S06.E15: Exactly How We Planned

[mxc90]

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First Aired: February 9, 2020

James "Ghost" St. Patrick seeks vengeance. His former drug partner and brother in arms must pay for the ultimate betrayal.

 

[mxc90]

What a waste! Most of the episode were just rehashed old scenes (especially seeing Kanan pop in Tariq's head). It was just a setup for the spinoff. Ugh!

So this was the sad ending of Ghost? I felt no closure with this.  

The only character I felt sorry for was Yaz! To be surrounded by a bunch of cold, sociopathic assholes! Tasha's mom is pissed for only one year rent. Now she has no problem with Ghost's "drug money".

What was the timeline for all these events? Everything just happened so fast and conveniently? When was Ghost's funeral?

Who is running Truth (as the owner is dead)? Will Truth be around for Simon to potentially take over in 4 years?

Tariq had a chance to step up and confess to Blanca as she was handcuffing his mother. Nope! He just weakly arm tussled with the FBI agent waiting for her to tell the truth.

Good for Q for not really trusting Tasha and put himself on camera as an alibi. But he is still stupid to get involved with this wicked woman from the start.

Tasha was real dunb to keep telling the police Dre's name and then all of a sudden she tips the cops on Q. Good Grief! The night before she is in bed wih Q, he gets arrested, and hours later she's the good mom, with all smiles, dressed in white with red underwear, making bacon, fresh biscuits and eggs, and happy for Tariq's first day at school. She is mental. Does Yaz live with them?

Why is Tasha seeing Shawn in the rear view mirror? When was the last time she or the show ever mentioned his name? Maybe sitting in the back seat of the SUV reminded her of the time she stripped for him.

Why would John get Saxe's job back? Isn't Saxe up on charges?  We never seen their relationship at all since he was let go. Saxe spent more time with Tameika than him. Did John offer to get Tameika's job back too?

Why did Saxe go to Truth that night and pick up the gun? Did it enter his mind to dust it for prints?

Did Blanca ever qestion why he was ther that night or any superior recommend he shouldn't be involved with this case when he returned to the job?

Saxe was the only one to interview Tariq with no other cop watching or taping. And of course, he get compromised by the little jerk!!!!!!

Tariq sends the lawyer out to get water and she justs goes (like a fool)?  How far was it to get water? Did she go to New Jersey?

Who tipped the police that the teacher had drugs in the his car? Why is the security guard questioning Tariq?

Ghost couldn't put in more stipulations such as Tariq stop being an asshole and he gets the inhertance when he turns the age 40, to go with the GPA and graduation? Wouldn't Ghost be wise enough to know Tariq might cheat his way through college? Those are too easy for him to achieve.

So Tariq setup Tommy for Vincent to find him. Too bad Vincent is not alive to tell Tommy.

Now they changed to Ghost saying "let him go".

I still find it hard to believe Tommy just left town after seeing Tariq at Truth and not try to talk to him or Tasha the next day.

Simon is now 2 for 2 with his racist BS! If there is justice, Tariq gets a 3.0 GPA.

I hope these writers realize Tariq can't carry a show. He is not likeable as Ghost was in earlier seasons and all his scenes are cringy. They put him on the wrong path with the viewers. I get the feeling they maybe doing a lot of retconning with his character or they may just kill him off.

I wonder if Effie will transfer to this school.

So there is Power 2 (Book of Ghost), Power 3 (Raising Kanan), Power 4 (Influence), and Power 5 (Force)? #Powerneverends. Heaven help us!!!! I'm OK with seeing Tommy in Cali but please no more Tate!

Oh No! A young Angela, Ghost, and Tommy. I guess the spinoff will cut them from time to time (as if we really need to see what they have been talking about many times since season 1 and the numerous times Breeze's name was mentioned). They couldn't find a kid with red hair to play young Tommy? Was that the kid from "Shameless"? 

Edited February 9, 2020 by mxc90

[areca]

I remain solely invested in the story of Elisa Marie.  Fuck everyone else.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Even if the DNC did do a crappy background check on James, the press would likely have uncovered his dirt. That might've been even worse for him. At least the DNC could've chosen to keep quiet in exchange for James' "loyalty." They'd have owned him.

Tasha was was lining Q up to take the hit for James' death if things went sour. Who cares if his kid ended up in foster care?

