Power Book II: Ghost: The Main Characters Ranked by Intelligence

Power Book II: Ghost presented a second version of James ‘Ghost St. Patrick (Omar Hardwick) in his son Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.). Watching Tariq grow into the same evil person he hated so much has raised mixed emotions from Power fans, with many hoping he won’t turn into a monster and end up ruining everything. Tariq’s partnership with the Tejadas has created a more dangerous drug empire than what Ghost, Tommy, and Kanan had, and survival is not just for the strongest anymore.

In Power Book II: Ghost, Tariq’s intelligence and patience are tested to the limits because he hardly has anyone he can trust around him. The feds are also never far behind because the amateurs he works with make too many mistakes. With such a dangerous world to navigate, every step that Tariq and his friends take feels as if it could be their last, so survival in Ghost is for the smartest. Considering the level of threats, they face on every occasion and how they handle business, here is how all the main characters in the show rank on the intelligence scale.

13. Lorenzo Tejada

He might have had the experience of running the streets back in his day, but Lorenzo didn’t have what it takes to be a kingpin since he was released from prison. In the main show, his story is similar to that of Kanan, a former kingpin who returns from prison and finds a changed world in which he is no longer the boss.

Lorenzo’s smartest play was to allow Monet to continue running things and look for a way of protecting Diana and his other children rather than assuming that being in charge was his God-given right. He underestimated Monet and Cane and made the ultimate mistake of killing Zeke.

12. Cooper Saxe

Blaming Tariq and Tasha for the deaths of his colleagues in the Lobos Taskforce was unfair to Saxe. While Tariq is a drug dealer, he can’t be blamed for his father and Lobos’ mistakes. Despite being a smart attorney, Saxe has let his hatred for Ghost and Lobos cloud his judgment preventing him from seeing who the actual bad people are in the saga.

Davis Maclean tried to help him by recruiting him and helping him revive his career as an attorney, but he has never stopped looking for justice in the wrong place and breaking the rules. His inability to choose a side has left him ineffective as a law enforcement agent and lawyer.

11. Lauren Baldwin

Despite being one of the smartest students in her class, Lauren has proved too naive to survive in Tariq St.Patrick’s murky world. She should never have agreed to testify to the authorities when the drugs were discovered in her room because they had nothing concrete against her. She also claimed to love Tariq, yet she never consulted him before going to the authorities.

She took Jenny Sullivan’s word about Tariq trying to kill her without ever testing that theory, and even after discovering that Tariq had nothing to do with the murder attempt, she still continued cooperating with Sullivan. She doesn’t seem to understand just how dangerous drug dealers can be. She also has no trust in Tariq despite claiming to love him.

10. Brayden Weston

Brayden knows how to distribute drugs, but he always makes dangerous mistakes that put him and Tariq in danger. Despite Tariq’s warnings, he was so eager to become a drug dealer and look like a pro in the streets that he fell into Cane’s trap. He is always too eager to fit in that he forgets how smart and valuable he is.

Brayden is still a reliable friend and always helps Tariq, making him the only person that Tariq can trust in the whole group. He is incapable of the violence that being a drug dealer requires, but he is still smart when distributing drugs, especially with technology.

9. Dru Tejada

Loyalty and courage are Dru’s strengths, but he is too impulsive and often makes moves without thinking them through, which puts everyone in danger. Despite his differences with Cane, Dru should listen to his elder brother more because he is more meticulous. Despite sleeping with his father’s real killer, Dru foolishly went to start a war with the Russians, causing a war that the Tejadas may not win.

He is also often ashamed of his sexuality which causes him to end up sleeping with the wrong people, some that don’t even deserve his affection. His inability to control his emotions and judge people beyond their word has denied him his rightful position in the family. He is often detached from events and ends up being used, but he doesn’t even seem to realize it.

8. Effie

Effie had no right to go behind Tariq’s back and try to kill Lauren, even if she thought he was in the wrong. Effie is smart as a drug dealer, but she doesn’t plan for the future, which makes her more similar to Cane than Tariq. Despite Cane being more decisive on delicate business matters, he is impulsive and prone to mistakes, and Effie should never have trusted him.

Tariq actually loved Effie, and he would have helped her set up a bigger operation than Cane, who is likely to use and abandon her. Despite understanding the criminal world better than Tariq, Effie doesn’t seem to care much about finding a way out, which is not wise of her.

