Story by Ny MaGee After five seasons of ambition, betrayal and a complicated battle between mother and son, Patina Miller is saying goodbye to Raquel “Raq” Thomas. “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” aired its series finale Friday, Aug. 7, on STARZ, closing the chapter on Miller’s formidable Queens drug queenpin as Kanan Stark moves closer to becoming the man “Power” fans have always known. For Miller, leaving Raq means walking away from a character who rarely allowed her to play just one note. “I’m going to miss everything there is to miss about Raquel,” Miller told EURweb. “I mean, she was such a fully fleshed out character, super three-dimensional, her strength mixed in with her vulnerability as well, her resilience, her perseverance.” Miller particularly valued portraying those qualities through a Black female character who never apologized for her authority. “All of these great character traits that you don’t necessarily get to see in female characters these days, let alone black female characters,” she said, pointing to Raq “owning their strength” and “bossing up and being unapologetically just who she is.” Season 5 pushed the fractured relationship between Raq and Kanan beyond the point of reconciliation. After years of uncovering his mother’s secrets and resisting her influence, Kanan embraced his own ruthlessness and strengthened his alliance with Breeze. Miller believes Raq’s refusal to surrender will remain one of the character’s defining qualities. “She was someone that never backed down, someone who, you know, through being tested time and time again, she rose to the occasion every time,” Miller said. Raq’s flaws were equally important to her. “She was not a perfect character, but I think that’s, you know, perfect characters are very boring,” Miller said. “For such a flawed character, she really just showed up and kind of just tried to do her thing.” The ending remains emotional for Miller, who said she had recently watched the finale herself. “I’m still feeling all of these things,” she said, before crediting series creator Sascha Penn with creating “a character that I could really just fall in love with.” “The audience fell in love with her,” Miller added. “It’s been incredible.” Seasons One through Five of “Power Book III: Raising Kanan” are available to stream now on the STARZ app, all STARZ streaming and on-demand platforms.

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