Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
If there is one thing that we might not have expected to see in this season of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan,’ it probably was to see Marvin (London Brown) making more sense than Raquel (Patina Miller). Ironically enough, that seems to be the case. On last week’s episode, the oldest sibling of the Thomas family warned his younger sister that it would be smart to learn the players in New Jersey before deciding to expand. It turns out that he was absolutely correct.
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Episode 4 entitled ‘Pay The Toll’ begins with one of Raq’s men getting attacked by the Italians while en route to make a drop in New Jersey. The attackers give a very special message. They relay the message that “No one does business in Newark without Boselli (Micahel Rispoli) profiting.” Marvin and Lou Lou (Malcolm Mays) both get phone calls alerting them of what happened. Lou Lou reemphasized that he didn’t want to have anything to do with Jersey in the first place and tells the person on the call that they should call Raq or Marvin. Marvin is preoccupied with taking Kanan (Mekai Curtis) to visit his imprisoned Uncle Vernon (Def Con’s brother) up north. Vernon makes it clear to Kanan that at his age, Def Con was already running the streets, had his own crib and could have any woman he wanted and that it was time for him to do the same. The visit Kanan took was suggested by his mother, who also couldn’t do anything about Jersey because she was busy as well. Raq was on a date with Cartier “Duns” Fareed (Omar J. Dorsey). While at the art exhibit, Raq questions Cartier about how he’s able to live the way he does. She ends up finding out that he uses the art to clean all of his dirty money. She then realizes that to alleviate her cash issues, she must also find a way to wash all of her money also.
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
When all three Thomas siblings finally reconvene to discuss the Jersey incident, we see yet again that they’re not all on the same page. Raq is content on continuing the expansion into Jersey despite the setback they just ran into. Raq’s brothers understand that they have a huge problem on their hands. Lou Lou suggests that they press pause and let the situation die down first. Raq isn’t trying to hear it. She goes on to say that “No one can tell her where she can and can’t do business.” Raq orders her brothers to set up a meeting with Boselli. During this whole conversation, Kanan is in the other room. The room stinks badly because the dead body of the super Marvin killed and stuffed into the wall is starting to decay more and more. While he waited patiently in the room, he opens the closet where the body is stuffed. He happens to come across some shoe boxes that are filled with cash. Just like he did previously, Kanan decides to steal from his family. After his mother and uncles are done meeting, Kanan decides that it’s the right time to ask his mother some more questions about his father. He wants to know the real reason she wanted him to kill Detective Howard (Omar Epps). Instead of using the opportunity to finally tell the truth, Raq once again lies to Kanan. She says that Howard threatened to turn Kanan in for Buck 20’s murder. She also wants Kanan to believe that Howard is using him to get closer to her. Although Kanan is listening, it doesn’t seem like he believes a word coming out of his mother’s mouth.
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Just like her cousin, Jukebox (Hailey Kilgore) is also continuing to search for answers. She finally musters up the courage to go to her mother’s house and ring her doorbell. Kenya (Letoya Luckett) does her best to explain why she left Juke when she was still a baby. Kenya tells her daughter that she was very young and immature. She ran off with the intentions of pursuing her dreams and hoped that when she made it, she’d be able to come back to get Juke. The conversation was very genuine from both sides and it looks like the mother-daughter duo is on the right path to rekindling a relationship. When Juke returns home to grab some dresses so that she can attend church with her mother, she is taken back by what she sees. Marvin has completely redecorated Juke’s room including a fresh new coat of blue paint and some pictures/posters that he thought Juke would like. Although he didn’t actually say the words in this scene, this seems to be Marvin’s way of apologizing to his daughter for everything that’s happened between them. Unfortunately for Marvin, his daughter isn’t in the mood for the pleasantries and quickly leaves the house once Marvin tries to make amends.
https://twitter.com/moiciaratoo/status/1566876192392843269
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Speaking of making amends, even though it seemed like Unique (Joey Bada$$) had done so with the Thomas family, we had to know that it would be short lived. He was right back to his plotting and scheming in this episode. The first time we see him in this episode, it’s him returning to the same store he kidnapped Juliana (Rosal Colon) from the previous one. After taunting her in the store, he goes outside where he talks to Worrell (John Clay III). Like we thought, bringing in Worrell was probably a huge mistake of Raq’s behalf. He apparently is still working with Unique and that is evident by the events that took place at the end of the episode. Raq and her brothers meet with the Italians. Sal Boselli explains to Raq that everything that happens in Jersey, he must have a hand in. He gives her a piece of paper with a number that he’d want her to pay to keep moving drugs in his territory. Before even looking at it, Raq crumbles it up and walks away, basically saying she refuses to fold. Raq decides after the meet that they would no longer be using trucks to transport their drugs, but instead they’d be using short school buses. Worrell obviously shares the information with Unique, who then shares it with the Italians. This eventually leads to Worrell and the bus getting robbed. Detective Burke (Shanley Caswell) is still snooping around. She makes a visit to see Unique at his spot, which looks renovated. She’s searching for answers to figure out who framed him for Howard’s shooting but Unique doesn’t tell her anything. The two say they have their eyes on each other. What happens between them two should be very interesting, seeing how they both have ulterior motives.
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Elsewhere in this week’s episode, Kanan used the money he stole from his family to help Famous (Antonio Ortiz) throw a housewarming party. At the party, Kanan meets a new girl who he spends most of the party with. It’s revealed that Crown Camacho (Quincy Brown) did come in clutch and was able to pull some strings for Famous to get the apartment. Crown has a tape he made specifically for Juke that he gives her. While he tries to get on Juke’s good side, it’s the opposite for Lou Lou. The two butt heads after Lou walks in to find that their mixing board is missing. Crown says that he had to sell it in order to cover some of their expenses. This leads to the two having a brief altercation. Just as he helped Raq earlier in the episode, we see Cartier hold Lou down and get him a new board as they discuss their futures, what they want and how they’ll obtain it. While Cartier seems like he wants to be Raq’s new man, her old one doesn’t want to play the games anymore. Raq asks Symphony (Toby Sandeman) to come with her to check out the new home she’s about to purchase. He lets her know he doesn’t just want to be a vacation for her, he wants to be her hime. He tells her that he thinks it’s best if she lets him go. In Raq fashion, she acts as if she isn’t hurt by the decision.
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
The episode ends with what is sure to be a turning point for the most important relationship on the show, Kanan and Raq. As Kanan rushes out of the house, Raq asks her son where he’s going. He responds by saying he’s going to hang out with Famous. Suspicious of him, Raq decides to follow her son to see if he was telling the truth. It just so happens that he wasn’t. Raq finds her son pulling up to Howard’s house. Howard invites him in and you can see it all over Raq’s face that she isn’t overwhelmed with a variation of emotions. Will she approach him about his lies? What will Howard and Kanan talk about while they spend time together? Will Juke be able to forge a real relationship with her mother? Rebuild the one she had with Marvin? What will the dynamics of the studio be moving forward? Is Cartier around to stay? Is Symphony gone for good? What’s Unique’s next move? Will the Thomas family found out that Worrell is still working with him?
https://twitter.com/Youknowtheevib2/status/1566294823094689797
Source: Courtesy STARZ / Starz
As with every week’s episode, there’s a million more questions we need answers to now. Slide in the comments and let us know how you felt about episode 4 and what you expect from next week’s episode.