I can't believe that punk Tariq shot James. IMO that was the wrong way to go, 50. This is not Shakespeare.

Lol, James screwed his whole family with that will, in the short term anyway. Tariq will have to pay people to take his classes for him. For years, unless he just buys the degree outright.

So Tariq's just going to let Tasha take the fall for him? Someone on reddit said this was like Joffrey winning the Iron Throne at the end. Can't say I disagree.

Sorry, this kid who plays Tariq is just not believable to me as a big time drug dealer. He has no gravitas that I can detect. I am curious to see what Mary J. Blige does though.

And apparently Tommy is getting a spinoff too. I am interested in that. Geez, with all those spinoffs 50 must own Starz now.

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Did John offer to get Tameika's job back too?

Tameika's probably doing way better in the private sector. She gets a better wardrobe and hairstyles, lol.

[tearsandhysteria]

This wasn't the best ending for me at all. But Tasha's schemes to frame her new boyfriend were on a Wile E Coyote level. I don't get that at all.

Also, why wouldn't Tariq just go to school online and get a degree fast paced? They have plenty of universities online and we all know that boy ain't worried about academics. Nobody would have promised Stern anything for that boy to go to school. 

I hated the end where they supposedly showed  Angela, Tommy, and James at a younger age and none of them looked anything like the older characters. If that's a spin off, I will not be on board.

I only am interested in a Tommy spinoff. Glad he will have cut all ties to Tariq and Tasha due to their betrayals.  I would stay to see what Tasha's story was if Tariq wouldn't be on it. Had enough of him.

I don't know why Power thinks it has the juice for so many spinoffs when Power went off the rails so many times as is and could barely keep the writing tolerable every couple of episodes. 

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2020 by andreamf15

[tearsandhysteria]

7 hours ago, mxc90 said:

 

So Tariq setup Tommy for Vincent to find him. Too bad Vincent is not alive to tell Tommy.

Vince did tell Tommy he found him because of Tariq. You know that child stays getting caught for his dirt until the end at least. 

 

They couldn't find a kid with red hair to play young Tommy? Was that the kid from "Shameless"? 

Yep, sure is. I like him on Shameless but he doesn't look a thing like Tommy. But then again, none of those kids matched up very closely in my opinion. 

 

 

[funnygirl]

Trash. 

[mxc90]

2 hours ago, andreamf15 said:

Vince did tell Tommy he found him because of Tariq. You know that child stays getting caught for his dirt until the end at least. 

Thanks.

Tommy was the last hope to end  the series on a happy note. He should have shot him.

[Scarlett45]

10 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Lol, James screwed his whole family with that will, in the short term anyway. Tariq will have to pay people to take his classes for him. For years, unless he just buys the degree outright.

Why did James leave Raina’s shares to Tariq? What about Yas? Seems kinda sexist- Tariq gets 2/3s?? Why not 1/2?? This will was changed AFTER Angela died (thus after Raina died). I’m pissed for Yas. 
 

Still viewing.... 

 

17 hours ago, mxc90 said:

What a waste! Most of the episode were just rehashed old scenes (especially seeing Kanan pop in Tariq's head). It was just a setup for the spinoff. Ugh!

But the scenes weren’t consistent!! For example when Tommy confronted Tasha in Tommy’s version she wasn’t kneeling, she was standing on the other side of the room and she was standing and turned around. Was the mismatched blocking intentional?

Those buttons on Tasha’s white dress looked like nipples! Wtf. Her trying to frame Q was just ridiculous.

The actor who portrays Tariq(Michael Whats his name)- I think the best acting I have ever seen from him is when they dragged Tasha way. The trustee of the trust can use the income to support Yaz and Tariq until they can inherit. Is Tariq 18yet? If not I suppose the Grandmother can be their legal guardian. They won’t starve. 

The good things about the spin offs are it’s nice to see the actors continuing to work. 
 

I am not so upset about Tasha being in prison. She did murder Lakeesha....

[healthnut]

Horrible. I’ll remember this show for the first four seasons. 

[nasir jones]

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

When there was a knock on the door while Tasha and Tariq were doing that fake family breakfast shit, I was hoping it was Tommy to end both of them right there.  Heck, I would've settled for Elisa Marie or her aunt.  To make so much of the finale center around the show's absolute worst character was a guaranteed fail.  Saxe being outsmarted by the dumbest person in the world should've been the only thing on his suicide note.

