“Power Book III: Raising Kanan” Showrunner Reveals Why He Chose to Save Raq, Breaks Down 'Tragedy' of Lou's Death (Exclusive)

Julia MooreSat, June 13, 2026 at 4:00 PM UTC

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Patina Miller as Raq and Malcom Mays as Lou in 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' season 5Credit: Cara Howe/Starz; Starz

Warning: this post contains spoilers for the season 5 premiere episode of Power Book III: Raising Kanan.

Showrunner Sascha Penn unpacks the shocking and brutal death that kicked off Power Book III: Raising Kanan season 5

Penn tells PEOPLE he went "back and forth quite a bit" over whether Raq (Patina Miller) would be killed or survive, and shares how Malcolm Mays reacted to the news of his character's death

New episodes of Power Book III: Raising Kanan drop Fridays on Starz

The decision to kill off a beloved character in the season 5 premiere of Power Book III: Raising Kanan was not taken lightly.

In the episode, which premiered on Friday, June 12, Uncle Lou (Malcolm Mays) was dead within the first five minutes. Kanan (Mekai Curtis) — who had been holding his mom, Raq (Patina Miller), at gunpoint in the season 4 finale — pulled the trigger somewhat unintentionally when he turned around to find his mom's bodyguard, Ruben (Dean Wil), with his gun drawn. The bullet hit Lou instead.

Creator Sascha Penn tells PEOPLE that there was a time when Raq was going to be the one to die in the dramatic cliffhanger.

"We went back and forth quite a bit," he shares. "I think ultimately, the feeling was for me, there was still more story to tell with Raq, and there was some unfinished business that I felt like I really wanted to [tie up]. There were some things that still needed to be said, let's put it that way."

Raq surviving to see season 5 wasn't decided on until production had already begun on season 4, Penn says, and Lou was chosen as the new victim "immediately."

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Hailey Kilgore as Jukebox and London Brown as Marvin in 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' season 5Credit: Starz

"I think the thing about Lou was that he's the heart and conscience of the family. So what I thought made a lot of sense is to remove that from the family," Penn explains. "Once you [have] untethered everyone from that conscience, what then happens, right?"

Lou's death "sets off the season, because all of a sudden, once he's gone, there's no one to check everybody."

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"I think that creates a lot of conflict and drama and frankly, tragedy," Penn continues. "He was the character that represented all that. So I was like, 'okay, well, what happens to this family when that's gone?' "

Mays, 36, was a total "professional" about it. "He handled it really well," Penn says. "It's funny, I think the first thing he said [was], 'Wow, I thought you were going to get rid of me in season 2.' "

Still, it's a "very personal" piece of news to have to deliver to a colleague, particularly one you have so much history with. "I know for the fans, for the viewers, it's an incredibly emotional experience to watch a character they love die. It's even more so for the actors — and me," he says. "This is someone I spent a tremendous amount of time with in my life, who I really respect, who I genuinely care for. It's a hard conversation to have. It really is."

London Brown, Sascha Penn, and Malcom Mays attend the 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' Season 5 Premiere at The Times Center on June 8, 2026 in New York CityCredit: Bennett Raglin/Getty

Penn — who married Monsters star Leslie Grossman in 2025 — goes as far as to say that telling Mays about Lou's death was comparably emotional to the end of his first marriage.

"I got divorced, actually, in season 1 of Kanan, and these conversations feel very similar to the conversations you have when you are ending that kind of relationship. It feels that intense. I'm not lying," he says. "It really took an emotional toll on me, a true emotional toll."

He knew he had to be the one to deliver the news, though. "I always felt like I was the one who had to have [that conversation], because that's how it should be done," he says. "It was really, really hard."

At the show's season 5 premiere in New York City, Mays told PEOPLE there was "a lot of love" on his last day on set. "It was a lot of warmth. I was happy. I was excited. Everybody else was," he said. "But it was kind of bittersweet as well."

New episodes of the fifth and final season of Raising Kanan drop Fridays on Starz.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”