Mary J. Blige Says Monet's Grief in "Ghost" Season 3 Draws From Actor's Divorce: "Someone Has to Pay"

The Tejada family is reeling from a major loss in "Power Book II: Ghost" season three, but Monet only has one thing on her mind: revenge. The cold-hearted queenpin's (Mary J. Blige) world shattered to pieces in season two's shocking finale when her nephew son Zeke was shockingly killed by Monet's husband, Lorenzo (Berto Colon), unbeknownst to her. Now she's only concerned with hunting down the person who took her firstborn away. But Blige tells POPSUGAR that her character's blind-revenge mission in season three, which premiered on March 17, will only put her "in a place where it compromises everything" later down the line.

It's clear that Monet's grief journey this season affects everyone around her, including her three kids — Cane (Woody McClain), Dru (Lovell Adams-Gray), and Diana (LaToya Tonodeo) — but especially Diana, who unknowingly set off the chain of events that led to Zeke's tragic death.

In case you need a refresher, at the end of last season, the Tejadas come up with a plan to kill Monet's old flame (also Zeke's father) Mecca (Daniel Sunjata) and steal a valuable bag of his — which contains papers with bank accounts for the family so they can skip town with him. However, Diana, who was explicitly instructed not to look in the bag, informs her father that said accounts are made out to everyone except him. After learning Mecca's plan to take his family away from him, Lorenzo decides to kill his wife's former lover. However, when he arrives at Mecca's private jet to do so, he mistakes Zeke for him and accidentally shoots him — leaving a guilty Lorenzo's family heartbroken.

Of course, a clueless Monet will eventually learn the truth about what her husband did, but until then, Blige says viewers will watch her character go through a bitter grieving process.

Blige is no stranger to the pain Monet experiences in "Power Book II" season three. If the singer's many sad songs aren't proof enough, she compares the agony she channels this season to her contentious divorce from her ex-husband, Kendu Isaacs, whom she was married to from 2003 to 2018. "I always say I don't wish divorce on my worst enemy because it's like grief," she shares. "It's definitely like somebody died, because you're going through so many emotions . . . So I drew all that stuff from there to give to Monet, because someone has to pay. Someone has to pay for all the alimony that Mary J. Blige had to put out, so I'm giving it to Monet."

Of Monet's state of mind this season, Blige confirms that she's "hurt" and "mad" about losing her son. But more than that, she's furious that her exit strategy from the drug game — which relied on Zeke's pro basketball career taking off — is now ruined. Needless to say, Monet is "going through it" in season three, and so is her family.

"The kids are suffering, the husband's suffering, everybody's getting cursed out, it's everybody's fault," Blige adds. "Cane and Dru are in the clear, but Diana's not, because she was the one that blew up the whole thing. No one would ever know anything if she didn't go find Zeke's birth certificate and tell Papi (Lorenzo) and all this other stuff that she did. So now Diana's suffering because she went and messed up the whole thing."

Unlike previous seasons, Tonodeo says Monet is a lot more "vulnerable" in season three, "something that we've never seen," she adds. "So it will be a nice layer that's pulled back for the audience to see that mourning of Zeke's death." However, Blige believes Monet's vengeful attitude may just push her to the point where "possibly everybody is going to be gunning for her."

"Power Book II: Ghost" airs new episodes every Friday on Starz.