While James spent the entirety of this final season being a complete jackass to everyone, I cannot argue with him when it came to recognizing that the coddling of Tariq was a disaster.  But both parents had their blindspots when it came to Tariq.  Tasha's coddling was a mess and for Ghost to not recognize how much his son truly hated him was indicative of how far his head was up his own ass.

Tasha got what she deserved.  She didn't think about Cash when murdering LaKeisha and she was perfectly willing to leave Q's daughter without a father.

I cannot fuck with a spin-off that involves Tariq.  They cannot be serious about this many spin-offs.  Why bother canceling this show if they were going to do that nonsense?

[areca]

20 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Tameika's probably doing way better in the private sector. She gets a better wardrobe and hairstyles, lol.

That short bit with Saxe, Tameika and Tasha was one of the funniest scenes in Power.  Everyone sold it.

"Why is this day fucking me so hard?"
"What is wrong with him?"
"So many things."

Edited February 10, 2020 by areca

[luckyroll3]

Ghost deserved to be killed for letting Tommy run around with those funky ass braids when they were in high school. 

So everyone else had a valid reason to want Ghost dead and Tariq kills him because his daddy won't take the fall for him?  For something his dumb ass shouldn't have been doing in the first place that ended up getting his sister killed.  I never agree with Jamie, but when he was railing into Tariq, I was like 

What a little shit!  

I would love to know what happens to Tasha and see how she gets herself out of this (boy was she a dumb ass), but I ain't watching naan show with Tariq in it.  The only spinoffs I'm interested in is Tommy's, potentially Rashad's cause he's a petty bitch, and whenever they get smart enough to make one about Elisa Marie.  Fuck everything else.  

[Sheenieb]

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Tasha was real dunb to keep telling the police Dre's name and then all of a sudden she tips the cops on Q. Good Grief! 

Yeah, I don't understand why she couldn't leave well enough alone. "We needed him alive to take the fall." Why? Dead men don't talk. And then had the nerve to get some goodbye D too before she really fucked him.

Let Tasha's story be a cautionary tale. Being a ride-or-die chick is for the gotdamn birds. All you'll get out of it is being left broke and called a "half-smart chickenhead." 

Jamie deserved to die. But Tariq taking him out was predictable and weak. He wants to run around doing criminal shit, but can't stand tall and eat the charge? Everyone's hard until the cops come knocking. 

Can we discuss Q's goodie drawer? Condoms, vaseline, life savers, and a gun... 

The comparison of Tariq to Joffrey was apt. Where's Lady Olenna Tyrell when you need her? 

[vmcd88]

I still dont understand what James did that made Tariq hate him so much.  I didnt understand why Tariq loved Kanaan over his own father.  I never bought it.  Thank god it's the end cause I cant take another week.  I loved Tommy's episode, Proctor's, Tate's.  A show spin off with Tariq... I'm not here for it.

[GodsBeloved]

24 minutes ago, vmcd88 said:

I still dont understand what James did that made Tariq hate him so much.  I didnt understand why Tariq loved Kanaan over his own father.  I never bought it. 

I think at the root of it was the fact that Ghost left them for Angelia especially since they showed him saying it in the previously on Power. I can buy Tariq's resentment at it and Ghost making them meet Angela which makes me think Tariq felt they were being forced to accept his mistress. I can buy that this festered with Tariq.

I agree about Tariq's "love" for Kanaan. It's much harder for me to buy this "love" and "loyalty" devoted to Kanaan. Maybe it was all about getting back at Ghost.

Am I recalling correctly that Tasha said something about Ghost being slow about signing the divorce papers? 

I'm like others who don't get why Tasha point her finger at what's his name. Yes Dre was dead but what made her think Dre being dead meant he couldn't have possibly killed Ghost?

[Empress1]

17 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

But the scenes weren’t consistent!! For example when Tommy confronted Tasha in Tommy’s version she wasn’t kneeling, she was standing on the other side of the room and she was standing and turned around. Was the mismatched blocking intentional?

I noticed that too! That was really egregious - I don't know what that was about, but it was blatant.

