Yo. Does anyone on this show trust anyone else on this show? No one is who they seem to be and everyone’s lying all the time.
Tasha isn’t who Keisha thinks she is. And she fronts like her marriage is back on for Angie. Kate lies to Angela. Kanan isn’t who Tarik thinks he is. Tarik isn’t where he’s supposed to be. Dre isn’t who Ghost thinks he is. Ghost isn’t who anybody thinks he is. Angie’s wearing wires on Ghost. Tommy is lying about his whereabouts. Dean is actually Milan. Mike is a double agent. Angie is pretending to like Greg again. And Greg, who we thought was so pressed for her, really isn’t, but pretends to like her just to make her think that he’s a sucker for her platinum P.
Gah!! Who are these people? And where are Reina and that baby? Did they write her out of the script like Judy Winslow?
Let’s get into last night’s episode.
A badly beaten Tommy awakens in the warehouse where he got his ass beat the night before. His alarm clock? A large dog that looks like the kind police used to sic on black folks during the Civil Rights Movement. Milan has the dog by the chain. This guy.
Tommy thinks Milan is going to hold him for ransom, but nope, Milan says Tommy is free to go. He only kept Tommy there because last night, his guys beat the sh—out of Tommy and a man in that condition should not be left alone. Well, that’s sweet. Tommy doesn’t get what Milan’s angle is, but if he’s not a hostage, he would like to leave. Milan says for him to get some rest and he’ll stop by later.
Mike meets up with one of Lobos’s henchmen who demands to know where Lobos is. Mike doesn’t know. No BS. Dude isn’t there for Mike’s nonchalance about Lobos’s disappearance. He says he needs a plane ticket and a million dollars to get out of town. Mike says he ain’t got it. The guy threatens to kill Mike's ex-wife and daughter. And he’ll give Mike the phone he used to contact Lobos in exchange.
Tommy’s at his loft recovering and listening to sad Motown songs (The Miracles’s “You Really Got A Hold On Me”) when Jamie pops up. He wants to know where Tommy’s been all night, but pauses when sees Tommy’s face. Tommy explains, “our Serbian friend doesn’t like my loyalty to the church.” Ghost tells Tommy about Milan popping up at his house and threatening the kids. I assumed the song “You Really Got A Hold On Me” was because Tommy missed Holly. And it probably is. But it also works for their situation with Milan.
Ghost also mentions the Feds found Lobos’s body. Um… duh!. You didn’t bury it because you were too lazy to drag it back. Tommy’s not surprised either. Ghost says the Feds think Angela is the leak and he wants to know the name of the Inside Man that Tommy worked with. Tommy says he doesn’t know and no, he ain’t asking around for it because he doesn’t like Angela. Ghost says if the Feds catch on to Angela, they catch on to them too.
Angie’s at work looking at the survelliance footage from the hotel. Just as Tasha told her, James was there. In another room, the Fed guys are threatening Ruiz with jail time. His lawyer ain’t having it. Ruiz told them about his involvement in the game so he could rat on Lobos and he was given immunity. They’re still trying to get him to give up Ghost. Lobos says “fuck you” and dips.
Dre runs up on Ghost in the office at Truth. He’s as shocked as Ghost was to learn that Tatiana is alive and that Milan popped up at Ghost's house. Ghost assures Dre that Milan doesn’t know that Dre is the one that called the police about Tatiana’s disappearance. Dre wants to know what they’re going to do. Ghost says he has to learn everything about Milan since Milan knows everything about him. In the meantime, only talk club business in the club. Speaking of club business, Karen decided to work with the club across the street instead of Truth. Ghost storms out. And Dre texts Kanan with an update.
Ghost is strolling through the club when he spots one of Milan’s henchman smoking illegal cigarettes. He steals them. I have no idea where this is going.
Tommy shows up to a warehouse to meet with the same Lobos guy that met with Mike. The guy pulls a gun on him and then Ghost pulls a gun on that guy. They want the FBI Inside Man, aka Mike. The guy says “no” and they proceed to march him thru the warehouse to who knows where. I think they were planning to torture him for information.
