‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Recap – ‘If Y’Dont Know, Now Y’Know’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season two finale of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
​
One particularly difficult lesson that each and every one of us will have to learn at some point in our lives, is that we do need to exercise caution and some foresight when it comes to our plans for the future. And what makes this lesson so hard to learn for us, is the sheer fact that we live in a go-for-it society. For we hear time and time again about people who just say to hell with it all and go for it and achieve their goals without giving it a second thought. But that is really nothing more than a façade of sorts. Where the person that made it big hangs onto that idea and expresses it to stand out, when in fact… they assembled a plan and made sure to think ahead regarding roadblocks.
​
Because that’s just it, going straight for our goals rarely goes smoothly. Because often times, our goals involve people and people don’t always align with our vision. Not to mention the universe can be a wild place that throws twists and turns for us to overcome along the way. Which means we have to prepare a plan for how we want to get where we want to be, and we have to plan ahead for surprises. For if we don’t… the plan might fall to pieces and that is precisely the lesson that Raquel Thomas and her family came to learn in the season two finale of Power Book III: Raising Kanan. But what’s funny… is it sure didn’t seem as though that lesson was going to be in the cards in ‘If Y’Dont Know, Now Y’Know’.

For early on in this tale, Raq and her family were thriving in all the right ways. Because Marvin kept an eye on Sam after all and dealt with him accordingly for lying to him and going back to his favorite haunts to smoke more of that rock. Which left Detective Burke without a case and without a way forward, and the good times for the family and the operation didn’t end there. Since Unique got word to Raq about Sal Boselli’s plan to bring her down. Which allowed for her to meet with the New York Don (played brilliantly by TV legend Tony Danza) and get assurances Sal was on his own, which the Don repeated to Sal when the time came, and being on his own, allowed for Raq to just go for broke and strike first. Putting a seeming end to the whole mess.

---

But since Raq has always had her eyes on the prize and believed in just exerting power over anything else, she missed a lot of things. Such as roadblocks that she might encounter, and she underestimated her opponents and that led to some serious trouble. For instance, her expansion plans fell to pieces when she didn’t account for backstabbing and maneuvering, slowing down revenue and she really did underestimate the Boselli gang, but more on that in a moment. Because that wasn’t the only trouble present in this tale that came forth from a lack of foresight. For Kanan went into business for himself without thinking twice, and caught Burke’s attention, and took a lot of heat from her desperate need to have the truth about Howard. Plus, Juke suffered a bit for taking revenge on the church in her own way, since it forced her to face her past in a rushed manner. Not to mention… Lou-Lou had a hell of a wakeup call in this tale, since Raq’s deal with Crown came through, giving her more control over his life. Which he should have known was coming, but he didn’t think about that. 
​
All that aside however, the true centerpiece of this story, was the sheer fact that Raq didn’t look ahead or plan ahead in the slightest. She just went for broke to expand her empire and paid the price dearly here. Which brings us back to how underestimating her foe, backfired. Because Boselli wasn’t done with her, not by a long-shot. He just bided his time and let her feel safe before unleashing hell upon the operation. A move that brought Worrell within an inch of his life and saw multiple distribution centers be hit, and the hits just kept coming. Since Marvin took a bullet defending the business, and Zisa lost her life when they came for Lou-Lou and of course… they came for Raq as well. Thankfully though, Lou had her back because that’s how he always will be with family. But just like that, the empire was in shambles and facing an unknown future.

All because Raquel wanted that power and wanted that agency, over anything else. And had she done her homework and was proactive instead of impulsive and reactionary… who knows where they’d be right now. But what’s done is done and the lesson is indeed learned and just like that, we are left wondering what comes next to her and her family. Since they have limited resources and a broken empire surrounding them and it will be interesting to see where this dark tale goes next in season three, and thankfully there will be a season three. For STARZ has indeed renewed Raising Kanan and that’s a wonderful thing. For this chapter in the Power Universe is quite special for certain and deserves to bring the story of Kanan’s youth to its proper conclusion and now all we have to do… is wait patiently for its return. Until next season.

---

Powered by JustWatch