davis’s current headspace.
“He just won one of the biggest cases of his career. And he just hired a former US attorney who knows a federal court system better than anyone in that office. I think he’s doing pretty good for himself.”
From the start, Davis’s motto has seemed to be winning by any means necessary, but it’s never been clear what he’s ultimately after. Is it the power, the fame, or a combination of the two?
As Method Man described it, “Well, in the beginning, a lot of people thought it was just money. Davis isn’t motivated by money. Davis is motivated by, no pun intended, power, absolutely power. At the table, it’s that thing Saxe Sanders used to say, ‘If you look good, you feel good, you feel good, you play good, you play good, pay good.’
Davis knows that. He knows that he’s done all that already. He’s ready to move on to the next level where he’s calling the shots.”
In her family, Monet has called the shots for a very long time, but it’s put her at odds with her three children at times. And even though they remain her focus, those relationships will continue to change. And perhaps not for the best.
With Monet and Diana, Blige stated, “The mother and daughter dynamic is going to continue to evolve in not such a positive way because Monet is kind of smothering the children because she doesn’t want them to either end up dead or in jail. So, they’re all trying to figure out their own way and wiggle out from under her.
And it just gets messy, especially with the daughter because she wants things that Monet doesn’t want, and she should probably mind her business on it. So, it gets a little sticky. It’s not too nice.”
For Monet and her youngest, Dru, their relationship remains fractured, with Blige simply stating that, “Monet’s got a lot of work to do with Dru. She’s got a lot of stroking and healing. And because he blames her for his shooting, of course. So, she’s got to kiss the ring with Drew a little bit, and he’s mad.”
Cane is currently on the outside looking in, but could there be hope for Monet and her oldest son? “I know that Cane loves his mother, he loves being the oldest, and he loves pleasing his mom,” Blige explained.
“So that relationship is definitely going to elevate, I believe, because he loves his mom and Monet loves him. She loves her son. She just don’t like how he doesn’t listen when it comes to the business. So without giving you too much, yes, they can fix that.”
Another interesting dynamic for Monet is the one with Tariq. It’s been up and down, and it’s hard to figure out how much trust these two have in one another.
When asked about that, Blige responded, “I don’t think she really trusts Tariq. I think she trusts that he understands the game, and that’s what she needs, so she’s going to use him, and she loves him with that kind of love, the love that I trust you to be Tariq. So that’s what she trusts at the end of the day.
And that’s what makes her happy about Cane is that he knows the game. And so that’s what’s making her draw close as well. Because he knows the game, and Cane is out there flipping and acting crazy. So, she’s like, okay, then I’ll take you.”
We haven’t gotten much in the way of learning about Davis and his backstory. But that’s going to change moving forward.
The inclusion of a new character with a direct relationship to Davis allows the show room to explore Davis in more depth, which is something Method Man is excited about.
“That’s the beauty of being able to have a second season. They’re starting to explore the backstory of Davis. I think it’s going to blow a few people’s minds. It is what it is.
I think this is the sole reason that Courtney is the genius that she is because she took a throwaway line from the first season, myself in the interrogation room with Tasha asking her or telling her I don’t ask anyone to lie, not even my brother.
And she took that one line and said, ‘How would you like Redman to play your brother in the next season?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, hell yeah. Let’s go.’ And from there, people will see that I have a different energy than I do with Tariq and Saxe and all these other people that I have with my brother.”
And reuniting with his longtime collaborator was easy for the actor, as Method Man explained, “We’ve been on the road, mad years together. So, on screen, we did How High, we did Jay and Silent Bob, it’s clockwork. It’s nothing, really. It’s like action. We ready.”
Blige and Method Man haven’t gotten much time together on-screen, but that’s something Blige would love to see happen, as well as more scenes with her embattled on-screen son.
“Of course, I would love to do some more working with Meth because he’s just amazing,” Blige stated. “Like when we have a scene with him, he’s just phenomenal. And so definitely some more scenes with him. Definitely some more scenes with Cane because he’s amazing as well.”
For his part and who he’d like to see Davis pal around with, Method Man teased, “Ooh, man. Like I said, I don’t want to give away anything in the season, but I don’t think Davis leaves any stone unturned this season. Let’s just keep it there on the surface and leave it at that.”
Davis’s partnership with Saxe will be featured this season, and when asked about where we’ll see that pairing go, Method Man replied, “Well, I mean, if it gets messy, it’s based off the fact that they’re two sides of the same coin.
Saxe, basically, I think his problem is he has this sort of twisted moral code coming from the federal government, being a US attorney, and all of that. But Davis is from the private practice world. We work a little bit differently now. This is where you don’t need the truth to win kind of thing comes in.
He’s willing to bend the rules, whereas Saxe isn’t even willing to bend his moral code. So, it’s going to be sort of a pimp schooling, an assistant pimp on how the game work, and that whole dynamic between those two is going to be a hell of a ride for people to see, trust.”
Monet has a partnership with Lorenzo. And while the two have spent some limited quality time together as of late, we couldn’t help but ask Blige if she could tell us anything about Monet’s personal life moving forward.
Blige teased, “A personal life with her and Lorenzo, it gets messy because a love interest from the past comes in, and it was someone that she liked. It’s messy. Everybody’s getting a little messy.”
With the success of Power Book II: Ghost Season 1, we wondered how both stars feel about their inception into the coveted Power fandom.
Blige explained, “Well, from what I understand, they like the character. I don’t go online. I don’t care about any of that stuff. Like I don’t have time for that. But from when I see people on the street, they’re like, ‘Yo, yo, we love Monet. Do you really know her? Did you do that?’
No, I just know the character, so I know how to be the character. So yeah, I’m happy that they like the character.”
For Method Man, he responded, “Well, it’s funny because in the beginning, in a lot of these people’s minds, you didn’t even watch the show. The first two episodes, it was more or less like, “Oh, Meth can’t act.” I’m just laughing because I already know a lot of these people didn’t even watch the show.
And they were just upset that I was even playing a lawyer. They figured I would be somebody with a gun in my hand. Thank God I wasn’t. But by the third, fourth and fifth episode, it was, ‘Ooh, I hate Method Man. Why is he doing that?’ Oh, I thought I couldn’t act.
I mean, three, four episodes ago, I couldn’t act, but now I’m getting you guys to feel emotions and things of that nature coming out. So for me, that was my redemption, so to speak. And by the end of the season, myself, Mary and the show, we won an image award. So that speaks value. That speaks value for us.”
With the new season on the horizon, Method Man has some words for the fans, who’ve been highly anticipating new episodes since the closing frames of Power Book II: Ghost Season 1 Episode 10.
“I like to tell them that what you think you know about Davis, most of it is true. And what you don’t know about Davis will keep you coming back for more.”
And with that, we conclude our Ghost interviews! We’ll be covering the whole season here at TV Fanatic, so make sure to come back and keep up week to week!
Power Book II: Ghost Season 2 premieres on November 21st at 8 pm on STARZ.
***This interview has been edited for length and clarity.***
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.