Ah, there’s nothing like a trip to the woods to bring a mother and son closer together.
Or maybe not in the case of Raq and Kanan. Especially when Raq planned said trip solely to bury a body.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 2 Episode 5 took us out of the city and dropped us in the boonies for a bit, where Raq and Kanan found themselves roasting hot dogs, knee-deep in mud, and fighting for their lives. What a night and morning it was!
Raq has to be able to feel Kanan slipping away. She’s way too perceptive to miss the signs, and she already knows he’s keeping things from her.
But Raq is smart enough not to call him out on it yet, instead trying to insert herself back into the number one place in his life. And while the trip to the Catskills is mainly about burying that inspector’s body, it also gives them a chance to catch up.
Their conversation about Kanan eventually taking over the business is one of the more honest talks they’ve had in a while. And, of course, Raq is the one to talk about total transparency when she’s hiding so many huge things from her son, but at least they got on the same page about something.
Kanan came into the season unsure of whether or not this was the life he wanted, but somewhere along the lines, he threw that idea away and decided that he was all in again.
And that’s not surprising because we know where Kanan ends up, but it’s interesting how he reaches this conclusion again when he’s been disconnected from that side of things since he got back.
He’s spent most of his time with Famous, and trying to piece through everything with Howard. There hasn’t exactly been a lot of time for deep introspection, but alas, we’re at a place where Kanan is ready to embrace his destiny. And not even a few hours later, he’s thrust right into the action.
Raq received like ten warnings from her brothers alone about what it would mean to get into a battle with the Italians. And yet it didn’t stop her from still following through with her agenda (unaware that Worrell was no longer on her side.)
And while we don’t get any follow-up on Worrell and Unique this week, we do see that Boselli isn’t in the mood to play games and wants Raq out of the picture.
It’s a bold move to go right to murder, but it’s also obvious that Boselli doesn’t take well to being disrespected. And that’s probably something Raq and company should have been ready for.
Dominic and Jimmy track Raq and Kanan up to the Catskills, and as they wait to make their move, we’re subjected to more than one racist diatribe. And it’s sad because this is the 90s, yet that kind of hatred still persists. You could have told me this was a scene set on September 11, 2022, and I wouldn’t even blink.
The men are clearly on a mission to get rid of Raq. Once Jimmy reiterates that they aren’t to kill any kids, you can see where this story is going because Dominic couldn’t get Kanan’s name out of his mouth, especially after he saw Kanan talking to Hannah. The latter, in his mind, was the corrupted damsel in distress in need of saving.
Kanan finds himself in these wild situations, which is a lot for a sixteen-year-old. He’s almost the victim of a hate crime and almost killed if not for Raq stepping in twice and then Jimmy, the weirdly somewhat sensible one, stepping in to save his life.
Things are very messy right now, and Raq is lucky that she and Kanan were able to drive away from the Catskills unscathed. But she has to see how untenable things are right now and how out of her depth she is. Sal and his men putting a hit on her clearly wasn’t on her radar, and underestimating your enemies will eventually get you killed.
It’s interesting because Raq operates from a place of dominance, and it’s almost like a bully-ball kind of mentality. Whereas adult Kanan was much more stealthy in many ways, I wonder if the things he’s witnessing and learning from his mother in adolescence are things he strived not to do once he was in power.
Thinking about how Kanan becomes THEE Kanan Stark in the original Power is one of this series’s greatest aspects, and every passing episode gives us more to ponder. And I absolutely love it.
We also get to piece together how Jukebox becomes the Jukebox of the future, and on the surface, when you hear her talk so poorly of cops, it makes you think, well, why did she want to become one then? But to know adult Jukebox is to know that she wasn’t exactly a model cop, and she used the badge to further her agenda.
But it will still be cool to see how she gets there and when the switch occurs.
Right now, she’s most concerned with fostering this new relationship with her mother. And that means spending time in the church and crushing whatever song is in front of her. Gospel…R&B…you could give Hailey Kilgore a punk rock diddy from the 70s, and she would kill that as well.
Music is in Jukebox’s blood (her mother is LeToya Luckett HELLO), and it’s a way for her and her mother to bond, but I wonder where this story is going next. Along with Marvin’s reaction when he finds out what’s happening.
I’m a fucked up father. I did some shit she never gonna forgive me for. Shit that she shouldn’t probably forgive me for. Not no sex shit, though. Or nothing like that. I ain’t a sick motherfucker. I’m just a dumb motherfucker.
Marvin [to Renée]
Marvin is rightfully allowing Jukebox the time and space to work through her complicated emotions where he’s concerned. I can appreciate him acknowledging that he’s a lousy father and taking personal responsibility for the strain between them, but that doesn’t change what he did.
And if Jukebox decided never to talk to him again, then so be it. She would be within her rights to protect her peace. But I think we’re heading toward something here with Kenya back in the picture, and it just doesn’t feel like that something will be a happy ending.
Though Marvin may be delayed in even getting back to Queens now that he’s found Toni in some upper-crust New Your suburb, and the cops are on his tail.
Marvin needs Toni to get him off the hook with the courts, but with the cops circling him, Marvin’s probably going to find himself with his back against the wall. And old Marvin would not react well in this situation, but new Marvin, with the breathing techniques, may be able to figure something out.
Elsewhere this hour, Lou-Lou and Crown’s professional relationship is hanging by a thread. And at this point, it doesn’t feel like there is any way the men can salvage things between them.
Crown: I’m tired of you fucking putting your hands on me, Lou.
Lou-Lou: What you gonna do about it, Crown? You know, just because you make gangsta music doesn’t make you a gangsta.
Especially now that Lou-Lou knows Crown and Jessica were messing around behind his back. He played it off pretty well to Famous, but I can see a man’s wounded ego from a mile away. And Lou looked like someone who was hurt and angry, which can mean nothing good for Famous.
The music subplot continues to be a bit of a slog, but personal vendettas and angst are something I can definitely get behind.
With Jukebox mad at her uncle, I can see a scenario where it becomes Lou and Zisa versus Juke and Crown, and I will gladly sign up for that drama.
Everything Else You Need To Know
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I ask once again, what is Burke doing? Did she not think Andrea would tell Howard she was digging into him? She’s doing a lot right now, and I do not understand the endgame.
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I wish we’d gotten to see Kanan and Howard’s conversation. I would have liked to see that moment where he looked into Howard’s eyes and felt that familiarity.
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Raq’s sweater game was on a hundred this whole episode.
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Famous is unintentionally hilarious. The way he spilled the tea about his sister
Somehow we’re at the halfway point of the season already! And we may be heading towards a big fight with Raq and the Italians on opposite sides. Plus, that looming Unique threat is still out there as well.
Let me know in the comments where you think things are headed and what you thought about this installment! Remember to watch Power Book III: Raising Kanan online so you’re not out of the loop!
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
