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I wanna say that every choice I made was for you kids but I put the business first. And I can admit that now. And I'm sorry.
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„
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| ― Monet to Dru |
Monet Stewart Tejada is a major character in the Power Universe, serving as a deuteragonist in Power Book II: Ghost. The wife of Lorenzo Tejada, Monet runs the Tejada drug organization with their children Cane, Dru, and Diana, while having a secret son, star athlete Zeke Cross, who she kept out of the drug game. She is played by Mary J. Blige.
The matriarch of the family, Monet runs the family business in Lorenzo's absence, keeping a tight leash on their children who she raised in the drug game, to the dismay of Dru and Diana, who never wanted to be part of it, but not to Cane, Monet's obedient and trigger-happy soldier, who fights for her attention with Tariq St. Patrick, the family's new business partner he resents for becoming the man Monet relies on. Her leash on Dru and Diana starts to break as her control causes them to rebel for their own autonomy, ultimately leading them to set up her death as the unrest between them comes to a breaking point when she causes the death of their loved ones, including their father for unintentionally killing Zeke, and when she forcibly keeps them in the game by having them work for queenpin Noma Asaju under the penalty of death. Monet's discovery of their attempt to kill her shatters the family as she decides to enact vengeance by ordering Cane to kill them, but a moment of clarity stops her when her cousin Janet makes her realize her faults towards her children. Having realized the importance of family, with a grandchild on the way, Monet is on a mission to bring them back together and out of the game, even as Cane turns his back on the family and becomes Noma's right-hand.
Description[]
Official character description from 
Power Book II: Ghost[]
Season 3[]
The beginning of Season 3 finds Monet Tejada grieving the loss of her firstborn son, Zeke, and with him the loss of her family’s future outside the business. Monet tasks Davis with helping her find Zeke’s murderer, as her own criminal connections come into focus. Ultimately, Monet must decide between her family's wellbeing and her own penchant for vengeance—or find a way to have both.
Season 4[]
At the end of Season Three, Monet Tejada is unknowingly betrayed by her youngest children: Dru and Diana. Consequently, she’s riddled with bullets and her fate is left unknown. As we enter Season Four, Monet continues to fight for her life while everyone else engages in a war. While conscious and unconscious, we’ll witness Monet’s internal battle with her past, via flashbacks. This will provide an insight into a side of Monet we’ve never seen: her origin story. Faced with the reality of how her own actions have created the circumstances they are in today, Monet must decide once and for all whether it’s worth more to fight for the family business or for the family itself.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Monet grew up in Brooklyn with Dante, and the two form a relationship.[1] At 16 years old in 1998, Monet gave birth to Zeke,[2][3] which Mecca is unaware of, as he was imprisoned. Monet goes to the South to give Zeke to his adoptive mother, Lena.[2] At some point later, Monet meets Lorenzo, and the two have children: Cane, Dru, then Diana.
Season 1[]
Monet Stewart Tejada is a mother who is taking care of her three kids, and her nephew. Monet is the current runner of the Tejada Organization while her husband Lorenzo Tejada is inside for 25 Years. She is also trying to teach her kids how to run in the drug game especially her daughter Diana Tejada. She needs protection in the streets so she had an inside dirty NYPD cop named Officer Danilo Ramirez. Her eldest son Cane Tejada becomes a problem after she connects with Tariq St. Patrick. He becomes insanely jealous of his intelligence. Monet at first does not have any trust into Tariq, but overtime, she sees how loyal he is to her and the Tejada's. Though because of her own teachings on Cane, leaves her no choice but to kick him out.
Season 2
Monet Tejada, formerly Monet Stewart, is the Matriarch of the Tejada family. For the last 10 years or so, she has been maintaining the family and keeping the business alive while her husband, Lorenzo Tejada, has been locked up.
Season 3
Monet Tejada, set ablaze by the death of her son Zeke Cross, is willing to pay a hefty price to avenge her firstborn and keep the rest of her children and the business in line as she works closely with Davis MacLean to solve Zeke’s murder and keep the feds off her trail
Murders committed by Monet[]
- Joseph Parks: Shot in the stomach and in the head in self defense.
- Rico Barnes: Shot in the neck and twice in the chest for trying to kill her, Dru, Diana and Tariq.
- LeShawn: Shot in the head for allegedly taking her money.
- Caridad Milgram: Strangled to death then hanged which was discovered by Zeke.
