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.—Monet, to Dru Tejada
"Ego Death"
Power Book II: Ghost
Monet Stewart Tejada is a major character in the Power Universe, serving as one of the three main deuteragonists 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 away form 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 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, leading them to set her up for 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, a determined Monet succeeds in reconciling with her children and bringing the family back together, ultimately proving her love towards her children one last time as she tragically sacrifice her life to save them.
Description[]
| This section consists of the character's official description/s, provided by Starz. |
Power Book II: Ghost[]
Season 1[]
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.
Personality[]
Monet is a woman who has survived a lot: her husband is inside and she has inherited his business and he’s still in control, she’s trying to navigate that. She’s also trying to navigate having sons who are men and a daughter who is becoming a woman and trying to teach this girl how to become a woman in the world as you see it. She is based on a whole bunch of woman who I’ve read about or we know about, women who are in the life and become hardened by it, become toughened by it.
For Mary’s character, we use all the power and presence of the actress to communicate how this is a woman who is remarkable and unique in her abilities. She’s as smart, savvy, and strategic as Ghost ever was, but her learning doesn’t come from books. We always said Ghost was a bookish kid who read all the time. This woman’s acumen comes from the street.
[To be added.]
Biography[]
Past[]
I know you wanted to give your baby everything, but from where I was standing he had everything he could have ever needed.—Janet, to Monet Tejada
"To Thine Own Self"
Power Book II: Ghost
Monet grew up in Brooklyn with Dante Spears, and the two had a romantic relationship.[1] At 16 years old in 1998, Monet became pregnant with their child, Zeke,[2][3] which Dante was unaware of, as he was imprisoned. Following her mother's advice and her own intuition, Monet went to North Carolina[4] to birth Zeke and give him to his adoptive mother, Lena Cross.[2] At some point later, presumably in Queens, Monet met Lorenzo, and the two had children: Cane (1999), Dru (2000), then Diana (mid-2000s).
In 1999, Monet lived with Lorenzo and their first child Cane in a rundown sixth-floor apartment with rats and dirty water. Monet was enamored with her baby and wanted a better life for him, which Lorenzo moved product for, as well as to give her "everything she wants". At some point without Lorenzo's knowledge, a desperate Monet, impatiently wanting to move out of their dilapidated place, acquired two bricks from a supplier. In the car ride home with her cousin Janet and an infant Cane, Monet is pulled over by a cop, and, with a gun in her compartment, Monet hid it next to Cane in the backseat, which Lorenzo later chided her for, as he wanted to keep their children out of their illicit operations.[5]
In the late 2000s, Monet taught Dru and Diana to bag and weigh cocaine, and to keep quiet about their family's criminality.[6] In 2014, Monet forced Dru to miss his school's art show to teach him to kill anyone who comes for the family.[7] Thus, with Monet's influence, Monet and her husband's involvement in drug trafficking eventually extended to their children, becoming a family business. With his incarceration, Lorenzo gave control of the business to Monet.
Season 1[]
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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[]
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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 running while her husband, Lorenzo Tejada, has been locked up.
Season 3[]
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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 while stealing Noma’s drugs.
- Twelve British Mafia Members: Shot to death to save Cane.
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: Sent Dru and Cane to kill her, Dru suffocated her after she told him, Monet wanted Lorenzo dead, while discovering she lied about Gordo.
Trivia[]
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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 killing him proves how ruthless and merciless she is disregarding how her children feel about the deed.
- 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, every member of The Tejada's plays a part in their downfall.
- Monet never told Zeke the truth about Carrie and continued lying to him to protect herself, therefore, ultimately Zeke disowning her.
- Monet's Manipulative ways towards kids mirrors Raquel Thomas, Mother of Kanan Stark on Power Book: lll Raising Kanan, she never told Kanan the truth about anything only if it served her purpose. Same parallel for James St. Patrick towards Tariq St. Patrick, manipulating and lying to protect and keep him away from the the game had a reverse effect with Tariq being his downfall, with killing him, as Walter Flynn and Vic Flynn are similarly the same in an attempt to control their lives.
- 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. At the end Monet Tejada showed redemption in Episode 9 Season 4 making the ultimate sacrifice in an act of love for her kids saving Cane from being killed going out in a blaze of glory.
- 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. 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, "The Monster" she created, is referenced how Cane is treated by Monet compared to Diana and Dru, her children she views as good.
- This also explains how Dru and Diana drawn towards Lorenzo, especially as they wanted a normal life.
- The Tejada's, The Thomas's, The St. Patrick's and The Flynn's and The Castillo's are all parallels of each other that reflects cause and effect in rise and fall of Families being in the drug game.
