Power Book II: Ghost’s Tariq Becomes an ‘Apex Predator’ in Vengeful Trailer for Show’s Final Season (Exclusive)
Michael Rainey Jr. tells PEOPLE that the final season is “super action-packed” as Tariq finds himself with “huge targets” on his back
Tariq St. Patrick is looking more like his father than ever as his story reaches a high-octane conclusion.
In the trailer for the fourth and final season of Power Book II: Ghost, exclusive to PEOPLE, the walls are closing in on Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) and he’s reconciling with just how much his life compares to his late father’s.
“My dad tried his hardest to keep me away from this,” Tariq says in the trailer, referring to Ghost (Omari Hardwick), who died at his hands in season 6 of Power. “Now look how I’ve turned out.”
Reeling from the calamitous events that closed out season 3, Tariq and Brayden (Gianni Paolo) find themselves united — but isolated — against the world. With the targets on their backs multiplying, Tariq “must reconcile his past to rise to the top of the food chain and become who he needs to be to protect those he loves most” — and he’s willing to push himself as far as he needs in order to do that.
As his violent behavior heightens, Detective Don Carter (Michael Ealy) tells Tariq he has “no code, no loyalty,” making him a mirror image of Ghost. “You smell just like him. I know the truth. I know who you are. And I’m gonna put you where you belong,” Carter says in the trailer.
While Noma (Caroline Chikezie) is on a war path to solve her “Tariq problem” in the trailer — “I want him, and everything he loves, killed,” she says — Tariq is willing to do whatever it takes to “be on top.”
“Where you go, I go,” Brayden affirms, cementing the pair as a force to be reckoned with as they search for “a way back into the game.”
Rising to the top isn’t all Tariq has his sights set on though — he wants to dominate once he’s there. “I had everything set up. Life, school, my family was away safely. I’m not letting nobody take that from me,” he says, before declaring, “I’ve gotta become the apex predator.”
As a voice declares that “drug dealers are like cockroaches — impossible to eradicate,” Tariq starts to come to terms with his path ahead, and all it evokes of his father’s legacy: the danger, the violence and the sacrifice.
“I gotta use all of him – the good parts of him, the bad parts of him. They’ve gotta get what’s coming to them,” he says. “I’m not gonna rest until that happens.”
Rainey Jr., 23, tells PEOPLE that the final season of the hit show is “super action-packed,” and sees Tariq and Brayden with “huge targets” on their backs.
“[He’s] public enemy number one, for sure. Been like that for a minute, though,” he says of Tariq.
“They’re upping the stakes in every episode, but for season four, I feel like every episode is just going to have you in the front of your seat. It’s too much.”
Season 4 will close out Tariq’s story, which began in season 1 of Power more than a decade ago, and reached a crescendo when he killed Ghost in season 6 of the series, which also starred 50 Cent, Joseph Sikora and Naturi Naughton.
In its final chapter, Power Book II: Ghost sees Tariq left with the decision “to embrace the St. Patrick name for better or for worse.”
“Everyone is on the hunt for revenge and each character’s respective motivations fuel their power of choice to dive deeper into the game or fight their way out,” the synopsis continues. “As power dynamics and family tensions reach their peak, the high-adrenaline twists and turns of this season will have viewers guessing who, if anyone, makes it out alive.
