Power Book III: Raising Kanan follows the teen years Kanan Stark (Mekai Curtis). Kanan began to dip his toe into his family business in the first season. The drug empire is run under the direction of his queenpin mother, Raquel “Raq” Thomas (Patina Miller), and his uncles, Marvin (London Brown) and Lou Lou (Malcolm Mays).
However, things are beginning to fracture within the family and the business. Mays says, that viewers could even begin to see Lou Lou’s true character back in season 1.
Though Raq had been grooming Lou to take over her drug empire for her, the youngest Thomas sibling has become increasingly distracted and focused on his true passion, music. Seeing how far Raq is willing to take, her lust for power has disgusted Lou Lou; these days, it appears that he’s looking for a way out.
The only issue is, Raq will never let her baby brother go so easily. Things have been tense between Lou and Raq since she tasked him with killing Kanan’s friend D-Wiz (Nile Bullock). At this point, there is no going back from that.
Mays says the killing D-Wiz showcased Lou’s true character. He is still tormented by that choice, and you can see that he’s also disgusted by Raq’s decision to kill Scrappy.
“The remorse and empathy in his eyes after he kills D-Wiz,” Mayes told Cassius Life. “That was like one of my favorite moments from that character, simply because it showed a level of humanity in the midst of what could have just been a day at the office.”
While Raq can get Marvin in line, Lou won’t be so easily swayed, which doesn’t bode well for the family or their business.
Lou and Kanan have also been distant in the past. However, now that Detective Howard (Omar Epps) has confirmed his paternity to the teen, Kanan will need someone to lean on. In the end, we believe it will be Lou Lou and Kanan who try and save Raq from herself.
“They’re ready for what comes next — but I don’t think they’re ready for what comes next,” Miller told Shondaland. “The second season has the fallout of the consequences of what we saw in season one. As powerful as Raquel is, she is unsettled this season. There’s weird alliances and new enemies. She tries to hold on to her position and her child. Her relationship with her son isn’t as strong as the first season.”