Given the sort of show that Power Book III: Raising Kanan season 3 is, it feels inevitable that people are going to die. You can think of this both in the macro and micro sense. On one level, people are going to be eliminated here and there to further the story. In the big picture, a lot of these people are never mentioned on the main series. There have to be reasons for that, and in a way, we are seeing this series inch ever closer to delivering on much of that with Kanan Stark himself.
Rest assured, we’ll have a chance to touch on the title character later and his latest acts — for now, we gotta talk about Lou.
What did he do at the end of the episode? Well, it ties into that chat he had with Marvin. His drinking has become more than just a tiny problem; it is causing him to make big mistakes and start to lose time. His actions when it comes to Scrap’s mom Shantel led to her seeking out more information and justice and all of a sudden, he was forced to put a stop to it. The man went from lamenting the loss of Scrap to having to take out his mother; in the closing minutes of the episode, he made it clear that he didn’t want to do it. Yet, that didn’t stop him from pulling the trigger.
In the aftermath of all of this, you can imagine his story going one of two ways. On one level, you can say that this will help him to realize that he is making a HUGE mistake using as much as he is; on the flip side, you could also argue that this is a move that is going to cause him to go even harder into it as a means of numbing the main. Lou is not a sociopath; he feels pain and sorrow over what happens. This is going to stick with him; we have no doubt of that.
The biggest problem with Kanan
It doesn’t take some social scientist to figure out that he’s on a bad path with Ronnie, a guy who is only going to teach him more and more things about the harshness of life. This is a man who killed his own brother, and seems to be in the end steering him further and further away from his family.
How painful was that confirmation between Jukebox and MeKai Curtis’ character tonight? Even the scene with Kanan and Iesha was a reminder of the way that he’s changed. He thinks that he’s found a sense of power and confidence now, but there’s a reason between confidence and cockiness. Also, pushing people away doesn’t make you happier or better — it can only cause more pain, and it may be another reason why Kanan is so detached when we see him in the present.
Kanan is going somewhere, and it is nowhere good given that specter of Breeze is still around the corner. The show has to be getting there eventually.
For the time being…
The problems within the world of Power Book III: Raising Kanan are all over the place, whether it be Lou’s addictions, Jukebox’s inevitable letdown in music, or the investigation into Shannon Burke that could eventually land Howard in trouble … maybe. Her father is clearly still looking for answers, but how far is he willing to go? Well, he’s a powerful cop. That matters. He’s not someone who has to just sit by and say nothing.
There’s no doubt this season started big with Burke’s death, and it may have spent a little too much time without Raq back in the game. Yet, from the death of Unique onward it feels like we’re strapped in to a runaway train; it is going faster and faster, and at some point, things are gonna crash. That’s a hard thing to prepare for, but we know it’s ahead.
