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Power Book III: Raising Kanan centers on the coming-of-age story of Kanan Stark (Mekai Curtis). However, it’s also the story of his drug queenpin mother, Raquel “Raq” Thomas (Patina Miller), who runs her drug empire with her brothers Marvin (London Brown) and Lou Lou (Malcolm Mays).

As we know, Raq also has a very long history with Detective Malcolm Howard (Omar Epps), which is likely why she puts so much trust in him.

Patina Miller as Raq Thomas and Omar Epps as Malcolm Howard having a conversation in the dark in 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan'
Patina Miller as Raq Thomas and Omar Epps as Malcolm Howard in ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ | Starz

Inside Raq and Detective Howard’s relationship in ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan.’

Raq and Detective Howard have known each other since Raq was a young teen. At the time, she was being paid to pretend to be the girlfriend of drug dealer Def Con Stark. Def Con was actually gay, so he paid Raq to keep up appearances. However, she became enamored with a young man named Malcolm, whom she told she was older than she actually was. She would later discover that Malcolm was an undercover cop. She also discovered that she was pregnant with a child, Kanan, whom she would claim as Def Con’s child.

Raq and Howard have orbited around one another in the years since. However, everything changed when Howard realized that Kanan is actually his son.

Raq puts too much trust in Detective Howard

Though she seems to despise Detective Howard, especially since she tried to have him killed, Raq also seems to have a weird soft spot for him. Though he lied to her as a teen, he was her first love and is also her son’s father. Therefore, she continues to put a lot of trust in him.

Raq trusted him when he told her that Scrappy (Ade Chike Torbert) was a snitch. Moreover, when Howard questioned her about Symphony (Toby Sandeman), she came very close to killing her former lover.

Clearly, Howard still has some strange hold on Raq.

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Detective Howard could help Raq solve her mob issue in ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’

Just like Raq seems to have some pull toward Detective Howard, he also can’t seem to let go of her. In the first season of Raising Kanan, we saw him conspire with Unique to try and take her down. However, things began to change when he discovered that Kanan is his son. At present, Detective Howard is determined to do anything within his power to keep Kanan safe.

Raq is in deep with the mob, and things will likely get worse before they get better. Sal Boselli (Sopranos alum Michael Rispoli) is determined that Marvin will pay for his son Marco’s (David Castro) death.

Though Howard’s jurisdiction is in Queens, not in Newark, he could pull some strings to try and keep Raq, Kanan, and their family safe.

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