I laughed when Tasha said Tommy blamed her for Keisha's death and James said "How the fuck could he not? You pulled the trigger!" I like when characters say what I'm thinking - I was like "Why wouldn't he? You did it!" I mean, James is trash, but I did like him laying out exactly how monstrous what Tasha did was. I wasn't sorry to see her in prison - as @nasir jones said, she left Cash motherless and was fine with leaving Q's daughter fatherless. They're all terrible people.

Actually, I kind of enjoyed James in his final days, telling everybody about themselves. "I can't believe you got your sister killed, so we're even." He was also right that Tariq is the way he is in part because he's always been taken care of.

I think on this board, we (it wasn't me, but I remember reading it) said that Tasha loves Ghost, not James - she loves the street life. Like, Keisha wasn't cut out for that life but Tasha is, and didn't want to see James out of it. When he said that's who Tasha loved, I agreed.

Fuck Tariq and his spin-off (not only is Tariq not compelling, the actor can't act). James should have let Tommy kill him.

On 2/9/2020 at 11:28 AM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Lol, James screwed his whole family with that will, in the short term anyway. Tariq will have to pay people to take his classes for him. For years, unless he just buys the degree outright.

I howled.

On 2/9/2020 at 11:34 AM, andreamf15 said:

Also, why wouldn't Tariq just go to school online and get a degree fast paced? They have plenty of universities online and we all know that boy ain't worried about academics. Nobody would have promised Stern anything for that boy to go to school. 

I think the will stipulated that it had to be a 4-year degree. 

17 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Why did James leave Raina’s shares to Tariq? What about Yas? Seems kinda sexist- Tariq gets 2/3s?? Why not 1/2?? This will was changed AFTER Angela died (thus after Raina died). I’m pissed for Yas. 

Fair question. If he was going to cut out Tasha, why not split it 50/50 between his kids? Also, Tasha's mom living rent-free for a year seems pretty generous to me. (How much was James worth? Rent for Tasha's mom, money for Paz and Tommy's mom ... the lifestyle he was living requires tens of millions in NYC.)

On 2/9/2020 at 4:34 AM, mxc90 said:

Was that the kid from "Shameless"? 

Yep. He had those braids on the show for a minute too (he might still have them, I stopped watching the show a while ago). His character was a drug dealer for a bit.

Edited February 10, 2020 by Empress1

[Sheenieb]

54 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

18 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

But the scenes weren’t consistent!! For example when Tommy confronted Tasha in Tommy’s version she wasn’t kneeling, she was standing on the other side of the room and she was standing and turned around. Was the mismatched blocking intentional?

I noticed that too! That was really egregious - I don't know what that was about, but it was blatant.

It was sloppy, but I think the show was going for an unreliable narrator setup. In Tommy's perspective, Tasha had her back turned and was kinda G about it. "If I have to go out like this, I'm glad it's you." Whereas in her perspective, she was crying and kneeling. 

But who knows? It still doesn't make any sense why Tasha would frame Q when framing Dre worked; especially since he died, so he couldn't refute the story.

[nasir jones]

52 minutes ago, Sheenieb said:

It was sloppy, but I think the show was going for an unreliable narrator setup. In Tommy's perspective, Tasha had her back turned and was kinda G about it. "If I have to go out like this, I'm glad it's you." Whereas in her perspective, she was crying and kneeling. 

But who knows? It still doesn't make any sense why Tasha would frame Q when framing Dre worked; especially since he died, so he couldn't refute the story.

I think they were going for what happens on "The Affair", in which POV memory is unreliable like you said.  The problem is the show never really does this so it seemed out of place.  The most noticeable instance of this IMO was James saying, "Let him go" to Tommy after he was shot.  Originally when that scene was shown, the CC said James' final words were "Let it go".  I guess they didn't want to spoil the ending.

 

5 hours ago, vmcd88 said:

I still dont understand what James did that made Tariq hate him so much.  I didnt understand why Tariq loved Kanaan over his own father.  I never bought it.  Thank god it's the end cause I cant take another week.  I loved Tommy's episode, Proctor's, Tate's.  A show spin off with Tariq... I'm not here for it.

I think it all stems back to two things, the affair with Angela (which Tariq brought up) and Ghost lying about his past.  Either way, Tariq was an annoying, pampered whiner who somehow managed to skate despite all of his stupidity, mistakes, and felonies.  He really was his mother's son. 

[PsychoDrone]

No one has mentioned it, so I think I will.  What in the HELL was Saxe's defense attorney wearing?!?!?  She looked like a giant bottle of Pepto Bismal with all that pink on.  Did it ALL have to be pink?  Throw some other color in there to add some contrast.  She looked ridiculous.

