‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’: Patina Miller Says There Are Many Sides to Raq
Power Book III: Raising Kanan follows the teen years of Kanan Stark (Mekai Curtis). However, the ’90s set series is just as much about Kanan as it is about his mother, Raquel “Raq” Thomas’ (Patina Miller). Calculating and vicious, Raq has become the biggest drug dealer in Queens.
However, Miller says there are many different sides to her intriguing character.
Raq is the most ruthless character in ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’
In the pilot episode of Raising Kanan, we learned that Raq began leaning into the drug game when she was involved with a man named High Post. After High Post’s death, she took over her brother Marvin’s (London Brown) drug business after he went to jail. Now she continues to run it with Marvin and their younger brother Lou Lou (Malcolm Mays).
She is so ruthless, that fans now believe she set Marvin up to go to prison. Only time will tell if that really happened.
Patina Miller says there are many sides to Raq
As vicious as Raq is, we’ve also seen her being loving toward Kanan and Jukebox (Hailey Kilgore). She also has a soft side when dealing with Symphony (Tobey Sandeman). Miller says her character is more than just three-dimensional.
“I know what it’s like to be in a position of power and have men question you at every turn and always having to prove yourself,” she told Vanity Fair. “I just loved that Raq got to be many different things and that was all in one script. Not just the strong woman, because that’s easy. That’s the easy thing for Black women to play – strong. But I love that you got to see her vulnerable side with her son; her sexy and flirtatious side with Symphony; her very much like the Mama Bear when she goes to meet Unique; and then just the matriarch when the family is all together and that love.”
Raq and Kanan’s relationship could be fractured forever in ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’
As close as Raq and Kanan once were, their bond may never be the same. In season 1 of Raising Kanan the teen had been determined to prove himself to his mother. However, in doing so, she revealed just how ruthless she can be. Kanan was horrified to discover that his mother had ordered a hit on his best friend D-Wiz. This news changed how he saw her forever.
Now that he’s been away from Queens for a year, Kanan will undoubtedly have had the opportunity to think more about Raq’s actions. In fact, she could be losing his trust and respect. In the teaser trailer for Season 2, Kanan tells his mother that he’s not sure he’s cut out for the drug game.
“As we enter season two, Raquel ‘Raq’ Thomas has gained control over the city’s drug trade, but her son is slipping away,” the official logline reads. “Kanan Stark returns to Queens uncertain of his future with the family business, and because of Detective Howard’s lingering secret, he’s even more uncertain of his past.”
