‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Recap: Kanan & Raq Hit Snags In Their Businesses, Unique Applies Pressure From The Shadows

Kanan (MeKai Curits) and Raq (Patina Miller) are both learning it won’t be business as usual, as Unique (Joey Bada$$) continues plotting revenge on everyone he feels betrayed him. Marvin (London Brown) continues to make moves on his own, but that might come back to bite him in the a** and Lou-Lou (Malcolm Mays) is finally clean and is returning to his musical ambitions. Jukebox (Hailey F. Kilgore) quickly learns military life isn’t what she thought it would be.

Jukebox Goes AWOL

Jukebox’s time in the military didn’t last too long. Initially she handled basic training with no issues, even making some of the men in her unit look silly.

Her morale takes a hit when she sees one of her fellow recruits being discharged after they discovered he had magazines for gay men. Jukebox learns that the military is no place for people who identify as members of the LGBTQ+.

Jukebox decides to bounce and goes AWOL. Her first stop is visiting her former Buttah bandmate, Iesha, at her college campus. The two are ecstatic to see each other, and finally, they break the tension between them by sleeping together.

Following their lovemaking sessions, Jukebox tells Iesha that she wants to stay with her on campus and Iesha hits her with the aht, aht, aht telling her friend with benefits that while she does like her, she is still trying to figure out exactly who she is and wants to be alone on campus for the time being.

Jukebox is disappointed but understands the two share a kiss, so she heads back home to Queens. Her father is happy to see his daughter back home.

One thing is clear, Jukebox is finally accepting who she is and is not concerned about what people may think about it. That’s good for her.

Marvin & Raq No Longer Has To Worry About The Feds

The NYPD held a press conference giving reporters an update on the investigation into Detective Howard’s (Omar Epps) death. They drop the bomb that Howard was a dirty cop involved in the Queens drug trade and was working Unique’s now dead brother, Ronnie (Grantham Coleman).

A reporter asks if the NYPD still believes Howard’s partner, Detective Burke’s death was a suicide, and they tell the press that’s what the department still believes for now.

Of course, there is always one cop who won’t just go with the flow, and that’s Detective Garcia, who is still hot on the case after the chief expresses his belief that the person who made the first attempt on Howard’s life was the same person who killed him.

Garcia wastes no time running up on Kanan, punching him in the stomach and pressing him for answers regarding Howard’s death, the location of Famous (Antonio Ortiz). Garcia doesn’t get any answers on any of those subjects but warns Kanan he will continue to pressure him until he gets some answers.

We catch up with Raq, and she receives confirmation from her power attorney, Andre, that she and Marvin are in the clear after pinning everything on Ronnie and Howard, effectively burying the case against Marvin.

The Family Business Is Rocky

Source: Starz / Power Book III: Raising KananRunning your own drug dealing operation is not as easy as Kanan thought it would be. He didn’t take into account that his delivery boys would eventually start asking for money. Now, he has to worry about the product and his relationship, both of which hit a significant snag in this episode.

First, Kanan and his girlfriend, Krystal, break up following his lack of empathy when she reveals to him she had an abortion. Krystal is sad because she wants to keep the baby, while Kanan is more focused on his business and how adding another mouth to feed the equation would mess with it.

They eventually get back together, because that’s what love is, right?

Yes, we know Kanan hates his mother, and Raq is working hard to repair that relationship, but that isn’t stopping them from working together.

Kanan wants to be on his own, but he still needs drugs from his mama, who is supplying him. But that still leaves one big issue, Snaps and Pop.

Raq is also having some issues. Her supplier, Quan, is raising the price of the product by 20% just because he can. Marvin catches one of the Chinese restaurant owner’s workers stealing product while visiting the drug front.

It’s hard being a drug-dealing family.

Kanan Learns A Tough Lesson From Snaps & Pop

Kanan learns in this episode that working with Snaps (Wendell Pierce) and Pop (Erika Woods) will not be easy. The young hustler rolls up on the OGs alongside his mother with a payment for investing in his and Ronnie’s drug business.

They don’t accept it, instead telling Kanan they want a return for the money they invested on top of their initial investment which pisses Kanan off. Raq has to remind him that he and Ronnie made this deal without her, so she has no say in the matter, and he has to accept their terms.

Snaps and Pop tell Kanan to listen to his mother and leave, but he insists on staying. The bank robbing duo’s security gets up, letting Kanan know that this is not a fight he wants.

While walking back to their vehicles, Raq warns her son not to cross Snaps and Pop, telling him that they have a good thing going business-wise and that whether he likes it or not, her decisions are what keeps him alive.

Marvin Does Another Favor For Stefano, Raq Finds Out About His Side Dealing

Stefano (Tony Danza) indirectly or directly sows discord between the Thomas family. He continues to take advantage of Marvin’s thirst to be his own man,  and enlists him to do another “favor” for him.

This time, he asks Marvin to take care of his bookie, who has been skimming money off the top. When Marvin finds the bookie, he is surprised to learn the man is Black.

Still, he has a job and goes overboard after picking up a pool stick to administer the stern message Stefano told him to send.

Marvin loses his cool after the bookie pulls a gun out on him and basically calls him an Uncle Tom for doing the white man’s bidding and kills him.

Meeting back up with Andre, Raq learns that the feds have been monitoring their interactions with Stefano. He tells her that Marvin was also seen meeting with the mob boss alone, which takes her by surprise. However, she lies to her attorney, saying she knew about the meeting.

Andre also tells his client that he clearly has the hots for the Feds and that they are interested in getting some information on Stefano, which might work in their favor.

While all this is happening, Unique is watching in the shadows, watching Raq and Andre share a hug, just waiting to make his next move.

Lou-Lou Is Back In The Music Game, Helps B-Rilla Get Out of Prison

Lou-Lou is finally done with rehab and is in a much better headspace than when we last saw him. Lou-Lou thanks his brother Marvin for picking him up, paying for his treatment, and always being there when he needed help.

Marvin doesn’t accept the gratitude easily, especially what happened after he put all his trust into Gerald.

With the booze behind him, Lou-Lou meets up with Lowell, the music executive Shirley introduced him to at the bar. Lou-Lou tells Lowell he isn’t interested in getting back into producing music.

Lowell asks Lou-Lou if he could speak with B-Rilla (Pardison Fontaine), a troubled artist on the label currently behind bars. He hopes the meeting will reignite that spark in Lou-Lou and get B-Rilla back on track.

During their meeting, B-Rilla reveals he is behind bars for a robbery he had nothing to do with. He tells Lou-Lou that he will consider making music with him if he can get him out of jail by the end of the day.

Lou-Lou makes that happen, and B-Rilla hits the stage at Lou-Lou and Shirley’s spot. He impresses Lowell so much that he offers Lou-Lou an employment contract on his record label.

Unique Makes His First Move From The Shadows

Taking advice from Early( Chris Redd), Unique sits back and watches, putting everything together piece-by-piece. After watching everything from the shadows, he finally makes his first move in his quest for revenge.

After being unable to move on Lou-Lou, he takes out Raq’s attorney, Andre, after watching them following their meeting. Unique kills the attorney in his home and believes that Andre is sleeping with Raq, which is far from the truth.

The episode ends on that note, leaving us wondering who’s next on Unique’s hit list.

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