- Monet and Lorenzo are reasons Cane and Dru are at odds with each other since the beginning since Season 1 with Lorenzo favoring Dru the selected to Lead the Tejada Family Organization for the future while Cane still plays his role being feared and as it's Enforcer. Making Cane jealous of Dru while each Parent choosing someone other than Cane, after Monet bringing in Tariq during.
- Tariq compared the Tejada's to chess pieces, and referred to Monet as the Queen.[8]
- 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 workers, and thus talk about her as she is their boss. To her face, however, they call her "Ma".[9]
- 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.[9]
- 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.[9]
- Monet's official character images mirror Diana's.
- The character images of the Power Universe sometimes parallel or mirror each other if those characters have a connection. For example, Vic's and Claudia Flynn's images are parallel as an indication of them being siblings, as with Dru's and Cane's Season 3 images.
- Monet's character images resembling Diana's indicates their mother-daughter connection, Monet's wish to make her, her successor and Diana's eventual transformation into her mother.
- In Ghost, Monet has both the most kills (20) and the most main character kills (2).
- Cane and Dru are tied for second place for the series' most kills (18).
- In the entire Power Universe, Tommy Egan still has the most kills (60) and main character kills (6).
- The Tejadas, except Diana who was not born yet, played spades before Lorenzo's incarceration at Lorenzo's mother's house in Puerto Rico. Monet and Dru were partners and never lost a game.[10]
Quotes[]
- "You know what Lorenzo's name got me in these streets? Protection. Ain't no connection gonna offer me that."
- —Monet to Detective Ramirez[11]
- "Did you see the way he was looking at you? That look means you have power over him. And I want you to be able to see what these signs are. 'Cause if he's useful to us, you gotta use any tool at your disposal."
- —Monet to Diana[11]
- Monet
Say I let you go play college ball, then what? You go pro? It's not the same for females, D. They make 75 bands a year if they're lucky. How does that bullshit help the family?
- Diana Tejada
It's not about the family. It's about my life.
- Monet
Your life is this family. What would your brothers do without you?
- Diana Tejada
They don't need me. Daddy wants them to take over.
- Monet
Yeah, 'Daddy'. Daddy wants a lot of things. You think Dru can handle them GTG boys by himself?
- Diana Tejada
No. Dru needs Cane to be the hammer so he can be the nice guy.
- Monet
Exactly. Daddy doesn't know them the way you do. So I sent Cane to watch Dru's back. We all play our positions, D. It's my job to know which position you play.
- Diana Tejada
What if you're wrong about people?
- Monet
I can't afford to be.
- Diana Tejada
And Tariq? You thought Cane could scare him. Ma, you were wrong.
- Monet
Yeah, that was Zeke's mistake for bringing him around. I had Ramirez look into Tariq. Anybody who's around that boy for too long ends up either dead or locked up.
— Monet and Diana talk at Stansfield[12]
- "Baby, when it comes to the business, your father's always been worried about you the most. Wondering if you can handle it, if you're soft. But I was never worried about that. You smart. You strong. You look at every option. But when it comes to you being in that world, that's what I worry about. Dru, I want you to be careful with yourself. Not everybody, every man is like our family. And nobody's gonna have your back like family. You always come home. Remember that."
- —Monet to Dru[13]
- "Men have certain advantages. I'm teaching you how to even the playing field. [...] Listen, any thot can give a man some pussy. But if sex is the best thing you think you have to offer, then you underestimate yourself and how much a man needs a woman he can depend on. That's the secret to control."
- —Monet to Diana[13]
- Monet
I've been seeing this whole thing wrong.
- Dru Tejada
What do you mean?
- Monet
I mean you taking the blame for your brother. Great leaders always take the fall, deserved or not, 'cause it's the quickest way to make things right, and you did that.
— Monet sees Dru's potential[14]
- "Run, Cane. Run before I put you down myself."
- —Monet to Cane[15]
[More quotes to be added.]
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Appearances[]
| Seasons | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 3 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 4 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Appears only in a flashback in Season 4 Episode 10.
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.
- ↑ Season 3 Episode 1
- ↑ Season 4 Episode 2
- ↑ Season 4 Episode 3
- ↑ Season 4 Episode 4
- ↑ "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."
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Courtney Kemp Instagram Live Post-Episode S2E4 ref TBA
- ↑ Season 3 Episode 5
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Season 1 Episode 2
- ↑ Season 1 Episode 3
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Season 1 Episode 4
- ↑ Season 1 Episode 8
- ↑ Season 1 Episode 9
Notes[]
a.^ Based on the first season of Ghost taking place a year before its second and third 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.