- Dante Spears: Shot in the head for being a snitch and to save Tariq.
- International Guap: Shot to death for supposedly killing Zeke and for jumping Dru.
- Kevin Whitman: Shot to death to stop him from finding out the truth about Carrie’s death.
- British Mob Member: Shot to death.
Murders connected to Monet[]
- Rel: Wiped the blood off Cane's face and took the gun away from him after he shot and killed him.
- Frank Castillo: Ordered Cane to kill Frank for being a snitch.
- Rico’s bodyguard: helped dispose of his body after being killed by Owl.
- Five of Mecca’s bodyguards: Killed by Tariq, Cane and Lorenzo so that Monet can kill Mecca.
- Lorenzo Tejada: Told the Castillo's that Lorenzo ordered Frank’s death, Evelyn, Gordo had him killed for killing Frank, with Monet manipulating Gordo to kill Lorenzo by slitting his throat hiding it from the Tejada siblings.
- Kai: Lured him into the club to kill him, finessed the Russians to a truce, believing Kai was behind the murder of Pavel and having Dru believe Kai and Gordo was behind Lorenzo's murder to be shot in the head and killed by Cane and decapitated to satisfy a truce with The Russians.
- Gordo Castillo: Used her burner phone to plant it on Kai, prior to sending a message, to Gordo making sure Dru believes Gordo and Kai were behind Lorenzo's murder. thereafter, Gordo was shot and killed by Dru after this discovery.
- Gilberto Castillo: Ordered Dru and Cane to kill him.
- Gustavo Castillo: Ordered Dru and Cane to kill him.
- Guillermo Castillo: Ordered Dru and Cane to kill.
- Evelyn Castillo: Told Dru and Cane to kill her, Dru suffocated her after she told him, Monet wanted Lorenzo dead, while discovering she lied about Gordo.
Goals[]
- To become a Queen Pin (Succeeded)
- Hid her affair with Ramirez (Succeeded: After he died Lorenzo was unaware that he had an affair with his wife)
- Stay protected on the streets (succeeded)
- Control Tariq (Ongoing)
- Avenge Dru’s near-death (Succeeded)
- Teach Diana the Drug Game (Succeeded)
- Taught Dru the Drug Game (succeeded)
- Save Tariq from Tommy (Succeeded)
- Kill Tommy for killing Owl (Formerly)
- Kill Carrie (succeeded)
- Kill Gordo (succeeded)
- Kill The Castillo Family (succeeded)
- Kill Lorenzo for killing Zeke (Succeeded)
- Hide her dirty secret from her family (failed)
- Find out who killed Zeke and got revenge (Succeeded)
- Keep her involvement in Lorenzo’s death a secret from her family (failed)
- Become Noma Number #2 (succeeded at first/failed)
- Get out the game (formerly)
- Find out Dru and Diana plotted to have her killed (succeeded)
- Find out Diana and Dru set up Tariq (Succeeded)
- Find out who shot her (succeeded)
- Bring the family business back, specifically for the family (ongoing)
- Bring the family back together (ongoing)
- Get out from Don Carter's control (ongoing)
Trivia[]
A Queen standing over a fallen King in Ghost's title sequence, foreshadowing Monet killing Lorenzo
- She's been married to Lorenzo since 1999.[citation needed]
- Her nickname is Nae-Nae, as Mecca once called her.
- She had a relationship with Mecca in 1997.[citation needed]
- As seen in the flashback of a young Monet and Lorenzo, Lorenzo was the head of the family and was the one that chose the life for them, but Monet is the one who kept the organization running, mixing her kids with the business, something that Lorenzo was against.
- Monet raised her kids: Cane, Dru and Diana in the game and put them in specific roles for the organization.
- In season 3, she served as one of the deuteragonists towards Tariq as she could trust him and is allies, however Monet also serves as an antagonist towards her family due to her treacherous ways.
- Even after Lorenzo confesses to accidently killing Zeke mistaking he was Mecca, Monet still insist on him dying proves how ruthless and merciless she is disregarding how her children feel about the decision.
- Monet can be seen as a bit of a hypocrite, as in Season 1 she criticized Cane for killing Ramirez as it was the wrong choice to kill him in a hot-headed manner, however she then made the same choice when killing The Contractor and I.G. without having proof of their actions.
- Instead of having the business work for the Family, Monet had the Family working for the business, this is reason why The Tejada Family is crumbling. As everyone in the family blames Monet but every member of The Tejada's plays a part in the downfall.
