Power Book 3: Raising Kanan

If any character has learned anything from the Power series, it is to not fall in love quick or else you will be a dead body.

That is what happened to Cartier as he was gunned down by Lou-Lou and Raquel the second the elevator door opened. I must say that I was disappointed to see him fall this quick. Sure, Lou-Lou wanted complete control of his record label and Raq did not want a love interest in her way. But did this need to happen this quick? I would have waited until the third season to kill off Cartier, but I am not in that department.

Famous is starting to head in a dark path and I like his character progression these last few episodes. He killed the person that robbed him and Kanan a few weeks back. Only thing here, is that there is someone who witnessed this so this could affect Famous in the future.

Unique is still playing chess with Sal and Raq and it is working for him. I predict that by the end of this season, he will be back on top like he was on season one. Joey Bada$$ still continues to shine with his believable performance as a villain.

One thing I was not expecting was for the homeless man to have character development. Sure, Marvin paid him to leave town (And he didn’t) and that the police are using him to get to Kanan, but I felt like we learned more about him than what’s on the outside.

After all of this, how will the season end and what will be Kanan’s next move. We will have to find out next week!

On this week’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan, we got surprises, suspense, and a moment that will not be forgotten by the end of this season.

That is because Corinne catches Palomar and Kanan in bed together. I will not go on a tangent, but Palomar clearly took advantage of Kanan since he is a minor. That is sexual assault if you ask me. With that out of the way,  I wonder what this will do for Kanan in the long run. I will admit, I did chuckle a bit when the scene happened. But then I put the two together and realized how awful it was.

A nice scene that I liked is between Jukebox and Nicole’s father as they were both at her grave. It was great to see these two be at the same place without fighting over her death. Sure, Jukebox was indirectly involved, but the two were in love. This followed up towards the end of the episode as Jukebox gave Nicole’s dad the VHS tape of their singing session. To me, this signifies Jukebox is finally moving on.

The other plot points including Howard finding out that Scrappy wasn’t a snitch, it was really his mother, Burke discovering that Raq was once Howard’s informant, and Lou-Lou getting attacked by the men looking for Crown since nobody knows that he is dead yet. The stories are setting themselves up in a great way that can be built up properly. I also thought for one second that Raquel was going to kill Symphony at the last scene. She has it in her to do it, but what would it do for her.

With three more episodes of Raising Kanan after this week, we are in for an explosive finale. A great episode that picked up the pace from the previous episode!

This week’s edition of Power Book III: Raising Kanan is the best episode of the season.

It was highlighted with phenomenal acting performances by Mekia Curtus, Patina Miller, Joey Bada$$, and Malcom Mays all added extra layers of flavor in their scenes that moved the plot forward. It was a slow build episode, but the pacing was perfect.

We got our first glimpse into the original Power’s Kanan through the eyes of his younger self. Not only did he get the money back that the thugs stolen from him, he also taught the guy a lesson. I love everything about that scene since it has been a long time coming to see the start of the Kanan that we all know. It is too bad that this lead to Famous getting detained as they were running outside the house. Not even his rap lyrics entertained the prisoners there.

Perhaps the biggest scene in the episode is when Lou-Lou killed Crown. Lou-Lou wanted to make it known that he is in control of Bullet Proof Records and he did that by taking out his biggest threat which was Crown. It makes me wonder if he will do the same with Zisa since he is the only person who saw him do this. Wherever this will lead to, I am intrigued.

With Unique being involved with Raquel’s business, it is a matter of time before this will backfire for Raquel. I also sense that Unique and Worell are plotting against her behind the scenes.

With Raising Kanan taking a two week break, it left us with a cliffhanger that will be addressed when it returns. Awesome episode all around as I believe it is the beginning of Kanan’s rise.

Today is camping day on Raising Kanan and it almost finished with a death.

That is because Kanan and Raq had a brief encounter with the Italian mafia as they stalked the two since they left Queens. There was a slow build as I was wondering the whole time if Raq was going to get pulled over while the corpse was in the trunk. With all of that going on, we got good character development between Kanan and Raquel.

It is good to see these two really talk without any danger looming for a while. Regardless that Kanan found out why they were really there, I like the scenes when they were at the campfire. I say this because they really bonded and I think it was time to show character progression in a non-violent level.

The star of this episode is Jukebox as her high notes stood out like a sharp sword. The actress Hailey Kilgore can sing and I always look forward to her scenes that involve the character singing. It is too bad that Lou-Lou decided to use her written song for Zisa because it is better for Jukebox. I also feel bad for Jukebox as her and her mom seems like they will not reconcile. Those scenes are hard to watch!

My next question that is looming over my head is will Marvin kill Toni? He could do it so he can have full creative control of Bullet Proof Records. But what will it do for him in the long run if that were to happen? Also, I wonder what is the end goal for Howard since Burke is getting closer to the truth as well.

There are five more episodes left for the season and the story is still cooking for a huge payoff by the end.

This week’s edition of Power Book III: Raising Kanan is raising the stakes with the turf war between Raq’s group and the Italians.

That is because the Italians were intercepting every one of Raq’s transports. I have a feeling that Unique had something to do with this to get back at Raq. My first suspicion was the phone call earlier in the episode. If this does come out true, then thgat means Unique is finding a way to get back on top. While Raq is also lying to Kanan and Jukebox, Symphony ended his relationship with Raq and I wonder where will things go from there.

Jukebox and her mom talked for the first time and I was happy to see this. But the conversation was all not reminiscing about past times. Jukebox wanted to get down to why she left her and she admitted that she was scared to raise her when she was younger. I honestly thought that Letoya Luckett is a great fit to play as Jukebox’s mom. I’ve seen her act on several shows prior to Raising Kanan and she is really good!

I must say that I thought it was funny how Kanan was in one room while Raq, Marvin, and Lou were talking. Kanan did steal the money and Marvin found out that some of it was missing. But he did not figure out that it was Kanan though.

Regarding the Italian group again, Raq rejected their offer and this could be dangerous on both sides. We saw what happened when a similar deal could not be reached on Power Book IV: Force so it will be interesting to see what the outcome of this will be.

The fun is not over yet as Kanan and Famous hosted a party. It is here that we see Kanan and Corrine meet for the first time. Do I think that these two will get together? No. But if this means that it could soon lead to Kanan meeting the younger Jarita since they had a son, then I am all for it. Also, good to see KJ Smith (from BET’s Sistas) on this episode.

Due to the fact that the decomposing corpse in the wall was alluded to in this episode, I believe that this will be one of the factors driving the cops to discover Raq’s operation in the projects as the result of finding the dead corpse. There is no doubt in Kanan’s mind that he sees right through Raq. It will only be a matter of time before he is free of her completely. During the first season, he completely trusted her and listened to everything she said. As this season progresses, we are starting to see that foundation beginning to crack, and he is becoming more and more doubtful about her. I believe he will be running the streets on his own by the end of the season or next season, mirroring what his Uncle Vernon told him about Defcon when he was a kid.

I cannot wait for next week’s episode!