‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’: Nature vs. Nurture Is a Major Theme on the Show
Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 2 started with a boom. The ’90s set drama series follows Kanan Stark (Mekai Curtis) in his teen years. After a summer away, Kanan has returned home to Queens and his drug queenpin mother, Raquel “Raq” Thomas’ (Patina Miller) world. Kanan and his uncles Marvin (London Brown) and Lou Lou (Malcolm Brown) are increasingly worried about Raq’s untamed ambition.
Power fans all know how Kanan turned out, which is why the idea of nature versus nurture is a major theme on the show.
‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ fans should brace themselves for what comes next on the show
The second season of Raising Kanan is just beginning, but there has already been some shocking moment. In fact, Patina Miller says this is only the beginning and that fans should brace themselves for the remainder of the season.
“People know who they are now; we’re able to go into the story,” she told Shondaland. “They’re ready for what comes next — but I don’t think they’re ready for what comes next. The second season has the fallout of the consequences of what we saw in season one. As powerful as Raquel is, she is unsettled this season. There’s weird alliances and new enemies. She tries to hold on to her position and her child. Her relationship with her son isn’t as strong as the first season.”
Nature vs. nurture is a major theme in the show
In Power, adult Kanan says that he grew up bad. However, in the pilot episode of Raising Kanan, we saw him throw away an opportunity to have a different life for himself. Instead of going to an elite high school, he begged his mother to indoctrinate him into her business. From the beginning, Raising Kanan showrunner Sascha Penn has wanted to examine nature vs. nurture.
“[Nature vs nurture] is fundamental to the story and the tension. I think that’s the question we all sort of ask ourselves as human beings but also as parents,” he told The Koalition. “I think that’s really part of Raquel’s journey. ‘These choices I’m making not just for myself but for my son, what are they going to do to him?’ We know the answer to that, we know that at least they’re going to contribute in some way to whom [Kanan] becomes.”
Though Penn wants the audience to choose for themselves, he has his own ideas. “If I’m being honest, I probably fall more into the nurture category than the nature category,” he explained. “In fact, I lean very heavily in that direction as a parent and as a person. It’s a great sort of tension to have in the series.”
‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ character will pay the consequences for their actions in season 2
In the first season of Raising Kanan, the characters made shocking decisions. Raq framed Unique (Joey Bada$$) and tasked Kanan with killing Detective Howard (Omar Epps). Kanan refused to go to the elite school his mother wanted to see him at. Marvin assaulted Jukebox (Hailey Kilgore) due to her sexuality and much more.
Now in the series’ second season, everyone will be paying the consequences for their actions. “In this season, you get to see everybody wrestle with the decisions they’ve made and the consequences of what they did in the first season and how that relays and correlates to the person that each individual has become now,” Curtis told Essence.
