Power Book III: Raising Kanan

Set in South Jamaica, Queens, in 1991, "Raising Kanan" is a prequel to the original "Power" franchise. It is a sprawling family drama that revolves around the coming of age of Kanan Stark; Ghost and Tommy's mentor, partner and adversary, who ultimately dies in a hail of gunfire in the eighth episode of Power's penultimate season. When we catch up with Kanan here, he is the fifteen-year-old only child of Raquel "Raq" Thomas, a cocaine distributor with an emerging network of dealers across the city. Much like the original "Power," "Raising Kanan" explores themes of identity, violence, and legacy, but it is also a deep dive into the very pathology of family; the unique, complicated and fraught dynamic between parent and child, mother and father, brother and sister. In an increasingly fractious world, family often feels like the only refuge from all the divisiveness and discord and yet, at the same time, we often discover that it is those closest to us who betray us and our values most.