‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Recap – ‘Into the Darkness’

1/13/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Mekai Curtis as Kanan Stark in Episode 306 of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ – ‘Into the Darkness’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 306 of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.

If there is one thing that fans of a prequel are always eager to see, it is the moment when the character that brought them into the fold, the one that connects to the bigger part of the story… becomes the person they met in the original story or begins the long and winding journey down their path. Because there is just something fascinating about seeing the moment… when a hero is born and how they came to understand what matters in this life. And it is equally as fascinating to see when a villain is born. Because we are curious to know what tragic moments and perfect hellstorm of events turned their soul into a sour place filled with poison.

It is that latter journey, we’ve been patiently waiting to see in the third chapter in the Power Universe. For while ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ has offered us fascinating insight into Kanan’s past and his upbringing, it has yet to show us those formative moments where he becomes the Kanan we met in Power. But last night’s episode of the show, seemingly changed that. For the next entry in this STARZ series, saw Kanan begin to walk down his path of darkness, in fact, the title reflected that. For ‘Into the Darkness’ was indeed the perfect way to describe what we were about bear witness to. Because outside of Jukebox’s story in this tale, wherein she held agency and did her best to stand tall and even protect Kanan from himself, darkness fell upon the Stark/Thomas family.

For Lou Lou felt guilty about his past, his actions, something brought about by way of a visit from Raq and opted to do his best to cleanse his soul. Which meant confessing to others and bringing about trouble and speaking of Raq… she was in a tough place mentally here. For she struggled to reconcile the reality that Unique was dead and that he died before his potential could be achieved, and she was sick and tired of dealing with the mundane and realized… she needed to live life to the fullest and enjoy all it had to offer. Which meant, the only way to do that was go back into the game, giving rise to an ugly path for Raq, one that would likely help to further widen the rift between her and Kanan, and further drive him down the dark road with Ghost that we bore witness too.

Patina Miller as Raquel ‘Raq’ Thomas in Episode 306 of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ – ‘Into the Darkness’. (Photo Courtesy of STARZ.)

Because in between all of that, Kanan was settling into his role as the newest dealer on the block and he was doing well and making money and the confidence that his new role gave him, combined with revelations that Famous sent his way regarding how he got in trouble… prompted him to really immerse himself within his new job and try and be the best he could. To the point… where others began to notice how efficient his business had become and how much it could benefit everyone in the game. Which brought about, a measure of peace between he and Ronnie. Because Ronnie was in the camp that respected Kanan and his work, and decided the best way to execute a plan where they could move weight together… was to win him over.

Which he was able to do… by inviting Kanan to a grand party. One that featured a who’s who of players of the game in New York City, and well, Kanan was simply royalty at that party. Because everyone spoke to how amazing his network was, and how incredible it was to see him embrace the trade with such gusto and the ego boost was enough to get him to commit and well… just like that, Kanan was ready to move heroin throughout the city. All of which spoke to the reality, that this episode was it. This was the moment when Kanan Stark began his journey into darkness. And it was all born from the fact, that his family ties were in tatters, and he felt no respect, no value, and this gave him something. This gave him… enough.

All of which made for a tragically powerful episode. One that truly put everyone in this story in the game on a collision course. With danger, with darkness, and with fate. And what’s wild, is that we are only at the beginning of this journey. Which means that to properly corrupt Kanan Stark and make him the mogul that meets a tragic fate… more darkness must come into his life. The kind that hurts him enough to make him decide this is the only life he wants, the only one he will ever know, and one cannot help but wonder how many more formative moments such as the ones we saw here, await us now in the back end of season three. Because he has crossed the threshold, and every decision he makes from here on out… moves him closer to his unfortunate future. Until next time.

Watch ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’

0 Comments