7. Cane Tejada

Cane is the black sheep of the Tejada family and, despite accepting more responsibility and doing the heavy lifting in the family’s criminal empire, isn’t very smart about handling situations. His hatred for Tariq has also clouded his judgment causing him to make impulsive decisions whenever Tariq is involved. Cane would actually be more successful if he teamed up with Tariq on more occasions.

His impulsive decisions, especially when it comes to killing people, such as in the case of Jabari, put everyone in danger and make him more likely to get arrested. He fails to consider all consequences before using the likes of Brayden and Effie to do his dirty work, leaving a trail of mistakes that put everyone in danger. Cane is still smart in the way he handles business.

6. Diana Tejada

Diana is the unluckiest Tejada in the show because she is not a criminal at heart and doesn’t like the violence that comes with her family’s line of business. She got her father released alone and discovered Monet’s secret about Zeke. Diana is the most innocent of the Tejada children, always trying to do the right thing despite living around such violent people.

Lorenzo was wise enough to see that Diana needed more protection than the rest of his children, which is why he tried to help her go clean. Since she represents the force for good in a dark world, Diana should become more independent and stop giving in to the coercion by Cane and her mother.

5. Jenny Sullivan

Jenny Sullivan’s tenacity is the one character that sets her apart from the rest of the antagonists in the show. She is so determined to bring Tariq to justice that she breaks the law and lies to Lauren just to keep the case she already lost going. Being a prosecutor, Sullivan is in her right to bring dangerous people like Tariq and the Tejadas to the book, but she was obsessed with Tariq for so long that she failed to see the other criminals under her nose.

Her relationship with Saxe is also unwise because it undermines everything she stands for, and Saxe always messes with her cases rather than helping them. She would have made a better prosecutor if she looked at crime holistically and stopped obsessing with Tariq just because of his past. She is still smarter than most people in law enforcement, so she deserves a high score on the list.

4. Tate Rashad

Rashad seems to have nine lives, always landing on his feet despite how deep he falls. Ghost’s death and the scandal that ensued afterward would have been the end of his political career if he didn’t outsmart the authorities and devised a perfect escape plan. He also uses Tariq to his advantage to get himself reelected despite making headlines for the wrong reasons.

Despite being a crooked politician, Tate Rashad is very intelligent and always weighs his options before moving. He creates his own opportunities, even in the face of tragedy, that see him survive in the delicate political environment in New York. Many fans still love him because he helps Tariq, even if he always asks for something in return.

3. Monet Tejada

Monet should have told Lorenzo and the rest of the family about Zeke to prevent the chaos that led to his death. Despite getting her decision on Zeke wrong, Monet has been the most reliable leader in Power Book II: Ghost, always knowing who to trust and how to navigate delicate encounters. Monet kept the family together and in business for all the years that Lorenzo was in prison through her quick thinking and many smart choices.

She was right to trust Tariq despite Cane’s protests, and the trust paid off in the end, as Tariq has saved the family multiple times. She is not the best of mothers, though, because of the way she has left the family to disintegrate and her inability to understand and embrace Diana.

2. Davis MacLean

Maclean is a shady lawyer and doesn’t always work in Tariq’s best interest, but he is smart and hasn’t done anything that puts Tariq in danger. The revelation that he has a brother who is in prison because of him and is working hard to rescue him also proves that he has a conscience. Although he is not the most likable character in the show, he has remained consistent with his choices.

He still is a crooked lawyer, and his exorbitant rates forced Tariq to put himself in danger, but he does his best to help Tariq and actually tells his clients the truth. However, Maclean shouldn’t have trusted Saxe from the start and should have seen through his sinister motives.

1. Tariq St. Patrick

After losing his father, Tariq had to become everything his father was to the family, which meant making many difficult choices. He handles everything like an adult despite being so young, and so far, he is the only reason why Tasha and his sister are alive and still together as a family. He anticipates all the big moves that people around him make and always outsmarts his enemies.

His partnership with the Tejadas was a tough but necessary choice, and while he came into the alliance as the underdog, he has established value and earned a reasonable degree of independence. Now, he has made some bad choices, such as underestimating Cane and failing to read through Effie’s lies, but he has all the qualities needed to survive his violent world.