Like Lobos, he won’t STFU. He mentions Belle, the dead dog, and laughs at the idea of Holly and Tommy crying together over the dog. Tommy lights his ass up. Damn. Ghost is pissed ‘cause they could have made him talk. Tommy cares not. “F--k Angela,” he says. “tell your b---h not to talk if they step to her.” Oh, and he’s keeping the gun. He leaves Ghost to clean up the body.
Well alrighty then. Ghost digs through the guy's pocket and finds a cellphone.
At work. Angela, Sax and Greg are waiting for a meeting to start. Sax is trying to figure out who the leak is when Black Donovan walks in. He says Lobos was a premeditated hit, but it seemed personal. Oh, and two sets of footprints were found, but there was only one shooter. Greg perks up. He knows what that means: Ghost and Tommy. Angela looks alarmed because, well, she should be. Greg is coming for her ass.
Jamie is at Truth texting Dre to keep Tarik away from the club. Oh, no, actually he’s in a meeting with the Boss Lady who is trying to figure out who the leak is at the FBI. She wants to know about James’s relationship with Angie and offers him immunity for his testimony against Angela. He says he has no idea what Boss Lady is talking about.
Over at Eastern District, the folks who are investigating Lobos’s murder, Greg is talking to his buddy about his theory of who killed Lobos: Ghost and Tommy. Dude is not trying to hear Greg and his conspiracy theories. He kicks Greg out of his office.
Jamie is meeting with a cop buddy in a NYC park. He passes him the cigarettes he stole from the henchman and asks him to help him find the seller of said cigarettes, who Jamie thinks is Milan. Jamie wants an address or a warehouse. Dude says he can’t help, but he can tell Jamie where sellers of the product have been busted. Maybe from there he can find out who their distributor is. Jamie’s gonna have to “do the legwork” and drink a lot if he wants people to talk.
Tasha comes down to the lobby to find Angela waiting for her. Yo. The huevos on this chick. You’re gonna pop up not once, but three times at the house of the wife of your ex. This is the most unruly sidechick in history.
Tasha spots her and quips, “aint you got a job?
Angie: “I do. Putting murdering drug dealers in jail. What do you do?”
Ooh. Is this sidepiece trying to get sassy? This is how folks get dragged by their real hair.
Angie says Jamie’s alibi will hold up in court. She wants to know about Tommy. Angie says Tasha should expect a visit from the FBI. Tasha volunteers that Tommy was with his mother on Long Island. Once Angie leaves, Tasha is all in her phone texting either Tommy or Ghost.
Across town. Milan introduces Tommy to his warehouse, the place where he keeps his good ish, the pills. Their plan is to sell pills from fixed locations. Tommy suggests couriers since the customers are high-end. Milan is impressed.
Dre is waiting outside Tarik’s school to pick up the kiddo, who is apparently back in class. Uh-oh. It’s Kanan calling. Dre complains Ghost got him acting “like a f---ing nanny.” Dre says he has to go.
Angie heads to Long Island to visit Kate. She wants to know where Tommy was all day. Kate says they watched some talk shows and Tommy really likes Dr. Phil. But really, she doesn’t have her story together yet. Tommy walks in mid-interview. Angie’s shook and stands to go. Tommy tells her to sit.
Angela is grilling Tommy now. She says she knows Ghost and Tommy killed Lobos and while Ghost’s alibi is solid. Tommy’s is not. Surprise, surprise. Tommy says he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Angie tells Tommy to get his mother together. She also mentions that if Holly were still around, he would have an air tight alibi. “We questioned that girl four hours,” she says. “She didn’t say a f--king word.”
We know that anything about Holly is a trigger for Tommy. He accuses Angela of telling Ghost something. He knows she is scared. He says it was dumb of her to come to the house and that she needs to stay cool. “If you don’t, you and Ghost gonna need his and her jumpsuits,” he says.
Dre and Tarik are playing basketball when Kanan pops up. Kanan takes an interest in Tarik. He wants to know who taught him how to play ball. Tarik says his friends Sean… “until he died.” Oh, God this is awkward. Fiddy says his name is “Slim” and he used to know Sean; they used to play ball together.
