‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Recap – ‘A House Is Not a Home’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 208 of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Recap. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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When we last settled in to discuss the fascinating second season of the STARZ series, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, we talked at length about how the show was setting the stage for some dark and turbulent times. After all, Raq was starting to see her perfect little empire be challenged from within, in addition to the external heat she’s been facing, and of course… Marvin was making stupid deals on the side and Lou-Lou was getting into deals with all the wrong people. Not to mention Kanan was still struggling to find the balance between being a teen and a being a gangster and well, as it turns out… the series wasted little time in pushing those ominous clouds forward and plunging everyone into the storm.
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Simply because ‘A House Is Not a Home’ saw everyone but Lou-Lou deal with chickens that had come home to roost. For his only real problem in this story was making sure that Zisa’s song was played on the radio. A problem he solved quickly with a little gun to mouth persuasion. But beyond that, things got ugly in this tale and quick. Heck, even Jukebox had to deal with some serious darkness in this tale. Since her mother revealed just how close she is to God by punishing her daughter physically through a congregation ritual that can only be seen as a modern-day exorcism and while her problem was easily solved by letting her mother know that she made a mistake in spending time with her, everyone else wasn’t so lucky in escaping trouble. 

For Kanan saw his relationship with his mother be strained even further in this episode. Since she took the time to inform her son’s new lover to stay away, also through the power of the gun, and while Raq wasn’t in the wrong here… her approach and constant smothering and hammering of Kanan has only driven a further wedge between them. Yet, while their relationship alone could have carried this entire episode, there was still more turmoil to explore. After all, Detective Burke finally had a slight reckoning in this tale when Howard took the time to inform the captain of what she was really doing, and while she did indeed receive a dressing down for poking her nose in other people’s business, that didn’t stop her from pressing just a little harder because she can.

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However, the real chaotic centerpiece of this tale, revolved around Marvin and Raq. Simply because Sal Boselli was livid over what happened to his son and wanted answers as to how this went down, and since dumb ol’ Dominic survived his gunshot wound, he was able to fill the boss in. Specifically on that part regarding how Marvin’s backwater deals brought this kind of trouble forth and that… led to some seriously terrifying tension in this tale. Since Sal made it clear that he wanted Dominic dead for disobeying orders and for being a generally incompetent idiot, and also because… he wanted a one-on-one meeting with Raq. Which no good could from since he was hot under the collar and for the first time ever in this series, there was a chance that Raq wasn’t making it out of an episode alive.
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Simply because, who know what Sal had in store for her. But thankfully, he wasn’t planning on putting her down. For they met in a public place, a bowling alley to be specific, and they actually opened up a bit to one another and had a decent conversation for a change. That is, until Sal explained what he wanted out of this talk. In that, he expected there to be retribution for the death of this son, and he wanted Raq… to offer up Marvin’s life as that retribution. Something she wasn’t good with in the slightest, especially since she felt there was no direct involvement here. But that wasn’t a good enough answer for Sal… who ordered the hit regardless and left all of us wondering, if it is Marvin instead who is leaving the show.

Since the final moments of this tale saw him staring down the white-hot barrel of a gun. But alas, we simply don’t know, and we won’t until next week. But while we wait to see how this cliffhanger gets resolved… we can bask in the power of one dark tale. Because everything just started to fall to pieces here, in a rapid-fire manner no less. Making it clear that Raq’s ambition has outpaced her logic, bringing forth all kinds of trouble in the process and truly… it is difficult to see how this season ends in a manner that doesn’t involve bloodshed and sorrow in some capacity. But that is of course, the nature of the Power Universe, since it is filled with characters, we care about that keep choosing the game and truly it will be fascinating to see how this is all going to come together, or fall apart further, as we barrel toward the season two finale of this incredible series. Until next time.  

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