Published June 12, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET

As Power Book III: Raising Kanan returns to Starz for its fifth and final season, it’s with new characters, like Shemeik Moore as Brandford “Breeze” Frady, and even Joe Pantoliano as a feared Manhattan mafioso. But it’s a lot of the same old static that they will disrupt. The difficult relationship Kanan (Mekai Curtis) has with his mother Raq (Patina Miller), for example, which just gets tougher. The struggle in the streets for drug biz dominance, the true “power” center for the Power Universe. And the conflicts that rage inside other characters, about whether all the violence can be stopped, or whether it defines them. Maybe for the rest of their lives, or maybe until those lives end suddenly, which is already happening a lot as we begin this Season 5 series finale.

POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: “That’s why I gotta do this right now!” Her son Kanan Stark (Curtis) has a pistol pointed at her head. But Raquel Thomas (Miller) doesn’t flinch. 

The Gist: Season 5 of Raising Kanan begins right where the series left off, in that could-be-deadly moment between mother and son drug dealers. And viewers will remember the gunshot that rang out as Season 4 went to credits. But we’ll be mindful of spoilers and say only that it’s neither Raq nor Kanan who’s doing the shooting. Which leaves the tension between these characters, all their unresolved shit, still bleeding like an open wound. And Raising Kanan has ten episodes to sort it out, which leaves a lot more room for people to get hurt.

“I ain’t got no regrets in my life,” the older Kanan says in his voiceover, once again handled by series exec producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. “I just got shit that’s uncomfortable that don’t ever go away.” And that older perspective is even more key, now that this prequel series is paving the on-ramp to its main series narrative. It’s still the 1990s in Raising Kanan. But we’re closer than ever to where Power begins.

Raq and Kanan’s beef has put a hiccup in workflow, and they’ve got unhappy corner boy soldiers and expectant high-end suppliers. Unique (Joey Bada$$), fully recovered after his miraculous Season 4 reappearance, is reaching for even more influence. (He typically reaches gun hand first.) And Breeze (Moore), the drug captain nephew of street veterans Snaps and Pop (a very enjoyable Wendell Pierce and Erika Woods), has risen as a new player in South Jamaica. Would he partner with Kanan? Partner with Unique? Both? Or would none of these dudes trust each other at all, which seems the more likely outcome?

There are always cops to be aware of, too, but with Power Book III: Raising Kanan, we are most concerned with the insular, ever-shifting world of drug-dealing and the family ties wrapped around it. Even Tony Danza is involved, as his Stefano Marchetti looks for vengeance and his own street control. Everyone in Kanan is racing toward a reckoning, racing toward this TV universe’s future we already know. And they’re all running out of time to get what they want.  

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? A final season of Power Book III: Raising Kanan makes it the last spinoff standing from the original Power universe. But the clamor for Power does not end! Power: Origins will feature Spence Moore II and Charlie Mann as younger versions of James “Ghost” St. Patrick and Tommy Egan — plus Mekai Curtis returning as Kanan Stark — while Power: Legacy, set in the existing Ghost/Tommy timeline, is also on the docket.

And power and who’s got it – or who thinks they got it, on both sides of the law – is also at the heart of Nemesis, Power creator Courtney A. Kemp’s recent crime drama for Netflix. There is no word yet on a Season 2 of Nemesis, but that doesn’t mean Kemp doesn’t have thoughts.

Our Take: Midway through the opening episode of Raising Kanan Season 5, Raq’s niece Jukebox (Hailey Kilgore) laments to a music industry pal that everyone in her personal life is perpetually in peril. How could she ever escape this violence? What is there to suggest she isn’t just like them? Not even her talent as a singer is enough to counteract what she seems to consider an assurance of her fate. And it’s here, after a handful of seasons, where we see the weight of inevitability finally kill people’s dreams and harden them permanently. There is a lot of hardening happening as Kanan rolls to its conclusion, and we fear this will leave a trail of bodies. Because while some may grieve in private over the bloodshed that’s already occurring, it is always with an allowance for the “just business” side of things. It’s like Kanan himself says to Juke later. In his way, he’s trying to reassure his cousin. But it comes out as unfortunate commentary on a series with multiple characters who now exist on the brink. “Nobody’s untouchable.” Strap on your pager and pull that Gucci sweatshirt with the built-in mock turtleneck over your head. Because thing is gonna get nuts.   

Performance Worth Watching: Hailey Kilgore continues her fine work as Juke in Raising Kanan. She is one of the closest things this series has to a conscience. And Kilgore is also doing double-duty right now – she’s also at the firehouse on 9-1-1: Nashville as Taylor Thompson.  

Sex and Skin: Not really, besides some mostly-background spiciness here and there.

Parting Shot: We close with the return of 50 Cent’s voiceover as an older Kanan Stark. “Some shit can’t never be fixed. Especially when you the shit that’s broke.”

Sleeper Star: Toss up! Quick, who plays the more charismatic yet cold-blooded drug world figure on Power Book III: Raising Kanan? And is it Joey Bada$$ as ‘Nique or Shameik Moore as Breeze? Because even when these guys are hurting people, they’re eminently watchable.

Most Pilot-y Line: “We join our crews and expand. Your Moms is out the game.” When he says it, it sounds as easy as Breeze’s nickname. But the budding partnership between Breeze and Kanan, not to mention other street players, feels more fraught in practice.

Our Call: Stream It! As Power Book III: Raising Kanan hits its final season, it’s rolling hard toward violent resolution and its own TV future as a part of the Power Universe. And what’s left unprotected in the middle are the characters and personal relationships we’ve come to care for.