Dre is so uncomfortable. It was one thing to set up Ghost. But Tarik? Dre has a kid. And he’s seen Kanan threaten his daughter and knows he killed his own son. When Kanan sends Dre to get a drink so he can have alone time with Tarik, Dre hesitates. Kanan insists and off he goes.
Kanan makes small talk with Tarik, offering to pick him up from school to play ball. He’s full of compliments and questions. Dre comes back quickly, insisting that Tarik must go home.
Jamie’s at Truth when Milan approaches him to set up a meeting to talk expansion. Ghost tries to brush him off, but surprise! The meeting is now and it’s at Truth on the dance floor. Everyone is there! Even Tommy. Even Ruiz! It’s a party! It’s a party!
Tommy is running the show. He fills in the team on their new product, “the future”. Pills! “And none of that fake sh—from China that’ll make you go at a cop with retard strength,” Tommy says. “Name brand quality sh—“
Pause.
Pause.
That was politically incorrect and funny as f---. Oh, Tommy. For the small brigade that finds Tommy annoying and wants him killed off the show, lines like these are why he will never die. This is offensive gold.
Sorry. I’m back.
Here’s the catch: everyone has to pay for their drugs upfront. Ruiz is pissed. Since when does a distro tell him what to sell and how to spend? Tommy says right about now as Milan looks on approvingly. Ruiz is not about this life. “I sell dope,” he says. “Not sleeping pills for soccer moms to suck down with their Chardonnay.”
Oh Ruiz! How I’ve missed you.
The Korean distro says he doesn’t want in. Oh, and he knows Tommy killed his son even if he can’t prove it.
Milan nods and poof! A henchman kills the Korean distro. Right there on the dance floor. Everyone’s shocked, except Milan, who has killed many, many times before. Tommy recovers nicely tho. He asks if anyone else has a problem. No? Alright then. Tommy says he will teach them how to get the pills on every corner in New York.
After the meeting, Ghost meets Tommy at Tommy’s car. Tommy’s chilling with a Diddy-esque lollipop. Ghost is pissed about the killing in the club and that Tommy gave up their whole system. Tommy’s all, “you said we worked for Milan, so… “ He has given not one single f--- since he killed Holly, and won’t start now. Tommy says Milan is just testing him to see how he reacts. He tells Ghost to “pull your shit together” and think. Oh, and straighten out Ruiz.
Ghost says he will.
Keisha and Tasha are at the beauty shop counting money when Milan walks in. Um… ya’ll in the hood counting money with the door unlocked? He’s talking in his American accent, until Tasha tries to brush him off. He says he’s not dangerous to Keisha, who doesn’t know who he is, but she also doesn’t know about Tasha either, alluding to the money laundering she’s doing at Keisha’s business. And he guesses that Ghost doesn’t know about Tasha—and Tommy’s— business either.
“But he will”, Tasha says. “A white boy bouncing into a weave shop in the middle of the hood…” She suggests Milan go before anyone asks questions. Milan tells her to tell Ghost to call off his plan to get rid of him “or he will force my hand.“
Keisha, who has been listening to the conversation from the corner, spills some rollers to break the tension. After Milan dips, Keisha wants to know what’s up and if Tasha is turning her shop into a drug front. Tasha says Keisha was never supposed to know. Keisha’s pissed. “I could lose everything and go to jail,” Keisha says. “Who’s going to take care of my son, then?” She tells Tasha to leave, but Tasha says she can’t and that the only way to protect Kiesha is for Tasha to stay and not to tell anyone. Keisha says she doesn’t have to promise her sh--. Keisha walks out, leaving Tasha calling after her.
Angie is at Greg’s lobby when he gets home. She wants him to know that she would never do anything to endanger anyone in law enforcement. Angie says she needs Greg to know that it wasn’t her who snitched on Lobos. He tells her to prove that she isn’t the leak and that he hopes St. Patrick was worth it. Angie grabs his arm affectionately. Jamie is watching from a car the whole time. Now he’s following Angie? This woman’s chocha must be platinum.
