Monet Tejada in 'Drug Related’ Power Book II: Ghost S2E8

Monet Tejada in 'Drug Related’ Power Book II: Ghost Season 2 Episode 8

Show: Power Book II: Ghost |  Season 2, Episode 8  |  Network: Starz  |  Aired: January 23, 2022

Okay y'all. THIS EPISODE. I need you to understand that the dinner scene in Episode 8 of Season 2 is one of the most explosive moments in the entire run of this show. I was not okay after watching it. I am still not fully okay.

The Dinner From Hell

Diana Tejada decides this is the episode where she is going to blow everything up. At a family dinner she reveals her brothers' secrets. She reveals Cane's lies. She reveals Dru's situation. And then she drops the biggest bomb of all: she reveals that Zeke, the nephew Monet has been fiercely protecting, is actually Monet's own secret son. Her firstborn. With Mecca.

The table goes silent. And then everything catches fire.

What Monet Was Wearing

Wearing: Chanel @chanelofficial Trench Coat: Paneled Cotton-Gabardine and Denim - Burberry @burberry

Earrings: Sister Love Mee’s Dawg’s @sisterlovemjb Belt: Gucci @gucci

Makeup: Jai Williams @thejaiwilliams

Hair:@cassandraparks.hair

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLmE4ec1qr0

Monet's World Implodes

The secret that Monet has been carrying for Zeke's entire life is now out in the open. In front of her children. In front of people who already have complicated feelings about her decisions. And the fallout is immediate and devastating. By the end of this episode Monet is being asked to leave her own house.

Let me say that again. Monet Tejada. Queen of the Tejada operation. The woman who has held this family together by sheer force of will for over a decade. Is being asked to leave. Her. Own. House.

Mary in the Dinner Scene

What Mary J. Blige does in the dinner scene is extraordinary. She plays Monet's exposure in real time. The moment Diana starts revealing things, you can see Monet calculating her options, trying to control the damage, realizing she cannot. The mask comes off. Not completely. But enough. And what you see underneath is a woman who has been carrying this particular secret with such weight for so long that having it out in the open is almost a relief, even as it destroys her.

That is the complexity of this performance. Even in her worst moment, Monet Tejada is not simple. And Mary never lets her be.

What did you think of Monet in this episode? Drop your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to subscribe for more!