- Monet never told Zeke the truth about Carrie and continued lying to him to protect herself, therefore Zeke disowning her.
- Monet's Manipulative ways towards kids mirrors of Raquel Thomas, Mother of Kanan Stark on Power Book: lll Raising Kanan, when she never told Kanan the truth about anything only if it served her purpose.
- Season 4 of Power Book II: Ghost revealed that Monet was the one who used and brought her kids into the game (since they were toddlers) which Lorenzo was against.
- This is the apparent way Monet has continued to mistreat her children afterwards is the main reason why Dru dislikes her and Diana believes they can be better than her.
- In the Episode 9 Season 1 "Monster" Tariq describes in class, the explanation of Frankenstein's monster of how he is viewed by others, and how Frankenstein was treated by the creator is why he acts and does the things he do. As with the classroom segments, it sets the theme for the episode, which centers Tariq struggling with being viewed as a monster. The theme is also applied to how Monet treats Cane is the monster she created, and references How Cane is treated by Monet compared to Diana and Dru, her children she views as good.
- This also explains how Dru and Diana gravitate towards Lorenzo, especially as they wanted a normal life.
- The Tejadas, The Thomases, The St. Patricks and The Flynns are possibly all parallels of each other that reflects the cause and effects of the rise and fall of being in the game.
- Monet and Lorenzo are the reasons Cane and Dru are at odds with each other since the beginning since Season 1 with Lorenzo making Dru the apparent Leader of the Tejada Family Organization and Cane playing his part still as Enforcer. Making Cane jealous of Dru while each Parent choosing someone else than Cane, while after Monet bringing in Tariq during.
- Tariq compared the Tejadas to chess pieces, and referred to Monet as the Queen.[4]
- Monet setting up Lorenzo's death is foreshadowed in Ghost's title sequence, which depicts a Queen chess piece standing over a fallen King.
- Monet's children call her by her birth name behind her back, which Courtney Kemp confirmed is because of her treating them like employees, and thus they talk about her as if she is their boss. To her face, however, they call her "Ma".[5]
- Courtney Kemp stated this is inspired by her and her late brother's habit of referring to their parents by their birth name behind their backs.[5]
- Courtney Kemp stated that Monet treats Cane differently than Dru and Diana because she views Dru and Diana as her good children: "good to me, good to Cane, good to each other," with Cane being the opposite.[5]
Appearances[]
Season 1 (Power Book II: Ghost)[]
- The Stranger
- Exceeding Expectations
- Play the Game
- The Prince
- The Gift of the Magi
- Good vs Evil
- Sex Week
- Family First
- Monster
- Heart of Darkness
Season 2 (Power Book II: Ghost[]
| Power Book II: Ghost, Season 1 | |||||
| #01 | "The Stranger" | #05 | "The Gift of the Magi" | #09 | "Monster" |
| #02 | "Exceeding Expectations" | #06 | "Good vs Evil" | #10 | "Heart of Darkness" |
| #03 | "Play the Game" | #07 | "Sex Week" | ||
| #04 | "The Prince" | #08 | "Family First" | ||
Season 3 (Power Book II: Ghost)
References[]
- ↑ Post-episode Q&A for Ghost S2E9
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "A Fair Fight?". Sara Rose Feinberg (writer), Bart Wenrich (director). Power Book II: Ghost. STARZ. January 30, 2022. 2x9.
- ↑ "What's Free?". Andre J. Ferguson (writer), Nefertile Nguvu (director). Power Book II: Ghost. STARZ. January 9, 2022. 2x6.
- ↑ "The Gift of the Magi". Andre J. Ferguson (writer), Erica A. Watson (director). Power Book II: Ghost. STARZ. October 4, 2020. 1x5. Retrieved on July 15, 2024. "All right, look. Lorenzo's the King. Monet's the Queen. Cane is the Rook. Dru is the Knight. Diana's the Bishop."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Courtney Kemp Instagram Live Post-Episode S2E4 ref TBA
Notes[]
a.^ Based on the first season of Ghost taking place a year before its second season, in which she is 39. See the note for her Season 2 age for details.b.^ Monet was 16 in 1998 when she gave birth to Zeke. Zeke is 23 years old in Season 2 of Ghost, therefore setting the season in 2021. Monet would be 39 in 2021 if she was 16 in 1998.