Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Into the Darkness

The truth shall set you free.

Or will it?

Many truth bombs were dropped during Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3 Episode 6, and as we pivot toward the end of the season, they’re setting the stage for a killer final act.

Quiet hours, which this one was purely because no one died, can be just as devastating as the ones rife with violence because they force you to think and question things more.

Unique’s murder was splashy and shocking and perhaps propelled Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3 Episode 5 to being the best of the season, but this hour felt like a harbinger of things to come.

And it left a mighty big impression.

Of the many truths that dropped, perhaps the biggest was Famous finally coming clean about Raq planting the gun in Kanan’s backpack.

Everyone and their mother’s mother knew this was bound to happen eventually because there was no way Famous could keep his mouth shut forever. Poor Famous walks around like he’s constantly on the verge of a nervous breakdown, which is sad for a kid so young.

Famous is often used for comic relief, and it’s a role he steps into well. Everyone has a role in a friend group, after all. But he’s not built the same way Kanan is, and the life Kanan is building has never seemed like the one Famous is after.

Like Jukebox, he’d much rather lean into his creative side if given the opportunity.

Seeing him back in the booth with Lou-Lou, you could tell how worn-down he was and how much the weight of the past few months had been on him. I felt bad for him at that moment because he was spiraling, and he needed a friend.

He needed the Kanan of Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 1.

The bond between Kanan and Famous has broken, and there is no hope of putting it back together. Kanan has been pushing at Famous, almost bully-like, in his approach to him and his inclusion in the business.

You could say Kanan was trying to get him to do something besides sitting around and smoking all day, but it’s not like he was encouraging Famous to help. Instead, he was forcing him.

But Famous didn’t betray Kanan because he wanted to get back at him. It was more born out of fear of Raq and a payday he couldn’t turn down.

I was expecting tremendous anger from Kanan when he found out the truth, but while you could tell he was hurt and he did lash out by kicking Famous out, he also internalized it, and perhaps that’s the scariest reaction of all.

Lou-Lou: You got something, Fame. Something I ain’t even know you got.
Famous: I don’t know if I got it. Or if it got me.
Lou-Lou: I heard that.

In a season where we’ve already seen Shannon Burke and Unique bite the bullet, I’m increasingly worried about Famous’s well-being. Kanan kicked him out of his own apartment, and I fear Famous will eventually lose his guilt and go on the offense.

And a fight between those two has a clear winner and loser.

But it’s not just Famous I’m concerned about. Lou-Lou is also teetering on the edge, and his confession to Scrapy’s mother could seal his fate.

Lou-Lou and Kanan, continued co-captains of the He-Man Raq Hating Club, aren’t wrong to have severe disdain toward Raq. She’s altered the course of their lives in various ways.

But the difference between Kanan and Lou-Lou is vast. Kanan is a child, and Raq’s meant to protect him, yet her version of protection has meant lies compounded upon lies and various violent situations.

It’s left her with a son who doesn’t feel protected by her. And it’s led him to find ways to protect himself.

For Lou-Lou, it’s a little different because he’s an adult. He can’t place all the bad in his life on Raq.

He looked up to her and followed after her, but at a certain point in adulthood, decisions were made that couldn’t be squarely put on Raq’s shoulders. He has to take the blame, and he has to understand his role in it.

The talk between the two stubborn siblings went about as well as expected because neither one was willing to see it from the other’s perspective, nor did they want to.

Raq has never met an accusation she couldn’t deny, and in that moment, Lou-Lou still failed to take full accountability.

It’s easy to want to be on Lou-Lou’s side because he’s the one with a conscience who’s trying to be a better person, while Raq is playing pretend and doesn’t try to hide the fact she’ll do anything if she feels it’s right for her.

But Lou-Lou needs to understand he has a say in his own life, and he needs to take responsibility for his actions instead of placing everything on Raq.

He tried to do that in that conversation with Scrappy’s mother, and hell, good on him for lifting a weight that was slowly suffocating him. But what a colossal mistake he just made.

Scrappy’s mother, a known police confidant, will march herself down to the police station so fast and spill everything Lou-Lou said. So, while Lou-Lou purged his soul, he set up his family.

