With Power Book III: Raising Kanan now in its fifth and final season, Unique (portrayed by Joey Bada$$) finds himself in a position where he’s fighting to survive. Over the course of four seasons, the South Jamaica drug dealer has endured betrayals, power struggles, and a near-fatal attack that permanently altered the trajectory of his life. Yet despite everything he has done, and everything that has happened to him, he remains one of the most popular characters in Courtney Kemp’s Power universe.

Since his introduction, Unique has occupied a complicated place within the series. He can be charming one moment and ruthless the next. Audiences have watched him make questionable decisions, betray allies, and pursue revenge, but many still find themselves rooting for him. According to Bada$$, that contradiction is a major part of the character’s appeal.

“I think he’s the guy that we hate to love,” he told ESSENCE. “He’s fly, he’s charming. He’s amongst the most charismatic in the world. And I think it’s his level of unpredictability. He always keeps you on your toes. Sometimes he does things that we really love. Sometimes he does a thing that, ‘ah, we really hate that he did that.’ But it’s almost like he’s family.”

Season 5 places Unique under tremendous pressure from the outset. While Kanan Stark continues his evolution into the feared figure fans first met in the OG Power series, Unique is focused on something far more personal. “Where we start off is, his family is kidnapped,” Bada$$ explained. “He has to get his family back. So I think he’s under a lot of pressure. I think we see one of those versions of Unique where it’s desperation and when he’s desperate, he’s willing to do anything.”

Desperation has always brought out a different side of the character. Throughout Raising Kanan, viewers have seen Unique operate from a position of confidence. He often seemed several steps ahead of everyone else. Now, the show appears poised to test those instincts in ways audiences have not seen before. Playing those different versions of Unique has been one of the most rewarding parts of the role for Bada$$. Looking back, he points to the aftermath of Unique’s brain injury as one of the biggest acting challenges he faced during the series.

“I think the most challenging part was going from an extremely charismatic, charming, even conniving likable character to when he got the brain injury and having to adjust his character to be unlikable, even more unpredictable, even more off the hinges,” he said. Fortunately, the challenge was one he welcomed. “It was fun because I feel like I got to add more depth to his dynamic range of character that he was.”

As the series prepares to close this chapter of the Power saga, Bada$$ admits the experience has left him with mixed emotions. Several years together has allowed the cast and crew to develop relationships that extended far beyond the set. “It’s bittersweet,” he said. “It’s been a beautiful journey.”

“What I’ve been telling people a lot is I’ve never been on a part of a production that has such a strong family dynamic,” he added. “So, I already miss everybody, all my castmates, everybody on production and all of that. So I’m going to be looking for that in every production that I go to at the end of time.”

Unique’s story has often been defined by poor decisions and violent consequences. Even so, Bada$$ believes there is still something valuable audiences can take away from the character. “I would hope that they take away that no matter how long you could be on a destructive path, you can always make the choice to course correct.” At the same time, he is careful not to blur the line between himself and the man he portrays on screen.

“Unique and Joey Bada$$ are two different people,” he said with a laugh. “There’s a lot of decisions that Unique made, and Joey would’ve never made. Okay. So I think maybe Unique could learn a few things from Joey.”

Author: Okla Jones

Read the original article on Essence.