‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Recap: ‘No Love Lost’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 207 of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Normally, episodes that are transitional in nature or are designed to set the stage for the season or series finale… are quite boring in nature and sometimes a slog to get through. Simply because they slow things down, and they absolutely focus elsewhere as they drop nuggets into the mix to prepare us for the end and well… that sudden and jarring twist tends to confuse and disengage. But some shows, use the transitional episode to their advantage, and make sure that what is setting up the future is impactful and powerful and engaging through and through. And one such show that handles this well, is Power Book III: Raising Kanan on STARZ… as evidenced by last night’s episode.
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For ‘No Love Lost’ is a story that saw everyone… just living. For Kanan was getting back to normal life, Lou was doing his best to get his record label growing again. Marvin was graduating his anger management class and preparing to handle some ugly matters involving Unique… because no one in the family wanted to deal with him. Plus, Laverne was working to get closer to her mother to better understand her world and life and Raq… was preparing to live her best life as a true leader of an empire. Complete with a new house and new connections that would better serve the business. Which are, a lot of transitional plot threads, the kind that could have easily led to a very slow and boring episode… but did not. Courtesy of the supremely unique twists and turns that came into play with all of them.

For instance, Kanan quickly came to learn that everyday life, when you’re a gangster, can lead to some shocking drama. Since he came to discover that his girlfriend’s mom found his line of work sexy, to the point where she was willing to take him on as her lover. Plus, Lou found himself in bigger trouble. For Crown’s death brought forth the discovery, that he took out a loan to cover expenses and the note was due, putting Lou in a tough place. One where he took a beating on the regular and eventually had to side with Cartier to get some relief since he didn’t want Raq anywhere near the business. Both of which set the stage for trouble and drama, since Kanan’s now ex, ratted on his Mrs. Robinson experience and of course… Lou is in deep with Cartier at a critical time.

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Because Raq was making moves with some of his associates as well. For she was learning the business and observing and watching and that could create all kinds of conflicts down the line, but there are other big ones on the horizon for her. After all, the assassination attempt on Unique went to pot since the assassin botched a different hit job. Plus, the past continued to come back and haunt her. After all, there was also an ugly surprise involving Detective Howard in this tale. In that, his beloved partner finally came to realize his ties to Raq and how she used to be his informant and how Howard, might be Kanan’s father, pushing Detective Burke to step in and ask Symphony what he was up to the night Howard took a bullet. Granted, he said nothing, but the fact that he relayed that information to Raq… was a poor choice.
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For she was suddenly suspicious of Symphony and unsure if she could trust him or not. Which in turn led to a scary finale. One that seemingly implicated that perhaps Symphony won’t live to the end of season two and that’s really what made all of these plot points of note. In that, every single one of them, while foundational in nature, had ominous overtones to them. The kind that spoke to major trouble down the line and major conflicts and well, and even some repercussions for earlier decisions. Since Raq also came to learn that Scrap wasn’t a snitch after all, and she may have caused more harm than good in choosing to put him down and even Laverne, was starting to wonder if contacting her mom was worth her while since the expectations of a good Christian life, don’t fully align with what she wants.

If anything, the only bright spot in this tale, was when Laverne dropped off that tape of Nicole. Since that was a classy and kind gesture. But outside of that, everyone’s lives seem ready to explode and that means, with three episodes to go, we can likely expect on heck of a run. One where the tension will ramp up, where those consequences will come into play and where nothing may ever be the same. After all, Lou wants out and Raq is playing with fire and those types of decisions rarely bode well in the Power Universe. Especially if your last name isn’t St. Patrick or Egan. But all of that aside, this really was an engaging transitional tale. One that has all of us hooked and wondering, what comes next for all of these troubling plot threads as we inch toward the close of season two. Until next time.  

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