Mike is in a garage ad calling a cellphone that doesn’t get an answer. He has the passport and the cash. He knows something is wrong.
At work, Angie is putting her coat away when MJ aka Big Boss pops up at her office. She tells Angie that she went by Truth, and “I get it now” about Angie’s attraction to Ghost. She says Angie knows he was involved in the Lobos murder, but she doesn’t think James killed Lobos, but knows who did. She reminds Angie that this is a death penalty case and that she will be eaten alive by a jury. She suggests Angie wear a wire and get Jamie to confess. “I saw his face when I said your name. I think he’d confess just to get back up that pencil skirt,” she says.
Angie says it’s bullshit and she’s not the leak. She says, “If I could prove he was guilty, I would serve him up to you on a got damn platter.” Big Boss says she hopes Angie survives this.
Ghost is at the St. Patricks and asleep on the couch when Tasha comes in ranting that the kids saw him come home drunk the night before. She hasn’t seen him like that in years. He says he went to a bar “to do some research” and is “in control” and will "get the family out from under this” aka Lobos. He says he has a plan. Tasha says not to plan.
Jamie says he needs more information before he makes a move. Tasha looks skeptical. She waits till he leaves the room and calls Tommy and tells him everything.
Tommy is with Milan who is eating some sort of stew. He offers Tommy some, but Tommy says he isn’t hungry. He isn’t sure that Milan isn’t eating a person. Milan wants to know how Ghost reacted to the meeting at Truth. Tommy is honest. Ghost wasn’t happy, but Tommy got him to come around. Milan points out how the table turned, that Ghost now needs him, not the other way around. He mentions he went to see Tasha to see what Ghost told her. He told her everything. And that Tasha was more afraid for her friend than for herself.
Milan points out how connected they all are. Milan asks Tommy to picture what his life would be like if he had no friends and was completely free. Tommy says he is free. Milan asks, “or are you still loyal to a man who is not loyal to you?” Milan says he knows that Ghost is plotting against him even though he knows that Milan will kill him and Tommy. Tommy says he hasn’t heard anything about a plan. Milan says he sees potential in Tommy, who could replace him in the drug game. But he can’t get there as long as Ghost is around.
Ghost goes to see Ruiz at the car wash. Ruiz wants to know why he was sent away. Ghost says he doesn’t know if he can trust him because he knows he talked to the Feds and that he was going to give up Ghost even though he saved his life. Immediately, Ruiz knows that Angie told him that. Ghost says Ruiz can make it up to him by telling the Feds another story, ie, give up Milan. Ruiz says no. But Ghost says if Ruiz does it that Ghost will bow out as distro and Ruiz can get a new connect and be the new distro. He’s back in the game with an upgrade.
Tarik gets out of school and who is there waiting for him? Kanan, who wants to know if he wants to get something to eat. Tarik says he’s waiting for Dre. Fiddy cracks about Dre being his baby sitter. Tarik gets in the car and tries the drank Kanan offers him.
Ghost is waiting in some abandoned area and on speakerphone with his cop friend. All four of the places that the cigarettes are being sold are owned by the same person. Tommy pulls up and gets in the car with Ghost. Ghost says the problem with Ruiz is taken care of. Tommy says, good, “I heard Milan likes white meat. I didn’t want to be on his menu.” But no seriously, he tells Ghost if there’s a plan to get out, he better fill Tommy in. Ghost says he has no plan because he doesn’t know about Milan. He asks Tommy if he knows where Milan hangs out. Tommy says no. They both lying.
Kanan takes Tarik on a tour of Queens since he’s never been. His dad told him to stay away since it was dangerous. Kanan says he needs to know where he came from. Oh, and his dad used to be a drug dealer. He and Kanan sold “Fat Alberts” together. Tarik can’t see it. Kanan asks him if he wants proof.
Keisha’s at the shop late when Tasha pops up with a bag. Keisha is so over her BFF. Tasha tells Keisha to take a bag with 500k in it. Keisha doesn’t want to. Tasha insists that she must because she is trying to save Keisha’s life and protect her from the people she works with. Tasha suspects Keisha will go to the cops, which Keisha says she won't. Tasha begs. Keisha doesn’t say yes or no. Tasha walks out sans bag, but apologizes at the door. Keisha carries it to the back of the shop as Tommy walks up and into the shop. What is it with these people not locking doors when money is around?
