‘Raising Kanan’ creator breaks down finale's post-credits scene and how it sets up ‘Power: Origins’
This story contains spoilers from the ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ series finale.
The ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ series finale closes Kanan Stark’s story after Marvin Thomas and Raquel “Raq” Thomas die. Jukebox avenges her father by targeting the person Kanan still wants to protect. The episode also introduces two figures from Kanan’s future. A post-credits flashback then returns the Thomas family to the beginning. Before Raq’s death, Kanan admits to killing Marvin and says he does not want her to die. Raq cannot forgive him, but she still loves him and recognizes her role in shaping him. After witnessing their conversation, Jukebox shoots Raq and later tells Kanan what she has done. Kanan then sees his mother’s body.
Creator Sascha Penn told Deadline that the ending completes the transformation promised by the show’s title. “By the end of this series, you do have a good sense of how Kanan became Kanan. You may not love that journey, and you may be really upset about that journey, but it is a journey that I do believe explains how he became the character that we get to know in Power. We’ll know even better in 'Origins,'” he said.
Younger versions of Ghost and Tommy approach Kanan about entering the business. However, Kanan dismisses them as too young and tells them to return later. Penn said the cameo was planned before ‘Power: Origins’ was approved. “In our timeline, they’re way too young to be super involved. But I always knew, even from the pitch, that at one point we would glimpse at them just enough for people to feel like, ‘Oh wow, there they are.’ And by the way, we put them into the show before we even knew 'Origins' was happening,” he explained.
After the credits, Raq holds Kanan as a baby while the Thomas family watches ‘Good Times.’ The episode is Season 2, Episode 24, ‘The Lunch Money Ripoff,’ which centers on a child whose difficult circumstances shape his behavior. Penn said the Evans family represented an idealized home to him. “And this notion of this idealized family juxtaposed with this other family [on Raising Kanan]… I can’t unpack all of what it meant to me, but there was something about it that felt really appropriate,” he said.
Penn said the flashback was meant to return Raq and Kanan’s relationship to its starting point. “Raq didn’t set out to raise this kid who ultimately wants to kill her. No, she’s like every other parent. She has this tiny baby that’s defenseless in her arms, and she’s like, ‘I’m gonna protect you. It’s you and me. I got you,’ which is heartbreaking in a completely different way,” he said. Penn added, “I think most parents really set out to do the right thing by their kids, but it’s hard. Life intervenes in all sorts of unexpected ways. But I felt like it was meaningful to have the last image of this series be a mother loving her son.”
The finale also sets the stage for ‘Power: Origins,’ which is set around 2002 or 2003. Mekai Curtis returns as Kanan, with Spence Moore as Ghost and Charlie Mann as Tommy. Penn said the follow-up has “a little more levity,” but features “a pretty grim version” of Kanan. He confirmed, “We just wrapped last week on 18 episodes. I think people are gonna love it.” A premiere date for 'Power: Origins' has not been announced. All seasons of 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' are streaming now on Starz.
