‘Raising Kanan’ Season 3, Episode 3: Ronnie feels like an aspiring supervillain. Send help.
OPINION: Unique’s brother Ronnie continues to creep out everybody who comes into contact with him and the Feds won’t leave everybody else alone.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
One of my favorite things about “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” is that I already know how the story ends for Kanan (and Jukebox). As we’re watching their stories unfold, we know exactly what road they eventually go down, but it is so interesting meeting all of the people who affected their lives (and how) and the decisions they faced along the way.
This is why I really, really need to know how Ronnie — Unique’s older brother — plays into the bigger picture because that guy concerns me greatly. Everybody seems to be doing just fine, minding their own business and criminal enterprises, and here he goes, lurking in the shadows, quietly and deliberately scaring the bejesus out of Unique’s baby mama, killing bouncers who don’t like his haberdashery choices and following Unique and threatening the peaceful order of the chaos that exists. In episode one, 50 Cent’s voiceover was something to the effect (and I’m paraphrasing), “You know the guy in the hood that everybody avoids because he’s so crazy and messed up? Ronnie is the guy THAT guy avoids.”
Listen, that makes so much sense. Ronnie got so mad at a bouncer doing his job that he (I assumed) killed him with a car door, took the money out of his wallet and put the wallet back so he could go buy some better clothes. Ronnie is following Unique and presumably discovers that he is smashing Raq, whom Ronnie said they should have killed years ago. Ronnie is scaring Unique’s baby mama over some Honey Nut Cheerios, which are good, but you really don’t have to scare the bejesus out of anybody over them.
Ronnie just stands out in the open staring down Kanan and Famous, looking foreboding, like a villain who is coming back to take his territory. Ronnie creeps me out. From MY living room. Can we please give a round of applause for Grantham Coleman for his portrayal of Omar Little’s spirit animal? Seriously, though, I don’t know what Ronnie is up to but it cannot be good for literally anybody. Little children going to school in Iowa need to be concerned about Ronnie. Ronnie is why they created special task forces inside federal agencies. I’m sure of this.
In Kanan and Raq news, his weed courier business is up and running and that’s nice. It’s like 1993 or 1994; having door-to-door service for weed all over Queens has to be a tremendous convenience for citizens of Queens. I really like the enterprising nature of Kanan, and so does Ronnie, who just stared at Kanan and Famous in the kind of way that makes me say no to drugs — NO drugs! Raquel is looking to diversify her portfolio and clean her money and confides in Unique about it, which was sweet. The feds, though, they’re watching Raquel. I blame Ronnie.
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Speaking of the feds, they are swarming all over South Jamaica, Queens these days. They’re watching the Italians pull Stefano (my guy, the Big Fish) into their offices by accusing him of selling illegal fish. The feds, bro, will try to get you any way they can. They think Stefano had something to do with Sal’s murder — he did — but Stefano wasn’t born yesterday. The feds applying pressure is interesting if only because, well, EVERYBODY ON THIS SHOW BELONGS IN JAIL.
Speaking of jail, our boy Lou Lou continues to spiral. He gets into a fight that prevents him from going to Jukebox’s audition, but it just so happens that he breaks his promises in a bar owned by a white woman who knew his father, who was a jazz musician. So when he ends up in jail, he’s an enterprising chap who is now thinking about how he might be able to bring in hip-hop talent and such to this place (hip-hop started the fight; news at 11!) which has the makings of, I don’t know, the Latin Quarter? I don’t know but it seems like Lou Lou is on the verge of becoming a nightclub promoter? I don’t know, but that man needs to stop drinking because it cost him being present for Jukebox’s big audition where he created the music and was ready to go.
Jukebox nailed the two lines of the song she sang, and again, let me continue singing the praises of Marvin, who showed up for his daughter and was as encouraging as he could be and supported her fully, even offering some suggestions for the music. Not only is Marvin there for Juke, but he’s out here helping out folks from the support group; somehow, Marvin is a person you call in a jam. I don’t know where his story is going, but I will be very, very sad when Marvin dies. And it’s coming — this is how they get you. The soldier who starts to become a person that you can’t help but love and admire always becomes the hero, at some point, and goes out being heroic. Maybe Marvin will have to take out Ronnie at some point. One can only hope. I’m seeing big Rip from “Yellowstone” similarities and I like it. Marvin and Rip would get along famously after they fought a few times.
Lastly, Howard has a problem in his department — Det. Burke’s boo. He’s trying to play mind games with her to get her to drop her complaints, which is keeping the internal affairs investigation over but the writing is on the wall here, Burke is going to have to take her out at some point. I think, sadly, she knows it, too.
Southside.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest), but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said: “Unknown” (Blackest).
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