Angie pulls up to… Greg’s? I dunno. She looks in the rearview and sees Jamie coming. He’s late. Ad he wants to know what’s up with her and Greg. Angie says he doesn’t get to ask her that. “We are not friends. We are not lovers. We are just two people who have to work together to stay out of jail,” she says. Jamie gives her the phone he took off Lobos’s henchman, the one Tommy killed. Angie should be able to use it to trace calls. Angie wants to talk to the person who had the phone. Uh…
She asks Jamie where he was the day Lobos was killed. He answers honestly. She wants to know if he reconciled with Tasha. He says he slept on the couch. Angie says she’s an idiot, as in herself, not Tasha. Jamie tells her to stop. She tells him to get out of the car. He does and once she walks off, she takes off her wire.
Kanan takes Tarik upstairs to the apartment where he killed the old lady. Apparently, that was the old apartment of someone named Bree, who also got shot in that room. He was a good guy, but not smart. Kept the same routine everyday and loved Jeopardy. Kanan is telling Tarik some story about Ghost when Tarik gets a text from Tasha wandering where he is. Kanan says he’ll be home in an hour… but he’s reaching for a drawer with a gun in it.
Ok. Now Tarik is getting a text from Dre who is looking for him and is scared Ghost will kill Dre for not having Tarik.
Tarik is clueless as to what is going on behind him. He’s also lit. He says he hates his dad for cheating on his mom and then he moved out. And he feels like Ghost turned his back on him. Umm… what was Tarik doing in all that therapy? The therapist didn’t pinpoint his OBVIOUS anger issues? Kanan says Ghost shitted on him too. Kanan says they should get him back. And Tarik is down because if everything Kanan said about his dad is true, it means that he can’t trust him anymore. Kanan says Tarik can trust him. This is a weird scene. Kanan has a heart, it seems.
Ghost is somewhere in Queens, I guess, ordering a scotch double and trying to figure out who is distributing the illegal cigarettes. As he’s buying a pack, a shady character comes in and Ghost sees a money exchange.
Greg is chilling at home when there’s a knock at the door. It’s Angie, who says that she knows Greg will never stop pursuing her as the leak. Greg says he’s figured out the motive and Angela needs a lawyer. Angie says she’s been investigating Jamie too. Angie shows him the video of James at the hotel, and that she called the hotel and his car was there overnight. Greg says he could have used a side car. He asks if there were any witnesses at the hotel to vouch for Jamie. Angie shows him video that Jamie was there with Tasha. Angie says she was sure he killed Lobos, but then she says saw that. She fake cries about it and tells Greg that he can tell her “I told you so”. Greg kisses her instead. Angie says she should go.
Greg says he’ll walk her to her car. Angie says she’s “so cold”. Greg holds her and seems really into it.
Across town. Jamie is drunk at the bar and talking about how much he loves “her”. Angie? The bartender says he has to close up shop.
Angela is humping Greg. Oh. Dear God. It’s awful. NO rhythm. Stroke is terrible. Angie so looks like she doesn’t want to be there. I appreciate her and Jamie’s sex so much more right now. She looks at Jamie’s picture on the wall while she humps him. This was ugh. I feel like I need a shower.
I’m not really sure what’s happening here. It seems Ghost got the location to the warehouse where the cigarettes were sold and went to check it out. He’s surprised when he sees Tommy pull up. He calls him, and watches as Tommy checks his phone, then puts it away. He sees Milan come out to greet Tommy.
Greg and Angie are getting themselves together post –sex. Or Angie is. Greg is just laying there I in the wet spot. Angie goes to the bathroom with her purse and digs out her phone. Greg wakes up to find her gone and texts Mike: “I think Angela’s working with St. Patrick. I think we can get them both.”
Ugh. I’m still grossed out by that terrible sex. I have noting to add. I’m going to bathe.
*shrivers*