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Power Book III: Raising Kanan centers on the teen years of Kanan Stark (Mekai Curtis). Power fans will recognize the character as the murderous drug dealer portrayed by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

Kanan is raised by his drug queenpin mother, Raquel “Raq” Thomas (Patina Miller), who is way more vicious than we first anticipated. In fact, we believe she may have killed one of her boyfriends in the past.

London Brown as Marvin Thomas, Patina Miller as Raq Thomas and Ade Chike Torbert as Scrappy standing in the kitchen in 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan'
London Brown as Marvin Thomas, Patina Miller as Raq Thomas and Ade Chike Torbert as Scrappy in ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ | Starz

‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ explains how Raq got started in the drug game

The pilot episode of Power Book III: Raising Kanan opened in 1985. At the time, we found 10-year-old Kanan getting beat up in the park. After running home to tell his mother, Raq takes him back to the park to confront the kids who terrorized him.

We also learned how Raq got started in the drug game. She was dating a drug dealer, High Post, who showed her the ropes. However, we also learned that the following year, 1986, High Post was set on fire for snitching. Raq later went into business with her brothers Marvin (London Brown) and Lou Lou (Malcolm Mays).

Raq could have killed High Post

High Post was mentioned in the pilot episode, never to be heard or seen from again. However, fans are convinced that Raq may have burned her then-boyfriend alive to take over his drug business. After all, we’ve seen her kill with no remorse regarding Scrappy (Ade Chike Torbert) and even D-Wiz (Nile Bullock). Moreover, we have a sneaking suspicion that she also set Marvin up so that he was sent to prison, and she could also take over his business.

As we discovered in season 1, Marvin was doing well until he got addicted to his product and began selling from his home. We also learned that he was so high he literally opened the door for the cops. However, he insists to Lou Lou that he was set up.

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Raq isn’t afraid of anyone on ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’

Though we’re just halfway through the second season of Raising Kanan, it’s clear that Raq is willing to go much further than we’d ever dreamed. In fact, she’s determined to expand her business into mob territory despite Marvin and Lou Lou advising her against it.

Miller warned in season 1 that Raq isn’t afraid of anyone. “You really get to see what power means to Raquel… She’s thinking about her legacy, she’s thinking about how to finesse all the men, and she’s not afraid of anyone,” Miller told Digital Spy. “I think there is nothing that this woman [Raq] has not seen. They live in Southside, Jamaica, Queens; you know what I mean? There is nothing that she hasn’t seen before. She ran with a really crazy crew, and so she’s seen a lot of things, and she knows how to assert herself, but she tries to withhold the violence of it all because she’s a thinker.”

Still, as we know, her one weakness is Kanan.

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