Originally, I thought it was going to be Q when they showed him this episode.  BUT, he knows the game and Tasha was stupid.  Even without his alibi, it would have been hard to make the frame stick.  She definitely got what she deserved setting him up like that.

Well, Power is over.  It could have ended better.  Is there really an audience for Power spinoffs?  Does anyone really care about young Tommy (hey dude from Shameless reprising his role as drug dealer), Ghost, Angela, and "mentor" Kana?  NO ONE likes Tariq!!!!  Why would anyone watch a spinoff about him???  The actor needs to get some other roles that broadens his range.  Every role I've seen him in (Orange is the New Black, Barbershop 2), he plays the same rebellious, troubled son.  At this point, his career may be ruined since most people know him as Tariq, the pain-in-the-ass, ungrateful son on Power.  He, and the actor that played young Anakin from Star Wars Episode 1, can compare notes on how a single role can ruin a career.

[healthnut]

The individual perspectives was exactly what they were going for so they wanted to there to be some differences in each scene based on whose POV it was.  Each scene was shot separately. 

[Dallas0808]

This is what happens when you give black people white privilege  and mix it with a little Stockholm's syndrome. I want to kill my father who gave me everything  I ever wanted,because he left my mommy.And because my father tried to shelter me from his past,you need to die.oh yeah the guy who tried to kill my father ,the guy who kill someone I considered  a big brother(shawn) kidnapped and drugged me,I consider  him to be more my father.lmfao.i could continue  but I won't. They turned power into general  hospital .trash just trash

[luckyroll3]

On 2/10/2020 at 5:42 PM, nasir jones said:

I think they were going for what happens on "The Affair", in which POV memory is unreliable like you said.  The problem is the show never really does this so it seemed out of place. 

 

16 hours ago, healthnut said:

The individual perspectives was exactly what they were going for so they wanted to there to be some differences in each scene based on whose POV it was.  Each scene was shot separately. 

Except they didn't pull it off.  There weren't other scenes in the previous episodes that were different from the other perspectives except for this one with Tasha and Tommy.  And if they were, they were super subtle. 

[ethalfrida]

On 2/10/2020 at 5:21 AM, luckyroll3 said:

Ghost deserved to be killed for letting Tommy run around with those funky ass braids when they were in high school. 

So everyone else had a valid reason to want Ghost dead and Tariq kills him because his daddy won't take the fall for him?  For something his dumb ass shouldn't have been doing in the first place that ended up getting his sister killed.  I never agree with Jamie, but when he was railing into Tariq, I was like 

What a little shit!  

I would love to know what happens to Tasha and see how she gets herself out of this (boy was she a dumb ass), but I ain't watching naan show with Tariq in it.  The only spinoffs I'm interested in is Tommy's, potentially Rashad's cause he's a petty bitch, and whenever they get smart enough to make one about Elisa Marie.  Fuck everything else.  

Lol, “naan”..

[ethalfrida]

I think the relationship between Tariq and James strayed too far from believability. If they had incorporated some some traditional interactions in there then I would have signed on with it. Realistically, Black sons only get to challenge their fathers once. The results are they get their butts kicked by dad and respect is once again in place. Then there emerges a whole line men who are in the kid’s life that come to jack him up for thinking he was man enough to jump on his dad.

But, personally I think most of the actors did their best performances in the last three episodes. The Keisha and Tasha episode was really good. Lala was the best she had been.

Both Tasha and Tommy were on The Breakfast Club. They were enjoyable to watch outside their roles.

[talktoomuch]

On 2/10/2020 at 9:18 AM, Sheenieb said:

Jamie deserved to die. But Tariq taking him out was predictable and weak. He wants to run around doing criminal shit, but can't stand tall and eat the charge? Everyone's hard until the cops come knocking. 

I do think Tariq killing Ghost was predictable. But I don't agree it was weak. I think it was huge to have the little kid in S1 grow to the point that it was almost inevitable that as an arrogant, self‐absorbed, know‐it-all teen who would be the one to kill his arrogant, self-absorbed, know-it-all father. Tariq killed Ghost not in self-defense or fear - which would have been a position of weakness - but in anger and self-justification. 

