Fans will never forget the moment that Kanan Stark was killed on Power. It was tragic not just because he died, but because of the involvement of Tariq St. Patrick — one of the few people he trusted. Actor Michael Rainey Jr. agrees that his character did him “dirty.” Still, he loves the sequence of Kanan’s death in Power.
What happened to Kanan in ‘Power’
Power fans were introduced to Kanan in the show’s second season. He had spent several years in incarceration after being set up by James “Ghost” St. Patrick and had just been released. Set on revenge, Kanan decided to use Ghost’s son, Tariq, against him. But in their time together, he wound up caring for Tariq, viewing him as the son he never had.
Kanan’s death ultimately came in Power Season 5 when he was set up to be the fall guy for Ray Ray’s murder, which was committed by Tariq. When police located the gun during a traffic stop with Kanan and Tariq, Kanan got into a shootout with them. He suffered a serious gunshot wound, but managed to kill every officer.
Glaring at Tariq, he seemed as if he wanted to kill him, but instead, Kanan got in a car and drove away. He barely made it down the road before crashing the car, succumbing to his injuries.
Michael Rainey Jr. on Kanan’s death in ‘Power’
Rainey revisited what happened to Kanan in Power on the podcast The Crew Has It, hosted by him and his Power Book II: Ghost co-star Gianni Paolo (Brayden Weston).
“Obviously, Kanan knows what the f*** happened,” he said of the scene. “He knows Tariq set him up. You just see him looking at Tariq at the end like — everyone thought he was gonna kill him and sh**. And he just looks at him. It’s like he sees himself in Tariq, so he’s like, nah… he just lets it rock. And he just does whatever he does. He kills the other cops and just goes out like a gangster.”
Rainey admitted to watching the scene repeatedly, stunned that he got to kill off a character played by 50 Cent.
“Bro, I watched that scene like four times,” he shared. “I was like damn… like the whole sequence, the shooting of it, like everything was just fire. And then at the end [with] the way he’s just looking at Tariq, he’s like mad disappointed. He’s like, man you did me dirty. I’m gonna let you rock, though.”
Kanan is still a presence on the shows, despite his death
It’s been several years since Power killed off Kanan, but his presence is felt throughout the Power Universe.
Notably, Tariq continues to experience visions of Kanan in Power Book II: Ghost, the spinoff following him as he adjusts to life without his father. And in Power Book III: Raising Kanan, viewers get to go back to the ’90s to see how Kanan became the person in the original series. So at least, he hasn’t completely left us yet.
Check out some of the Power spinoffs now on Starz.
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