POWER BOOK III: RAISING KANAN – This is effing how you write television. It’s high key the best series in the Power Universe. I can teach a class on this series. But I’ll just say this: #SpolierAlert
What separates a grounded one-hour drama from a primetime soap opera is the tone created by tension. Breadcrumbs and information hoarding and distribution are key. Tension is created when:
– The audience knows something the characters don’t.
– The characters know something the audience doesn’t.
– Some characters know things that other characters don’t.
Watching the characters lie, deflect or give themselves away because of what they know or don’t know is where the tension lies.
For example: As soon as Kanan said he added more of the secret sauce to the mix, I knew people were going to die. As writers, this should’ve been evident to you as well. Therefore, when Juke’s GF takes the product, tension is created as we wait for her to die. There are so many moments that Kanan could’ve told Juke about what was happening in his life. Juke then would’ve had to get rid of the product only to find out that her GF had taken it. She then may have been able to stop her from smoking it. But that, Pen Pals, wouldn’t have forced our characters to grow. They can only do that with the largest stakes.
Put your characters in a position to deal with the worst thing that can happen. This is why we sat in those moments of quiet while the GF listened to Juke’s song, ignored her mom knocking at the door, and decided to finally smoke. We did that to make our hearts beat out of our chest, begging for her parents to be able to get into the room, hoping they could stop her. We watched her die without Juke receiving the information so we could watch Juke, so happy to be dressed in a suit (I wrote a short film about this back in 2019), sit across the street from a dance in a place where she is an outsider and cry because she thought she was stood up by the love of her life.
Study this show and track the information hoarding and distribution. Note how it affects the characters’ behavior during the scene and note how it affects how you feel when watching the scene, ie tension. 💚
P.S. I do not like the content. I’m over the drug game being one of the only stories we tell about people of color. But the storytelling… geesh. I’m hooked.
Written By: Shannan E. Johnson