(SPOILERS for this week’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan will be found below.)
There’s just one week left until the season two finale of Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Throughout the year, we’ve watched Raq and Kanan’s relationship unravel while Marvin and Jukebox have worked to improve their own, which gets hindered and later boosted by the return of Jukebox’s mother Kenya. Raq continues to build the drug business and it’s led to a move into New Jersey despite objections from an Italian gang there and frustrations rooted in actions from Lou-Lou and Marvin. In last week’s episode, Raq and Kanan’s relationship grew as far apart as it’s ever been while Marvin shows signs of improvement that Jukebox seems to welcome. Meanwhile, Burke moved forward with her investigation into Howard’s shooting, but now Howard has caught on and he must act fast as she could ruin things for his future.
In the ninth episode of season two, titled “Anti-Trust,” Raq makes her boldest move against Cartier, who made a business proposal to her while overstepping his role in Lou-Lou’s record label elsewhere. Additionally, Burke learns who shot Howard thanks to an unreliable yet promising source, Marvin continues to show signs of growth as he and Jukebox spend more time together, and Kanan admits that he’s aware that Howard is his father. Lastly, and most shockingly, Famous makes a decision out of desperation, and when things don’t go as planned, his next move is one that will certainly land himself, and possibly others, in a lot of trouble.
Here are some of the biggest questions we had after the ninth episode of season two:
How Does Howard And Burke’s Battle End?
The battle that’s brewing between Detective Burke and Detective Howard is an interesting one. Howard has purposely obstructed teh investigation into his shooting because he does not want Kanan, who is his son and also the person who shot him, to face any punshiment for it. Burke isn’t about to let the shooting go unsolved, and she’s taken it upon herself to assume an internal affairs role to investigate. Despite Howard, her love interest, and her police captain’s wishes and demands for her to mind her business, Burke eventually learns Howard has a son, whose mother, Raq, was a former confidential informant of his whom he also got pregnant when she was 16. She also learns that Kanan was the one who shot him, but her source to that information is an unreliable one. Burke is determined to flip over every stone and Howard is just as determined to keep Kanan protected. Both Burke and Howard can’t have it their way, but neither can necessarily ask the other to stop without it backfiring on them. Something, or rather, someone will have to give and maybe we’ll learn who in the season two finale.
When Did Raq Know That Howard Is Kanan’s Father?
For the first time in all of the Raising Kanan series, Kanan acknowledges that he knows Howard is his real father. It comes after Kanan the results of a paternity test confirmed this in episode eight. Raq and Howard have gone back and forth over the last two seasons about when, if at all, to tell Kanan who his real father is. When Kanan tells Howard that he knows that he is his father, his next question is if Raq knew this since Kanan was born. In all honesty, it’s a good question from Kanan and one that may determine how forgiving he will be to Raq for keeping this information from him. If Raq knew since birth, there aren’t too many reasons she can give to Kanan for lying all these years. However, if it was something that she learned after Kanan’s birth, she may be able to save herself a bit by saying she did not want to alter things within their family. There’s a lot that needs to be done to fix Kanan and Raq’s relationship, and optimisim or not, it will take plenty of effort, patience, and time, something both sides may not want to give to the situation.
Will Marvin Succeed At Winning Jukebox Back?
There was a point this season where you wondered if Marvin would actually benefit from his anger management. He was very resistant to it in its early stage as he intially planned to put minimal effort into it. However, as time went on, Marvin started to see its benefits as some of the recommended practices he learned from it started to bring him good in the real world. One example is with his daughter Jukebox. It was Marvin’s anger that pushed her away from, as he brutally attacked her at the end of season one, but it’s the lessons learned in the aftermath that are helping to win her back to him. Marvin showed up when Jukebox needed him after her downfall with Kenya, and it’s clear that things are trending upward for them. Marvin tells Jukebox that he’ll change and do what’s needed, but she tells him that he instead needs to do it for himself in order to do it for others. If Marvin can keep this in mind, he more likely than not will succeed at fully winning Jukebox back an earning her forgiveness.
What Is Unique’s Overall Goal As He Works With Raq?
Unique finessed his way back into the drug game orchestrating a deal that worked greatly to his favor before Raq and the Italians. While there was the slim chance that he just wanted a safe way to make money, he made it very clear that he planned on knocking Raq off her top spot as revenge for her doing the same to him in season one. So when the opportunity to do that arises as Sal, the Italians’ head boss, looks to get revenge on Raq and the crew for killing one of his men (who tried to kill Marvin), Unique turns it down in order to not be remembered as a snitch. Truthfully, it was the perfect opportunity for Unique to backdoor Raq and begin his takeover, but in declining it, we’re left to wonder how Unique will get back at Raq. Raq knows it’s coming and Unique is surely planning on it. All that’s left to see is how and when he’ll do it and whether or not he’ll be successful.
What The Hell Famous??
Famous sure knows how take something from bad to worse. After spending time in the streets earlier this season, Crown Camacho provided him with a place to stay in exchange for giving his landlord studio time. Unfortunately for Famous, his landlord is now looking for the rent he’s owed since Crown was killed by Lou-Lou. With no type of income to pull from and pay the rent, push comes to shove for Famous and he pulls a gun on a rival in their neighborhood. Things don’t go as planned and Famous shoots the rival multiple times during an attempted robbery. As it all plays out, you can only shake your head at Famous in disappointment. His worst fear was having to live in the streets, but this move will surely end in a situation that will be much worse than that. You can also only imagine that Kanan and others will get dragged into the situation which will only place blood on hands of those who were not involved in the slightest. There was a lot that Famous could’ve done to scrap up some money to pay rent, and shooting and possibly killing a rival was absolutely last on that list.
Cartier’s Gone, Now What?
In his short time in season two of Raising Kanan, Cartier quickly got his hands in multiple pots. He sparked a romantic relationship, a one-sided one at least, with Raq and he acquired 25% ownership of Lou-Lou’s label. Raq admired him for his business mind and Lou-Lou seemed appreciative that he introduced her to Zisa, a singer on his label and his new love interest. While Cartier was certainly around to help, his natural business mind sought ways to profit from Raq and Lou-Lou’s work. So when they ambush Cartier in an elevator and shoot and kill him, it’s not that much of a surprise due to his growing threat to their business. Did it occur a bit earlier than expected? Sure, but it certainly inevitable. The thing is, Cartier had his hands in multiple pots so his death will bring up many questions that could also bring unwanted attention to Raq, Lou-Lou, and their business endeavors. Cartier’s death may benefit Raq and Lou-Lou in the long-run, but the near future could prove to be extremely trubulent as they look to weather the impending storm that follows their decision. What that turns out to be seen as we’ll maybe receive a response in next week’s season finale of Raising Kanan.
New episodes of STARZ’s ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ are available to watch on Sundays at 12:00am EST.