That wasn’t his intention, as he was purely motivated by his guilt in his inebriated state, but there will surely be big-time consequences for that mistake. How big? Well, with Raq shedding her landlord overalls, it may be huge.

I don’t think Raq is in the business of killing her siblings, but I worry about Lou-Lou in the long run, the same as I worry about Famous because they’re choosing the wrong times to go off the rails.

Speaking of Raq’s career change, it took nearly half the season for her to remember who she was and to get back to what she knows best. And I feel for her because she did try, but it was never her, and no one believed her anyway.

It’s no fun constantly trying to prove who you are to others. And that’s not to say you should give up because it’s not working, but what’s the alternative? For Raquel Thomas, the alternative is pretending she enjoys owning a tiny strip mall and keeping sleazy cops at bay.

Returning to the business was always going to happen because it’s just who she is at her core, and at this stage, fighting against that was more trouble than it was worth.

Plus, she had an easy in with Stefano now that Unique was gone.

The way they handled Unique’s disappearance was a little odd and only opened up the conspiracy theorists (like myself) to wonder whether or not Unique someone survived having pieces of his skull scattered around the ground.

Since the body hasn’t turned up, maybe he somehow escaped from his death pit with amnesia, and he’s being nursed back to health by a survivalist couple in rural New York with no idea who he is or where he came from.

Unique is dead, I’m 99% sure. But until we see that body, there will also be a sliver of doubt lingering.

Howard: What you want now?
Raq: What you know about Unique?
Howard: I was gonna ask you the same.
Raq: As usual. NYPD ain’t about shit.

Raq wasn’t as broken up about it as I thought, but then again, Raq will always be Raq. She won’t break down in tears, but reaching out to Howard was her little way of showing she cared.

Raq picking up on Ronnie’s involvement immediately sets the stage for their inevitable war, especially when she finds out he’s working directly alongside Kanan.

Ronnie is so wild, man. He’s just this menace that walks around town and gets what he wants repeatedly.

When Ronnie started looking at Kanan earlier in the season, I assumed it was a way to get at Raq eventually. Maybe it was initially, but then he started scouting him and found someone to help him get the business up and running.

With their capital, connections, and guidance, bringing in Snaps and Pop makes perfect business sense. And while keeping Juliana separate from things wasn’t really his choice, that’s not a terrible idea in the long run.

But Ronnie is unpredictable. Couple that with his longstanding hatred of Raq, which is vastly different from the kind of hate Kanan and Lou-Lou carry, and you have to wonder if a long-term arrangement between Kanan and Ronnie will work out.

With Raq back in the game, they’ll all be working against one another, and if we thought the squabbles between Raq and Unique were crazy, this upcoming battle could be absolutely nuclear.

Think about where things currently stand. Ronnie and Kanan are partners. Raq is in the game again with Stefano’s backing. The task force is zeroing in on Marvin and don’t believe crap about Crown.

Lou-Lou just straight-up admitted Raq killed Scrappy to Scrappy’s mother!

Things have never been hotter in South Jamaica, Queens!

Everything Else You Need To Know

• 
  Pernessa was really going through it! She loved Unique a lot and was obviously more loyal to him than he was to her.

• 
  One thing about the Power series is that things from the past ALWAYS return to bite. Marvin on the task force’s radar because Toni wasn’t something I saw coming.

• 
  Jukebox’s suspicion of Kanan’s changing behavior and his pursuit of Iesha when she clearly likes her may be the catalyst for the breakdown of their relationship.

• 
  Marvin is TRYING. But he does need to continue working on himself and not expect others to do it for him. And the first real step for him should be listening more.

• 
  Adult Jukebox was VERY assertive and authoritative, which young Jukebox isn’t. I wonder if stepping up to be the leader in Butta instills a little of that in her.

• 
  Does Howard want to move to the Narcotics unit to keep a closer eye on the streets and Kanan?

There’s a lot to unpack after this one, so please flood the comment section with all your thoughts about the hour and what you think is on the horizon!  

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