The long-awaited return of Power Book III: Raising Kanan did not disappoint. The series dropped us back into South Jamaica, Queens like we never left.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4 Episode 1 was a departure from past season premieres. The hour served as an almost retread of Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3, as we saw the events leading up to the shocking deaths at the end of the third season.
It was an interesting twist that paid off. We saw certain events from the previous season through fresh eyes, and, maybe most importantly of all, we saw how Unique went from presumed dead to very much alive.
TV Fanatic got a couple of minutes with Raising Kanan showrunner Sascha Penn and series star Mekai Curtis to discuss the premiere events and the show at large, which was a treat for longtime viewers of the series.
In Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4, we’ll see Kanan Stark evolving and continuing to grow as he becomes less and less like the kid we met when the series first began.
After the events of Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3 Episode 10, we’ll see Kanan working through a lot of his past.
“I think we as an audience are going to get to watch him unpack all of that,” Curtis said when asked about the events of the season three finale and what we’ll see from Kanan moving forward.
“Everything that happened, especially in the last episode of season three, we’re going to, through the course of season four, see him one-by-one literally unpack everything that just happened, sit with it, now learn how to move and navigate beyond that.
“Just taking the information that he has and establishing his world even further.
“I think that’s kind of a thing that you see happen with all the characters on the show, is as they come into these scenarios and as they come into these moments and things change and happen, it changes them and changes how they move and what they’re looking to do.
“And you’re just going to constantly see him working through a lot of stuff.”
Kanan may eventually have to deal with the re-emergence of Unique, whom we found out was still alive at the end of season three.
Much of the premiere was dedicated to seeing Unique’s recovery, which was slow-moving and arduous for the man consumed with enacting revenge on those he felt wronged him.
And it will be quite the journey for Unique this season.
“I think Unique, especially at the beginning, comes back a slightly different person,” Penn explained. “You get the sense very early on that something sort of shifted in his brain as a result of what happened.
“And so, he’s a lot less strategic and a lot more vengeful. And his vengeance is really sort of…it’s focused on one person, and I think we can all figure out who that person is.
“So, that’s part of his journey across season four. He’s angry, and he feels betrayed by everybody. He doesn’t know who he can or can’t trust. And yet, at the same time, he wants to be who he was before. And so it’s like, ‘How do I get to that?’
“I think Unique is justifiably pissed off, and I think he exacts a certain measure of revenge as a result of what happened to him.”
While Unique is rediscovering himself this season, we’ll also look into Kanan’s journey from high school scholar to notorious drug dealer.
As Curtis embarked on another season of playing the complex character, he shared his feelings on what he learned about Kanan this season that he didn’t know before.
“I feel like every chance, or anytime I look at any words that have been put on the page, I discover something new about him,” Curtis explained.
“I discover something new to play with. I discover something new that I might be able to present to everybody else that might not have known what was going on. We saw who Kanan was in the original Power.
“So my job coming into this has always been to give everybody the why. To unpack who this person was and why this person is who they are, and that’s just been the journey throughout. Literally, in every scene, I discover something new about Kanan.”
Part of the fun of the series has been seeing Kanan’s evolution and almost waiting for the moments that allow you to connect to his actions in the original Power.
While some may be waiting for a big, seminal moment that will signal the shift from teenage Kanan to the adult version we came to know, it feels more like we’re seeing profound moments that will shape and mold him into the man he is to become.
We wondered if Howard’s death would be one of the moments, and Penn had an interesting take on that, as well as what else Kanan will be dealing with in season four.
“I think the death of Howard is sort of another brick in the wall of his relationship with his mother because everything sort of comes back to Kanan and Raq, right?” Penn said.
“Everything that happens to him in some way reflects back on his relationship with his mother, which is obviously the most important and formative relationship in his life.
“So, it’s another piece in that puzzle that is really complicated and fraught, and there’s definitely conversation about it across season four.
“But what we start to see in season four, which is interesting, is that he’s becoming more and more desensitized to that stuff, which is incredibly problematic.
“What we start to see across season four is that the violence, loss, and chaos start to feel comfortable for him, in a way.
“And that’s not to say that he doesn’t have moments where he’s still sort of that wide-eyed kid we met in season one, but he’s starting to live in that chaos and dysfunction in a way that is, frankly, somewhat destructive in terms of the world around him, but also his sense of himself.
“And, of course, that all comes from Raq.
“But in terms of the Howard of it all, it’s a moment that should be a seminal moment that changes everything, but for him, it just feels like, ‘Well look, here’s just another piece of my life that is turning me into who I ultimately become.’”
After the premiere hour, this season is ready to be the best yet.
Please share your thoughts about Kanan’s evolution and Unique’s return below so we can discuss them!
***We’ve edited this interview for length and clarity.***
You can watch Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season on Fridays at 8/7c on Starz.
Watch Power Book III: Raising Kanan Online
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