Upamanyu Biswas
The fourth season of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ starts off exactly where season 3 left off. The season finale ended with Kanan and Raq walking away after killing Ronnie and Howard, respectively. While the shock ending had its moment, we had another big twist near the closing moments as a still-alive Unique made his presence known. As such, we were left with a host of burning questions regarding our favorite characters – where they go from here and how some of them even survived. The first episode of season 4, titled ‘Gangstas Don’t Die,’ wastes no time in addressing one of those big questions, providing some much-needed insight and context for an important character’s past. It also gets the ball rolling on the overarching plot for season 4, as conflict and tension have already begun to make inroads into the South Jamaica neighborhoods. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Unique Was Biding His Time All Along
Episode 1 begins with Unique walking into the warehouse where Raq and Kanan killed Ronnie and Howard at the end of season 3. The show then takes us three months back, where we see how Unique managed to survive after his brother “killed” him. After the attack, Unique climbs his way to safety and eventually finds a payphone where he dials for help – the person receiving the message on the other side is Early Tyler. Tyler arrives to rescue Unique and drives him to a local vet clinic. The doctor tries to stabilize him temporarily but tells Tyler that for a full recovery, Unique needs to be taken care of around the clock for the next few months. Although Tyler wants his money to save Unique, he realizes that keeping the latter alive is more important as the cash can be procured at a later date.
Subsequently, Unique is provided a safe haven at Tyler’s house, where he spends his days recuperating. Meanwhile, his caretaker continues to treat his wounds and help him with food. The doctor arrives a few days later and tells Tyler that Unique still needs to be sent to a hospital for the severity of his injuries, stating that he was lucky to be alive in the first place. While Tyler understands the concern, he knows that taking Unique anywhere public would be a bad idea. It could only backfire as the people responsible for trying to kill him could still be looking to finish the job. Unique himself tries to go back to the normal world in his injured state but to no avail. With Tyler’s help, he realizes that rather than rushing back into the game, he should use his newfound invisibility as a cloak to carry out his own purpose.
Raq Hid Her Pregnancy From Everyone Save One
In the flashback, we also learn a huge piece of news – Raq is pregnant with Unique’s child. The third season showed them exploring a likely relationship. However, it all started to fizzle away once Raq went back into game mode and Unique got taken out by his brother. However, the brief union between them led to Raq’s pregnancy. The news is just as shocking to her as it might be for anybody. So, she does what she does best and keeps it hidden from everyone close to her. Instead, she heads off to the local hospital to carry out an abortion on the baby. The doctor asks Raq why she is looking to get rid of the baby. She explains that considering the amount of stuff going on in her life, she has no time for another kid. It’s hard enough to parent Kanan, who is already distant from her and hates her.
The hospital workers learn from her reports that the father of the unborn child passed away recently. The doctor decides to set her up with the therapist to talk out her feelings as she gets ready for her abortion. After the procedure, Jukebox drives Raq back home. Strangely, Raq decides to come clean about the baby’s abortion to Jukebox. Thus, the girl is the only one who knows anything about Raq’s baby and the father’s identity. She expects Jukebox to be shocked at the news. However, the girl is too shocked to even react to the news. Raq tells her to keep it a secret from the rest of the family. Another secret to add to the list of growing lies circulating within Kanan’s circle. However, this time around, even he becomes privy to a devastating secret.
Kanan Discovers News About His Grandparents
While Unique and Kanan are working through their stuff in the flashback, we also glimpse Marvin and Kanan’s life. The former takes on a mission from Stefano Marchetti, the New York godfather, to intimidate Tomasso, his big-shot son-in-law. Tomasso has been running around town cheating on his wife, who is also Stefano’s daughter. Marvin is told to rough him up in indirect terms, which he does in an efficient fashion. The New York godfather is pleased by his work and promises that this will only help him in the future, meaning Stefano is likely willing to answer one of his favors. Meanwhile, Kanan has a strange problem presented to him out of nowhere. His high school research project is still due, and he has to complete it by finding out more about one of his grandparents.
After all the drug trading and illegal stuff Kanan has been doing recently, it is hard to remember he is a teenager in high school still. However, the research project storyline helps bring a sense of normalcy to his character for a brief period. We see him go back to his grandma’s house, asking to learn more about Grandpa Elijah. Somehow, Kanan can sense a bit of kinship with his late grandfather, who his grandmother describes as someone just like him. The boy goes around interrogating every family member about Elijah’s personality and what he was like as a person. Everyone shares something different, Marvin and Lou-Lou included. He refrains from asking his mother because of the distance in their relationship. She tells him that no matter how much he hates her, she will always unconditionally love him.
Later, Kanan makes the shocking discovery that his grandmother has cancer and is dying. He is the only one to know, and she urges him not to share the information with her children, fearing that they will make the news about themselves. Meanwhile, Unique sends out Tyler to recon the situation outside and where everyone stands in the puzzle. The latter returns to inform Unique that Ronnie is working with Kanan, and Raq is back dealing again despite promising to be “out.” Unique hypothesizes that Kanan and Raq must be in cahoots and likely sent Ronnie after him. Tyler points out that he is making big assumptions, but the man already has his target set. The final parts of the episode take us back to the present day, where Unique takes out his gun and points it toward Ronnie and Howard’s dead bodies. He is seemingly now on a collision course with Raq and Kanan.
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