SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from the Season 4 finale “Gimme The Weight.”
So many people were killed in the Season 4 finale of Starz‘s Power Book III: Raising Kanan, leaving many questions about the future of many of the show’s biggest characters.
After four seasons on the show, Patina Miller will exit the series, where she brought to life the tough-as-nails queenpin of the Southside, Raquel “Raq” Thomas, a role that originated in the first episode of Season 1. While the screen fades to black in the very last moments of the episode, Raq’s only son, Kanan (MeKai Curtis), killed her after becoming convinced she was behind the murders of people whom he treasures most, like his best friend and surrogate brother, Famous (Antonio Ortiz), and his girlfriend Krystal (Aliyah Turner).
Throughout her life, Raq was a bad and bold businesswoman who took what she wanted and fought with anyone who doubted her or underestimated her. She was a leader in the heavily saturated, male-dominated world of drugs and crime. As much as she wanted to be a good provider, steering her son into a better future, she poisoned the well instead. Kanan is unpredictable and too easy to sway against Raq, whom he has already decided he hates, and in turn, is guilty of everything that goes wrong.
Raq accepts her fate like a G, maybe even welcomes it. The episode, “Gimme the Weight,” written by series creator Sascha Penn, gave her the saddest yet most perfect ending. Raq never shied away from her destiny. When I spoke with Penn this week about Miller’s exit, wanting a confirmation that her character is dead and gone, he answered, “No one is safe, Rosy. Nobody is safe.”
Penn continued, “One of the things we talk about a lot, both on Raising Kanan and also with Power in general, is the existence of characters by proxy. This means that their presence is felt even if they aren’t there in the physical sense, so to speak. Raq has left an indelible mark on the family, so if she’s not there, we’ll still feel her presence if we don’t see her. And that’s how we do it.”
Miller added, “I’ve loved [playing Raq], it’s been a role of a lifetime. I have loved playing this character. I have loved being able to shape her and do all of the things an actor wants to do with a character. To tell a story from Season 1 all the way to Season 4, not many actors get that opportunity in shows these days. It was a luxury to be part of a long-running show. I’ve been fortunate and blessed to bring my skill, if you will, and all of the things that I like to bring to my work, to this character, and I’ve worked incredibly hard. I’m incredibly proud of the work, working with this group, the cast, and the crew. It’s really one of my favorite shows I’ve ever had the opportunity to work on, and one of my favorite experiences. I’ve learned so much.”
For any fellow Power Universe superfans, I’d like to think about Raq in the afterlife somewhere, kicking it with Power Book II: Ghost characters Monet Tejada (played by Mary J. Blige) and baddie Caroline Chikezie, who played Noma, to name a few. Would they be fighting each other or working together?
And for any of you keeping score, Stefano “Little Liguini” Marchetti (Tony Danza) and Early Tyler (Chris Redd) are also among the dead.
More from Miller and Penn in a full post-mortem, coming soon.
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