Power Book II: Ghost: How Did Lauren Survive? Will She Snitch on Tariq?

Lauren Baldwin (Paige Hurd) proved to be Tariq St. Patrick’s (Michael Rainey Jr.) weakness in the second season of Power Book II: Ghost. Tariq chose to save her after she snitched, something experienced drug dealers just don’t do. Although Cane stepped in and got Brayden and Effie to do the necessary, Need VS. Greed (s03e02) revealed an alive and well Lauren safely hidden in Jenny Sullivan’s safe house. As Lauren continues cooperating with Sullivan, many fans wonder how Lauren survived the drowning and whether she will betray Tariq.
Power Book II: Ghost hasn’t explained how Lauren was pulled out of the lake. However, the police were likely involved because they allowed news articles about her death to be published while keeping her in protective custody. She believed Jenny Sullivan’s story about Tariq being behind the murder plot, so she cooperated with her. Lauren later learns of Tariq’s innocence and warns him that she is working with the feds and that they are not the only thing he should be worried about, which means she still cares about him.
Despite learning about Tariq’sinnocence and spending a whole night at her parents’ house hoping to meet them, Lauren agreed to go back to Sullivan’s safehouse, meaning she could still be the snitch that Cane was afraid of. There are mixed feelings about her return, with many fans fearing that she could bring about Tariq’s downfall. So, where does Lauren’s return leave Tariq and Effie, and will she say something to get Tariq arrested? Let’s look into it.
Who is Lauren Baldwin in Power Book II: Ghost
Lauren Baldwin is portrayed by the American actress Paige Hurd, famous for her role as Tasha in the long-running sitcom Everybody Hater Chris.
Hurd debuted in the 2000 TV series Felicity as a child actor named Natasha and has proved her talent over the years with lots of big roles, including Samantha Glover in Hawai Five-0 and Gayle Franklin in The Oval in recent years.
She is no stranger to playing teenage characters, and the role of Lauren feels natural to her, especially the way she captures Lauren’s innocence in the crime and violence-filled environment.
Unlike Gayle Franklin and her other big roles, who represent primary characters, Lauren Baldwin has a supporting role in Power Book II: Ghost as the tritagonist.
Lauren is a smart student at Stansfield who falls in love with Tariq. She knows about Tariq’s family and its history of crime, but she looks beyond that and falls in love with the person, unlike other students who only see Tariq as a criminal.
Despite the risks involved, she bravely agrees to participate in a sting operation to help the authorities bring down a drug distribution ring in the university.
Despite her good intentions, Lauren is naive and doesn’t understand the scope of the trouble she is getting into when she decides to wear a wire and record drug dealers at the university.
Her love for Tariq also blinds her so much that she doesn’t realize his involvement in the drug dealing business until it is too late.
To portray this multi-faceted character, Paige Hurd has to invest a lot of emotion and intensity in every scene. Her electric performance brings the character to life in every scene, making the character appear strong and independent but still innocent and generally vulnerable.
What happened to Lauren in Power Book II: Ghost
Lauren had a pretty easy life at Stansfield until she met and fell in love with Tariq St. Patrick. She liked Tariq and defended him every time the rest of the students profiled him because of his family’s criminal history.
She invited Tariq to join her family for dinner and almost made out with him on the very first day they met until they were interrupted by her boyfriend, Malcolm.
After a long time of a will-they-will-they-not relationship, Lauren and Tariq eventually make out, but she struggles to understand Tariq because he is always busy and interacts with shady people like Effie, Brayden, and Cane.
Lauren’s problems started when she was found with drugs in her room during an operation to end a drug distribution network on campus, after which the police convinced her to become an informant with the help of Carrie Milgram.
She recorded a conversation between Cane and Brayden, assuming that Sullivan would go for the two, but it also got Tariq in trouble.
When Tariq discovered she was the police informant, he gave her money and instructed her to leave town immediately.
Tariq told Effie about Lauren being an informant, and Lauren informed Cane, who in turn ordered Brayden to kill Lauren, but he froze before he could kill her.
Effie, who had trailed Brayden to ensure he killed Lauren, took responsibility and drowned Lauren’s car in a lake after knocking her unconscious to make it look like an accident.
How did Lauren survive?
It is not clear how Lauren left the lake alive, but she was likely pulled out by Sullivan or one of her officers who were already investigating Brayden when he was tasked with killing Lauren and, therefore, could have trailed him.
Lauren wasn’t dead when the car was pushed into the lake by Effie, so she could also have crawled out on her own if she regained consciousness quickly enough.
The second season ended with Lauren declared dead and the students at Stansfield, including Tariq, attending her memorial.
Tariq was actually shown a news article saying she had died in a car accident, although her body was never shown, so the article might have been misinformation propagated by Sullivan.
Paige Hurd also posted on her Twitter account saying goodbye to the fans, leading fans to believe that Lauren was actually dead.
During the production of the third season, Hurd told Bustle that she was always hidden whenever she was on set to keep the illusion of her character’s death going.
Fans started believing Lauren may be alive after Courtney Kemp, who co-created the show, failed to list her name while mentioning the other characters that died in the second season.
Her appearance in the third season created one of the biggest plot twists of the season, especially when it was revealed that she was cooperating with Sullivan.
Sullivan chose to keep her rescue a secret in what seems to have been a thorough undercover operation because the season revealed that Lauren’s parents were also forced to relocate for their safety.
Will Lauren snitch on Tariq?
Despite telling Tariq about the investigation by Sullivan, Lauren still agreed to go back to the safe house and work as an informant after being informed that selling Tariq and his friends out was the only way for her to get her life back, so she could still snitch on him.
She had doubts about Tariq being involved in the murder at first, and Tariq confirmed that he would never do it when she confronted him after leaving the safe house.
Her trust in Tariq was restored to the extent that she disclosed Sullivan’s investigation to Tariq and warned him that he probably had a snitch on his own team.
Sullivan still convinced her that cooperating with her investigation was the only way for Lauren and her family to get their lives back, which meant she might not have a choice.
However, Lauren doesn’t have many details about Tariq’s drug business, so even if she decides to snitch, her testimony may not convict Tariq.
On the other hand, Effie and Brayden are in trouble because Sullivan can arrest them on charges of attempted murder, and Cane might also be dragged into the mess.