I don't hate Tariq nor the actor (who I actually think is great in the role). I think CK did a good job of arcing the character into one who would inevitably blame all that is bad in his life on his father and eventually kill him. Just because James fed, clothed and educated him doesn't mean he didn't also lie to him, put him and the rest of the family into danger constantly, and throw his mistress in his family's face.

And I think it's interesting that so many of us are frustrated with a child who doesn't want to face the consequences of his actions. (1) He's a kid. Kind of par for the course. (2) He's a rich kid. Even more so. (3) When does anyone in his life ever actually pay for what they do? Not Ghost. Not Tasha. Not Tommy. Why should he suddenly be the first? 

On 2/10/2020 at 4:42 PM, nasir jones said:

I think it all stems back to two things, the affair with Angela (which Tariq brought up) and Ghost lying about his past.  Either way, Tariq was an annoying, pampered whiner who somehow managed to skate despite all of his stupidity, mistakes, and felonies.  He really was his mother's son. 

For 5 seasons we saw Tariq lose respect for his father. I agree that the root was Angela and lying about being a drug dealer. And instead of acknowledging those two factors, James tried to bully Tariq into respecting him. That only works until it doesn't. It clearly didn't with Tariq.

Kids are not always rational. So expecting Tariq to be grateful for food, shelter and education is not super realistic. Most middle‐ to upper-class and rich kids take that for granted as Tariq did. What did Ghost or Tasha do to try to build gratefulness in their kids? Not a damn thing.

4 hours ago, ethalfrida said:

I think the relationship between Tariq and James strayed too far from believability. If they had incorporated some some traditional interactions in there then I would have signed on with it. Realistically, Black sons only get to challenge their fathers once. The results are they get their butts kicked by dad and respect is once again in place. Then there emerges a whole line men who are in the kid’s life that come to jack him up for thinking he was man enough to jump on his dad.

This is only true to a point in this day and age. The age of the son and the previous presence of the father in his life are both major factors in whether a black man is in a position to "kick his son's butt" as well as whether others in the community would support it. An adult-sized son who doesn't respect his father is not just going to take an ass-whooping from him.

[ethalfrida]

3 hours ago, talktoomuch said:

I do think Tariq killing Ghost was predictable. But I don't agree it was weak. I think it was huge to have the little kid in S1 grow to the point that it was almost inevitable that as an arrogant, self‐absorbed, know‐it-all teen who would be the one to kill his arrogant, self-absorbed, know-it-all father. Tariq killed Ghost not in self-defense or fear - which would have been a position of weakness - but in anger and self-justification. 

I don't hate Tariq nor the actor (who I actually think is great in the role). I think CK did a good job of arcing the character into one who would inevitably blame all that is bad in his life on his father and eventually kill him. Just because James fed, clothed and educated him doesn't mean he didn't also lie to him, put him and the rest of the family into danger constantly, and throw his mistress in his family's face.

And I think it's interesting that so many of us are frustrated with a child who doesn't want to face the consequences of his actions. (1) He's a kid. Kind of par for the course. (2) He's a rich kid. Even more so. (3) When does anyone in his life ever actually pay for what they do? Not Ghost. Not Tasha. Not Tommy. Why should he suddenly be the first? 

For 5 seasons we saw Tariq lose respect for his father. I agree that the root was Angela and lying about being a drug dealer. And instead of acknowledging those two factors, James tried to bully Tariq into respecting him. That only works until it doesn't. It clearly didn't with Tariq.

Kids are not always rational. So expecting Tariq to be grateful for food, shelter and education is not super realistic. Most middle‐ to upper-class and rich kids take that for granted as Tariq did. What did Ghost or Tasha do to try to build gratefulness in their kids? Not a damn thing.

This is only true to a point in this day and age. The age of the son and the previous presence of the father in his life are both major factors in whether a black man is in a position to "kick his son's butt" as well as whether others in the community would support it. An adult-sized son who doesn't respect his father is not just going to take an ass-whooping from him.

What I spoke of is still true as opposed to the view you posted. I don't doubt that some are not bound by tradition but I still cannot deny that the majority of young mean I know are. That's not to say they stand by meekly and wait to be abused. Young Black men come from all walks of life and whether it is shown or not, the community still stands behind the traditional mores... Anyway, I think the story of Tariq and Ghost was too far out for it to have any believability for me, a lot of the storylines were.