An actress who portrays “good police” on a STARZ series is telling BOSSIP about her character’s crusade for the truth that ultimately had dire results.
Raising Kanan continues to tell the origin story of fan-favorite character Kanan Stark (MeKai Curtis), originally played by 50 Cent in the flagship series.
This third season delves further into his evolution from the devoted son of Raquel “Raq” Thomas (Patina Miller) into the eventual ferocious, amoral, and pragmatic personality fans know.
**Spoilers ahead**
During the series premiere, Detective Burke (Shanley Caswell) had an unfortunate end after she told her partner Detective Howard (Omar Epps) that she knew his secrets. She knew he’d previously slept with an underaged informant (Raq) and she revealed that she knew he’d had a witness killed to keep his true identity as Kanan’s dad a secret.
Left with no other options, Detective Howard murdered her and staged her death as a suicide.
Before that heart-stopping moment in the episode, Shanley Caswell told BOSSIP that Detective Burke has always had something to prove.
“I think what’s motivating her is less about the pursuit of justice and more about the pursuit of just being right and proving herself, ” Caswell told Managing Editor Dani Canada. She’s had all odds stacked against her. I think all of these factors are adding to her needing to be right and need to prove all these gaslighters wrong.”
She also laughed off fans calling her character one of the “most annoying” crime fighters in the Power universe, dubbing it par for the course.
Watch our exclusive with Shaley Caswell below.
New episodes of Raising Kanan premiere every Sunday at 9 pm ET/PT.