‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’: Protected (Or Hurt) By ‘Brothers And Keepers’ In Season 3, Episode 5

(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Power Book III: Raising Kanan episode will be found below.)

We have finally reached the halfway point in Power Book III: Raising Kanan season three. The good news is we’ve had five great episodes in the season, but the bad news is there are only five more left this season. Following “In Sheep’s Clothing” from last week, we now check in with Kanan and the Thomas family for season three’s fifth episode, “Brothers And Keepers.” Kanan is back under his mother’s roof which has him more frustrated than ever. However, when Famous gets arrested by the police, Kanan’s anger reaches a whole new level.

The first practices are underway for Jukebox and her new girl group Butta. There are good and bad things about the group’s dynamic, but for now, Jukebox is enjoying the experience and being a great groupmate at the same time. Raq continues to work on her newly bought plaza while Lou-Lou gears up for the first Hip-Hop Night at Cafe Vous. Despite their respective desires to be out of the drug game to create a new lane for themselves, Raq has no desire to patch things up with Lou-Lou even when he extends an olive branch to her. Finally, we have Marvin, who continues to be an extremely supportive friend, sibling, and father, making him the best character on the show this season.

Here are some of the major points we had after the fifth episode of season three:

Jukebox has an important role in her family. As the one most distant from the drug game, Jukebox is more or less the “normal” one despite her unique qualities. Furthermore, she seems to balance everyone out. She puts Kanan in his place when needed and defends him in any situation that calls for it. She’s the child who doesn’t stress Raq out and she’s helped Marvin be a better man by calling him out on his sh*t. Let’s not forget Lou-Lou as he ventures into the music world with Jukebox as his prodigy.

The qualities that make Jukebox the balance of her new girl group Butta alongside female singers Iesha (played by Liv Symone) and Krystal (played by Aliyah Turner). Krystal believes she is the group leader and carries herself like such while belittling her groupmates, though, their manager doesn’t hesitate to remind Krystal of her place and lack of power. On the flip side, Iesha, though talented, fails to master the group’s dance routine, and her struggles appear in the group’s next practice. Krystal and their manager scold Iesha, but Jukebox, instead, takes the time to comfort her and offers to help her learn the routine outside of practice. Once again, Jukebox proves that she’s willing to be the glue to keep things together and at least be the one to keep the balance.

Trouble was undoubtedly on the horizon after Ronnie’s release from jail. His eerie presence was hard to ignore on the show as he walked around with a menacing look that even the most threatening people and multiple guns failed to deter. For Unique, he figured that getting his brother back in the game would be enough for him, but that was not the case for Ronnie. Instead, Ronnie spent his days frustrated at both Unique and the changed landscape of the game.

Ronnie felt Unique was lazy in his hustle, and Unique assured him that things would pick up in time. Though Unique was getting an operation underway, he underestimated how far Ronnie would go to get one started and get Unique out of his way. Add in Ronnie finding out about Unique’s fling with Raq, and you can see why Ronnie grew irritated and impatient. Unique thought Ronnie would be more willing to listen to him in regards to the drug game since he was locked up for so long. Instead, we see that Unique underestimated Ronnie’s true capabilities as the extremely menacing and ruthless villain here to shake up Power Book III: Raising Kanan.

The first Hip Hop Night at Cafe Vous finally happened in episode five, and if one thing is clear, it’s that Lou-Lou finally has a good thing going for himself. Thanks to an announcement from a radio host, who was more or less persuaded/threatened by Lou-Lou to promote the event, Cafe Vous was packed for its first night under Lou-Lou’s leadership. To make things better, there was great entertainment all night. There was a woman who stepped on stage with impressive bars, so much so that even Famous was blown away. Speaking of Famous, he also stepped to the mic and delivered a fire performance that impressed everyone in the room, even folks like Lou-Lou who previously doubted Famous’ talents.

Hip Hop Night is off to a great start, which is amazing for Lou-Lou as he could use a win in his life after a lengthy stretch of ups and downs.

This episode really tells us where Kanan gets his stubbornness: from none other than Raq. To recap a bit, Kanan is back under his mother’s roof after a gun was found in his backpack at school. As a result, the school issued a social worker to Raq’s home, and Kanan is expected to be there for at least the next six months. Now that Kanan is home, rather than at Famous’ apartment where he’d rather be, the tension is cut-throat between him and his mother. Kanan is still on bad terms with Raq, and the reason dates back to the season two finale. Despite how much she tries, Kanan has no desire to repair their relationship. This frustrates Raq on multiple levels, but Kanan’s stubbornness isn’t surprising.

In this same episode, Marvin approaches Raq at her newly purchased plaza to inform her that Lou-Lou has taken over the Manhattan bar Cafe Vous to start hosting a Hip-Hop Night. Marvin came on behalf of Lou-Lou, who wanted to patch things up with Raq after their argument last season. Despite this, and true to the stubbornness she passed on to her son, Raq dismisses Marvin’s invitation and shuts him down when he tries to remind her that Lou-Lou is still a part of their family. The Hip-Hop Night goes down without Raq as Kanan continues to live under her roof without a conversation with his mother. Raq or Kanan being less stubborn will benefit them and make their lives easier. We’ll have to see who person budges first.

New episodes of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am ET/PT and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm ET/PT.