‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Loyal To The End’
Culture Editor Bianca Gregg continues her weekly recaps of all things the Power Universe. The newest book is a prequel that tells the story of one of the most notorious “Power” characters, Kanan.
Marvin wastes no time enacting his revenge for his brother Lou-Lou. He hops in a van being driven by Lil Rob to go commit a drive by on Unique who happens to be exiting a mall with a child that looks to be his son. The shots ring out and Unique covers the little boy in the backseat of his car. Between him covering the little boy and his car being bulletproof, Unique walks away unscathed, at least if you take his mood out of the scenario.
Marvin and Lil Rob return to Marvin’s banged up Benz. Marvin takes out his gun on Lil Rob and finally silences him after discovering he talked to the police and placed the bullseye on Kanan’s back.
Raq and Jess continue to rally around Lou Lou in the hospital. He is in a coma and is expected to wake up once his lungs are strong enough. Jess heads out to take a shower and promises to return quickly. Symphony comes up to the hospital to see Raq and man does the exchange get ugly.
Raq seems to be upset Symphony came to the hospital to see her. He wants Raq to be able to confide in him but she shuts it all down. She down plays their relationship and says in the process of being involved with Symphony, she lost herself but vows to never allow it again. Raq tells Symphony he will find a college girl soon to sleep with and he replies with a “fuck you.” Raq says it’s about time she gets that side of Symphony. He tells her to warn Marvin about Toni and leaves.
Detective Howard arrives to the hospital. Finally his unwanted presence pays off because he spots a nurse assisting two of Unique’s guys with getting into the hospital to finish the job with Lou Lou. When the men arrive to Lou Lou’s room, he and Raq have been relocated and Detective Howard surprises them from behind.
As a special thank you for saving both Lou Lou and Raq, Malcolm wants a meeting with Kanan and for the truth about him being Kanan’s father to finally be revealed. He also hints at the fact that if he needs Kanan for anything moving forward it needs to be done with no issue from Raq. Skeptical and seeing Malcolm’s clear desperation, she agrees to the meet up.
Nicole’s parents head to the police station. Nicole’s mom is upset that Officer Burke allowed Jukebox to walk free and she threatens the police department. She wants Jukebox dealt with for her role in Nicole’s death. Officer Burke later follows Jukebox to Nicole’s grave site. She shares the story of her first love with Juke as well as sympathizing with her over the incident with her uncle. She invites Jukebox to get some water ice on her.
While talking to Jukebox, Officer Burke realizes the small talk is not getting through to her and she jumps right in to asking questions about Nicole’s death and circling back to Buck Twenty and D-Whiz. Jukebox exits the conversation and tells Officer Burke to stop following her.
Kanan visits Raq and Lou Lou in the hospital. Kanan expresses understanding for the choices Raq had to make previously and he wants to help his mother. Marvin enters the hospital chapel to speak to Raq. She expresses that she did not want Marvin to move forward with a hit on Unique but Marvin reminds Raq that he no longer takes orders from her. Raq tells Marvin that she wants him back, she honestly needs him back.
Marvin expresses that it was a tough pill to swallow when he had to give up his power to his little sister. He admits that she is better than him but he still needs respect as a man. Marvin refuses to be silenced when it comes to protecting his family, he tells Raq he would die for her and Lou Lou. Raq tells Marvin she would die for him too. The gang is back together.
Jukebox comes to the hospital and tells Raq about Officer Burke questioning her. Raq thinks Burke is taking a liking to Jukebox. She explains to Jukebox that it isn’t a bad thing to have a friend in a cop.
Over at Marvin’s, Marvin gives a gun to Kanan. He tells Kanan that he needs to be strapped because they are officially at war. Marvin plays Smokey Robinson in the background but Kanan rather hear something more current. He tells Marvin to check Jukebox room for some better tunes. In Marvin’s search for better music, he discovers pictures of Jukebox and Nicole as well as the music video they recorded at the mall. A mix of heartache and anger overcomes Marvin as he watches the video. He banishes Kanan and continues to watch the video until he ultimately tosses the TV to the floor.
Jukebox gets home to find Marvin sitting in her destroyed bedroom. He begins to berate Jukebox, calling her a heathen and says Nicole got what she deserved for being a lesbian. Jukebox spits on her father and Marvin pushes her into a wall. He stomps on the videotape destroying it. The two begin to fight. Jukebox kicks Marvin in the balls. He grabs his daughter and begins to choke her. He says to her just because she thinks she’s a nigga does not mean she can fight like one. He releases her and she tries to catch her breath. Jukebox gets up and walks out of her bedroom as Marvin cries and calls for her to return.
Raq gives Kanan a lesson in shooting a gun and the best gun for him to use when he needs to kill someone. She tells her son he must get close to his target and shoot them twice in the heart and once to the head. In this scene, we go back and forth between Raq giving her son a lesson in killing someone and Unique amplifying his crew for the war against Raq’s people.
Unique wants anyone down with Raq dead. Raq tells Kanan that she needs him to kill someone in order to protect the family and himself. She says it is what his father would want. She feels Kanan he is ready and that she will not lie to him anymore. Ultimately she expresses to Kanan that everything is in his hands now.
Lou Lou finally wakes up! Jess is at his side. She asks him how he feels and he says like deep fried shit. He asks Jess where everyone is.
Jukebox meets with Officer Burke and warns her that the police are in danger. She tells Officer Burke that when the police hit Unique’s re-up, they will be hit too. Juke does not want to see anyone else get hurt.
Raq goes to church and we meet her mother. Her mother asks her what is going on because she has not been in church in over a year. Raquel asks her mother if she every thinks about how she ended up doing what she does. Her mother says the life Raq chose was her fault and that she is not the problem. She also tells Raq to stop asking her questions. Them ice cold veins run deep in that bloodline.
Kanan is heading to one of the parks on the Southside. He has Unique’s coat with him. He puts the coat on and cocks his gun. Kanan spots who he is meeting up with a ducks behind a wall. He comes out of hiding and approaches the man, it’s Malcolm. Malcolm tells Kanan he spent the whole day thinking about what he was going to say and he realizes Kanan is wearing Unique’s jacket. Kanan pulls his gun and Malcolm attempts to tell him that Raq is setting him up but Kanan fires. He stands over Malcolm, stares at him as he struggles to breathe on the ground with blood gushing from his wound. Kanan points the gun and we hear a final shot.
Takeaways:
I can’t stand Jess but baby, she stuck beside Lou Lou didn’t she?
MARVIN!!!! He was out of pocket for choking Jukebox. No she should not have spit on him but Marvin gotta control himself. A damn mess.
I am still having trouble seeing Raq’s plan only because Kanan likely did not execute Malcolm the way he was supposed to and well he still does not know Malcolm is his pappy!
Well if we still weren’t sure how Jukebox became Jukebox, I think the events of the last two episodes are very telling. I am still confused on Juke warning Burke about a possible hit on the cops. My guess is she is trying to get that “cop friend” after all.
