“Power Book II: Ghost”: How the “Nuclear Dinner” Set Up the Season 2 Finale

Season two of “Power Book II: Ghost” is filled with shockers and pulse-pounding moments that bring the show to an epic conclusion. The final episode, “Love and War,” aired on Feb. 6 and had viewers in an uproar over everything that went down. Just when we thought the storm around Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) and the Tejadas had finally calmed down, it’s clear more drama will await them next season.

Thanks to Diana (LaToya Tonodeo) exposing everyone’s truths, “Power Book II: Ghost” ends its second season with the loss of two major characters. But her explosive scene in episode eight arguably delivers the best episode of the series yet, opening the door for more interesting plot lines to be explored in season three. “Diana was seeking truth in that moment,” Tonodeo explains to POPSUGAR about the “nuclear dinner,” as she puts it. “So much deception going on with the family. [Diana’s] like, truth matters, family matters, and she had to go for it.”

Up until that point, Diana had mostly stayed out of the mix with her family, so seeing some fans turn on Tonodeo’s character definitely came as a shock to the actor. “At first I felt like, okay, they were rooting for Diana, but then after she shook the table (literally), it’s been a little bit of a mixture. I would say about 80% of people still feel like Team Diana, but there are some people who are really upset that I went off on Monet and did all of that. But you know, it needed to be that way.”

Tonodeo reveals that she knew the dinner scene would cause a stir amongst viewers while she and the cast were shooting the first episode of season two. “I had a meeting with Courtney [Kemp], and we were going over my arc and what’s going to happen with the season. She told me this is what we’re building to, and it’s one of her favourites, if not favourite episode [ever], so I was like, woo okay, no pressure. . . . When I read [the script], I was like, whoa, this is going to be intense, but I couldn’t have imagined it would turn out this way. [But] it turned out beautiful, even better than what was written on the page.”

After revealing her mother’s affair with Mecca (Daniel Sunjata) and the real story behind Zeke’s (Daniel Bellomy) birth, Diana and the rest of the Tejada family grow further apart. According to Tonodeo, the rift “definitely caused some strains on the relationships amongst all of us” and even prompts some of the family to choose sides. But in the end, they all come together to eliminate their common enemy: Mecca. However, Diana’s interference once again throws the family a huge curveball. Now, they have two dead bodies looming over their heads – one of which will surely send Monet (Mary J. Blige) over the edge when she finds out who’s responsible.

Details around season three are still scarce, but Tonodeo is looking forward to seeing a deeper exploration of Zeke’s backstory in the future. “I’m hoping that we’ll be able to dive into a bit more of who Zeke’s family is or was,” she says. “Because now that we found out that Monet is actually his mom, when he thought someone else was his mom, I would like to see where that story goes.” She adds, “I would [also] definitely love to see Diana still keeping that voice, that power that she found, which she clearly got from Monet. She’s more than likely going to be in school because we last left off with her getting accepted and allowed to go to St. John’s University. So we’ll see how that plays out, and hopefully her mom forgives her at some point.”