‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Season 5 ending explained: How does Flossie turn the finale upside down?
‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Season 5 ends with Flossie at the center of two crucial turning points for Jukebox and Raq. Marvin’s letter sends Jukebox to Flossie, while Raq approaches her after losing another possible source of protection. Neither encounter appears explosive at first, but both help move the finale toward its fatal conclusion. The episode also reveals what pushes Kanan closer to the man introduced in the original ‘Power.’
After Marvin’s death, Jukebox receives a suitcase filled with money and a letter in which her father identifies Flossie as the only person she can trust. During their meeting, the conversation makes it clear to Jukebox that Kanan killed Marvin. He had already killed his other uncle, Lou, earlier in the season. The revelation gives Jukebox one more reason to target Kanan as she grapples with her father's demise. Raq also learns from Pino that Kanan murdered Marvin. She initially meets Pino in search of protection, but rejects his proposal for a “different type of relationship.” Raq then offers detectives information about Pino and Stefano in exchange for full immunity and witness protection for herself and Kanan. She asks Flossie to help her secure a meeting with Stefano; however, Flossie refuses, leaving Raq with fewer options.
Kanan learns about Raq’s immunity request and asks Breeze to let her leave New York, although Breeze maintains that Stefano wants her dead. Kanan later meets Stefano himself and asks him to spare Raq. Stefano agrees to consider it, but insists that Raq meet him in person. Kanan then urges his mother to accept the meeting despite the risk. Right before Raq meets Stefano, she tells Kanan that she knows he killed Lou and Marvin.
She also asks if he's still in love with her, and Kanan tells her that she is his mother, but he had been waiting for her to become the person he needed her to be. Kanan tells her that they cannot undo their past, but the two embrace as Jukebox watches from a distance. Stefano orders Raq to kill Pino and leave New York permanently. Raq completes the job, but Jukebox confronts her while she is packing and shoots her.
Jukebox later tells Kanan that she had planned to kill him. Seeing him reconcile with Raq changed her mind because she believed forcing him to live without anyone who cared about him would be a harsher punishment. She also lies that Raq begged her to kill Kanan instead. After finding his mother’s body, Kanan hears his older self declare, “My story didn’t end here. Shit, in a lot of ways, this was the beginning of me: what I turned into, who I ended up being. See, this isn’t just my story; this is our story, and now it’s your story. But I said all along, more than anything, this is a Southside Jamaica, Queens story.”
Before Raq’s death, Kanan meets 13-year-old James and Tommy for the first time. James will later become Ghost, but Kanan dismisses both boys as too young and tells them to return when they are no longer eating Happy Meals. The encounter establishes their earliest connection ahead of the upcoming prequel, ‘Power: Origins.’
The finale also reveals that Jarita is pregnant with Kanan’s child, although she makes clear that she is not asking him to resume their relationship. In the after-credits scene, the story returns to the day Kanan was born, when Raq, Lou, Marvin, and baby Jukebox were together at the hospital.
