‘Raising Kanan’ Ending Explained By Patina Miller

SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from the Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4 finale “Gimme The Weight.”

Starz‘s Power Book III: Raising Kanan‘s Season 4 finale has a lot of franchise fans in a tizzy. All the bloodshed and the possible death of a major character have many promising not to watch the fifth and final season if she is truly deceased.

So, is Raquel “Raq” Thomas really dead? With Season 5 set to be the conclusion of Raising Kanan, what does the future hold for the Power Universe? If Starz orders Origins, a prequel set after the events of Raising Kanan but before the original Power series, could viewers meet a Young Ghost and Young Tommy in Raising Kanan that would allow Kanan’s (MeKai Curtis) story to continue into the new series? Could Raq’s death end up like Unique’s “death,” or maybe Miller could be back in flashbacks next season?

Deadline spoke with Sascha Penn, creator of the series, and Patina Miller, who has played Raq since Season 1, about the explosive cliffhanger in last night’s finale, how Miller feels about the closing of this chapter, and a lot of the other questions above.

DEADLINE: The show thus far has been centered around this tumultuous mother-son relationship between Raq and Kanan. How will the events of the Season 4 finale affect the storyline in Season 5?

SASCHA PENN: One of the things we talk about a lot, both on Raising Kanan and also with Power in general, is the existence of characters by proxy. This means that their presence is felt even if they aren’t there in the physical sense, so to speak. Raq has left an indelible mark on the family, so if she’s not there, we’ll still feel her presence if we don’t see her. And that’s how we do it.”

DEADLINE: Patina, why did it have to be Kanan who takes Raq out?

PATINA MILLER: Since we started the show, it’s always been about the two of them. I mean, come on, like Sascha said, it is Power. Nobody’s safe. We’ve watched these two characters go on their journeys together, their separate journeys, and so for the ending to be in this way, it’s bittersweet, it’s sad, but it is what it was supposed to be. And how cool to shape and craft a character and tell a story, and have it end like it did. It’s an explosive ending.

DEADLINE: Is this something that needed to happen to take Kanan to the next level?

SP: I don’t know if it needed to happen. I feel like it’s sort of the organic next step for him to take based on where he’s been and where he’s going. If you look at who Kanan is in Power, this feels like a very logical and sensible way for this season to end and for us to continue the story. Having said that, that [final] scene was a decision I labored over extensively, and it kept me awake at night. I think the season ended the way it was supposed to, and the next one starts the way it was supposed to as well.

DEADLINE: If she really is dead, the loss will be felt far and wide beyond Kanan. Right? Good or bad, Raq was who she was.

SP: I always say that she’s the sun and everyone orbits around her. Sometimes the sun is hot, and sometimes the sun is cold, depending on the season. Sometimes you’re further away from the sun, so it feels colder. I think that’s part of the fun and exploration of the story as we continue, what it means when the family changes, and what that looks like. I think ultimately we tell a story that is complete. While there may be some story points from Power that are still lingering out there in terms of the story of Raising Kanan, yeah, of course. But it’s a full story that we’re going to tell by the end of the series, for sure.

DEADLINE: The Power franchise knows how to write bad ass female characters. Patina, what can you share about creating the character of Raq?

PM: That’s always the actor’s job, right? To make it real, make it feel authentic. Hopefully, you’re doing a great job so that people feel something when they watch you perform. The first thing is having a script that makes it easy to do the work you want to do, right? So that’s it, getting a great script and getting a great character. I always want to do honest work; that’s how I get into it. It’s honesty and trying to get to the truth of who the character is. And yeah, she’s a lot of things. She’s very bad ass, but that’s because she’s so sure of herself and I’m speaking my own experiences, from women that I know and women that I respect. I take that and do what I can do. It’s been an incredible honor to take on this role and have Raquel be this powerhouse, a force of nature, if you will.

DEADLINE: Sascha, why are you ending the show after 5 seasons? Also, are there any plans to have Raising Kanan connect to Origins? If so, could we expect to see a Young Ghost and Young Tommy, considering the timeline and with the addition of Breeze to the story?

SP: We’re in the lab on Origins right now, and we’re figuring that out and trying to see what it looks like, or what it could look like. I’m super excited about that show, and the world it opens up. Your timeline is correct. Ghost and Tommy start to appear in Kanan’s life, sometime fairly soon, they’re still very young during Raising Kanan.

One of the challenges is when you do a show like this, where the stakes are high, you can start to repeat yourself. It starts to feel like, ‘Oh, I’ve been there and done that.’ What I always wanted to do with this, and my partners at Starz and Lionsgate have been so great about letting me do full arcs for these characters, starting them off and ending them somewhere, and giving me the runway to do that. From the very beginning, when I pitched the show, it was five seasons, because I felt like beyond that, I just wasn’t sure where the story would go. People know how Kanan’s story ends, and that’s always been the challenge with this show: when you know the ending, are you that interested in the journey? The good news is, people have been. Five seasons seemed right to me. Power went six, and I think Power had a lot more because it wasn’t a prequel.

DEADLINE: I noticed you didn’t answer me about the Young Ghost and Tommy question. Can you share anything on that front?

SP: I mean, Rosy, who knows? I will say this: we’re very aware of what the fans want, and to the best of our ability, we always try to give them what they want. I think you know, between all these shows, whether it’s Raising Kanan or Force or Ghost or, God willing, we do Origins, and I think we are, people will get the pieces of the story they’ve always wanted.

DEADLINE: We will eventually have to say goodbye to Kanan, who dies in the original Power. But he still has time to do so much before then that could continue into Origins. What say you?

SP: It’s very true. You are absolutely right.

DEADLINE: Patina, do you think in the moments before Raq dies, she had any regrets?

PM: We all know the hope she had for her son from the very first episode of the series. I think there are tons of regrets. Her entire life, their entire life, flashes before her eyes, and she thinks of the different times when she could have been a better mother. But in this world where she comes from, she was mothering in the way she knew how. Being on the street, she’s in a dangerous game. I think there’s a lot of guilt. Maybe she could have been better for him and made better choices. What I tried to do in the last scene was the acceptance of this is my fate and if it has to happen. If he’s gonna do it, he has to do it.

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This interview has been edited and condensced for length and clarity.