This article contains spoilers for the Season 5 premiere of Power Book III: Raising Kanan.
Fans have always known that Kanan Stark was a loner, but with the closeout season of Power Book III: Raising Kanan, it’s becoming clearer and clearer how he got there. The series ended its fourth season with a blank screen and a gunshot, leaving viewers wondering if Kanan (MeKai Curtis) shot his mother, Raq (Patina Miller), or if something else happened after their charged confrontation.
Now back with the premiere for its fifth and final season, the show sealed the fate of one of its characters, Lou Thomas, played by Malcolm Mays. In a gut-wrenching opening scene, Kanan accidentally shoots his Uncle Lou-Lou, who moved to stop his bodyguard from shooting at Kanan. Lou, bleeding, looks starkly at his nephew before he drops to the floor. In a blink, Raq rushes to him, but he dies in his sister’s arms. Make no mistake: This death sets the tone for the rest of season 5, and Miller shared how it felt saying goodbye to the character — and Mays.
Kanan is on an even more destructive path in this final season of Raising Kanan.
This final season will get more raw and violent
When I spoke to the cast and Penn ahead of the Season 5 debut, one common theme kept coming up in our conversations: “The chickens are coming home to roost.”
The Thomases will be dealing with more than just their enemies in the streets — lies and secrets will be exposed as the show continues. “I think that’s what we’ll be seeing in this final season,” said Penn. “All these secrets that have been kept for too long, and again, the lies that have been perpetrated for too long, really come to the surface in ways that I think are surprising and scary and in some cases, violent. This is a family on the brink.”
Fans will see how all this plays out over the next seven episodes, but Penn expressed that, ultimately, he accomplished what he wanted to with this series as a whole.
“I always thought it would be five seasons,” he said. “I really feel like I was able to tell the full story of the Thomas family.”
As for Miller, she told me that this season we’ll see Raq “in her darkest form” and “her most volatile form.” Lou’s death isn’t necessarily the sole catalyst, but it definitely contributes to what we see and how the show eventually ends. Saying goodbye to Mays and the series was difficult for the star, but as she reflected on reading the final script, she shared why she’s thrilled for fans.
“I’ve gotten to do some really, really wonderful things, and it is an actor’s dream to be able to do what I was able to do on this show,” Miller said. “So, I didn’t want it to end. But I’m so happy with how the story ends. And people might love it, they might hate it. I think they will be satisfied. I’m excited for people to see it, but it was hard.”
Season 5 of Raising Kanan airs on Starz each Friday and will conclude its final run in August.
