‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Recap – ‘Mind Your Business’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 202 of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’. To revisit the season two premiere, click here.
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There are a great many reasons as to why fans of STARZ’s Power Universe fell in love with Power Book III: Raising Kanan. The obvious one of course, is the sheer fact that this show features more of the universe we love, because Power Never Ends and you cannot go wrong with more of this dynamic saga. Plus, it features all the wonderful writing and acting we’ve come to know and love from this franchise and of course, it reunites us with a dynamic character from the original show and lets us really see what drove him down the tragic path that he met when dealing with the St. Patrick drug empire. But of the many reasons we love this show so, there’s one that stands out above the rest.
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Specifically, the sheer fact that Raising Kanan is unlike anything else in the franchise. For Power, Ghost and Force are known for being high-octane stressful adventures. The kind where danger is at every turn and where the game claims lives and takes us on quite the breathtaking ride. But this chapter in the saga is something vastly different. In that, while the drug world is there and as dangerous as ever, this is a story that actually works to slow things down quite a bit and show us life in New York City in the 1990s, and all the hope and dreams of these characters and what they want outside of the cash that the drug game can bring them. 

Which really is quite amazing when you think about it, since it not only breaks the mold but goes against what this universe often stands for. But it works, because this show is all about balance and that balance is top of mind today, simply because it was on full display again during last night’s episode. Since ‘Mind Your Business’ just let Kanan live his life for a change. Which saw him spend time with Famous and try to help him out with some big problems that he brought upon himself, and it was just lovely to see Kanan be a young man and just experience life without having to worry about the game and he wasn’t the only one experiencing that here. Since Jessica made the big call to leave and swing by the West Coast to produce. 

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A move that further spoke to the power of hopes and dreams and that was further explored by Lou-Lou in this tale as well. Since he was keen on signing his new star, Zisa, rules, and concerns be damned. Which might backfire since she may carry some serious baggage with her. Thanks to the super extra ‘producer’ that presented himself at signing day at the studio. Not to mention, it was fascinating to learn how he too might want to get out of the game. Since he was quick to skip out on the darker stuff in this tale, which of course… brought forth the balance in question. Because while all these tender and fascinating moments were going on, ugly stuff was brewing behind the scenes, mainly because of Scrappy. 
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Because Raq wasn’t good with the fact that Scrap spent time with the police, a fact she learned courtesy of Detective Howard, more on him in a moment. Because the potential to have her empire crumble under the power of a snitch had to be dealt with and that prompted her to have Marvin learn if this was the truth or not and sadly it was. Leading to a tragic end for Scrap, who despite years of loyalty, was viewed as a liability and dealt with as such, regardless of whether or not he kept quiet. A sad reminder of how the game goes and that it is still lurking within this story, as is some serious trouble for the family as well.

After all, Detective Howard also came to believe that now was the time to inform Kanan that he was his biological father. In fact, he even had the scientific receipts to prove it just in case, and that will only bring chaos into Raq’s plans since it will confuse and fluster Kanan further and keep him from the game that she wants him in, not to mention… dealing with a potential rat or no… there are others wanting to see this budding empire fall. Since Unique is hopping mad about where he is at the moment, and he wants revenge and that’s never good. Either way, this was just a great episode through and through. One that reminded us of the brilliance and versatility of the Power Universe and well, we should enjoy this special structure while we can. Simply because it is only a matter of time before the game consumes Kanan, giving rise to the intense world we know and love. Until next time.

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