SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points for Starz’s Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 5 Episode 7.

With only one episode to go for the series finale of the hit Starz crime drama Power Book II: Raising Kanan, there’s no doubt that there are plenty of bodies yet to be piled up. In last night’s episode—the penultimate of the series—fans witnessed the end of three lives that were mostly unexpected.

As I reported this morning, following the early season death of Lou (Malcolm Mays), Raising Kanan killed off his brother Marvin (London Brown) in Episode 7. This ending was not fully a surprise, as the character had accepted his fate and had plans put in motion to protect his daughter Jukebox (Hailey Kilgore). Read Brown’s true post-mortem to learn more about what was going on in Marvin’s head and what could’ve been should he have survived.

What I didn’t note in that story is that there were two more significant deaths. Last night, we also said goodbye to Snaps (Wendell Pierce) and Pop (Erika Woods), two agents of chaos who joined the fold in Season 3. They were murdered by Juke in a surprise twist following the revelation that they were behind Famous’ (Antonio Ortiz) death in Season 4.

Pierce and Woods spoke to Deadline about Snaps and Pop’s demise, what it’s like playing a couple as a real-life couple, and why it was perfect that they were shot to death by Juke.

DEADLINE: What was the initial attraction for you both to play Snaps and Pop?

ERIKA WOODS: Getting to work with Wendell Pierce definitely made it very attractive. I mean, duh. [Laughs] For me, that was that was first and foremost. And then getting to play someone on the other side of law, since I’ve always played law enforcement. Getting to play someone so devious and delicious and methodical-it was really challenging and, most of all, fun.

WENDELL PIERCE: I just wanted to be a part of the world. They are very specific in the way they develop characters and populate the world of the Power universe. That’s a very rare thing. So, any sort of good writing is always attractive.

DEADLINE: When I announced your castings, I learned you are a real-life couple. What was it like working together?

WOODS: It was really fun and a great learning experience. And just like with any coworker, it was a great collaboration with not just Wendell, but our nephew Breeze [Shameik Moore] and all the other great characters in the universe. It was the icing on the cake.

PIERCE: You do the work as normal. You try to be a great collaborator and be there for your scene partner. And since we know each other really well, it really helps develop the characters a little deeper.

DEADLINE: One of my favorite elements of this couple was how they dressed and carried themselves. The costumes were all top-notch. Did you enjoy that as well?

WOODS: Yes, it was the other character in the universe; our wardrobe, led by Tsigie White, was another collaborator for us. I absolutely loved it. It helped shape our characters.

PIERCE: It lets you know who you are. The clothes are just another variable that lets you know who the character is as a part of the character development. And Tsigie is a great designer. Everything was custom. I really think the work that she did is worthy of awards because people always take it for granted that costuming is not easy, especially when it’s a contemporary show. It really is very specific, very inventive, very creative work with different fabrics. We became known for dressing alike and complementing each other so much so that our characters have become one of the leading characters for Halloween.

DEADLINE: Did either of you take anything home as a memento?

PIERCE: I did. I had such great hats. I took several hats. You know, the red ostrich and brown leather and all of that. So I have a collection of a few of the hats.

WOODS: I definitely did take a pair of boots. Really nice vintage boots that I loved.

DEADLINE: Focusing on Episode 7, we all say goodbye to Snaps and Pop after Jukebox murders them. Why was she the right person to kill them?

WOODS: I think with Juke it was the element of surprise, which I think was perfect, because Kanan [Mekai Curtis] might have been the obvious choice. I think to have Juke and her discretion and being so methodical, we had no idea we were being followed. She outgained us in the end. I thought that was just genius writing, and very well played.

PIERCE: Ultimately, when you are in the game, you always have to have your head on a swivel and watch your back. But it’s almost impossible for anyone to be absolutely perfect. With as long as we have been in the game, and as the OGs, we let our guard down. It takes that one moment of indiscretion and relaxation that puts you in jeopardy. That’s the lesson that’s learned. You pay the consequences for the lifestyle that you lead, and as the saying goes, no one gets out of this life alive.

DEADLINE: With the loss of Marvin, Snaps, and Pop, how do you think it will affect the game?

PIERCE: The thing I love about the Power Universe is we play with time. This was a prequel set before the original Power, and next we’re seeing Origins, how others come on. We spoke for two seasons about Breeze before we even saw him. So there are opportunities to go back and discover how these people got involved in the game, and what made them an OG. There are flashbacks [on the show]. We saw Lou after he was dead, and we saw scenes leading up to his death. There’s still a lot of history about Snaps and Pop that we don’t know. Snap, Crackle, and Pop. Who’s Crackle?

DEADLINE: Wait a minute, there’s a Crackle?

WOODS: Yep!

PIERCE: You’ll have to wait and see.

DEADLINE: It has to be DefCon.

PIERCE: We’ll have to wait and see. And what was our relationship with DefCon? Who is DefCon?

WOODS: Huh? It would be nice to reveal that in Origins, don’t you think, Rosy? I think that would be a very nice reveal because I can neither confirm nor deny.

PIERCE: Ultimately, you have to pay the consequences for your actions. So that’s the lesson in what happens to these characters in this episode. What you do in the dark will ultimately come to light, so you best be careful. There, but by the grace of God, go I. What happened to me can also happen to you.

DEADLINE: So what you are teasing is that you both could come back as flashbacks in Power: Origins?

PIERCE: Anything is possible.

Raunchy comedy I Want Your Sex starring Olivia Wilde as an artsy dominatrix and Cooper Hoffman as her muse is spinning some R-rated counter programming to Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The Gregg Araki film from Magnolia Pictures, which world premiered at Sundance (see Deadline review), hits about 700 theaters. It’s Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh at 91%.

Hoffman stars as fresh-faced Elliot who lands his first post-college job with renowned artist, icon and provocateur Erika Tracy (Wilde). His fantasies come true as Erika taps him to become her sexual muse, but he soon finds himself way out of his depth. With Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, and pop star Charli XCX playing against type as Elliot’s uptight girlfriend.

I Want Your Sex played two dozen U.S. after Park City including Seattle, Chicago Critics, NewFest Pride, Provincetown, Frameline and Outfest, and partnered on screenings with Assistants vs. Agents and dating apps Grindr and FEELD, among others.

Araki joined Charli XCX for a Q&A in LA last week that was live streamed globally to YouTube on the day of her new album (Music, Fashion, Film) launch.

Janus Films is presenting Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s historical mystery The Samurai And The Prisoner at Film at Lincoln Center and IFC Center in New York and the Landmark Nuart in LA. Kurosawa will be in NYC for the first time in over a decade for six sold-out Q&As (and for a sold-out special appearance in Toronto next week). The film premiered at Cannes and has grossed nearly $10 million in Japan, a career peak for Kurosawa. Janus will expand it nationally throughout August. 

The adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa’s 2021 prizewinning novel set in 16th-century Japan follows Lord Murashige Araki (Masahiro Motoki), who finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle after rising up against the tyrannical Nobunaga Oda (Bando Shingo). Isolated, he is confronted with a series of mysterious crimes that shatter the fragile order of his court. At 95% with RT critics (off 43 reviews).

IFC Entertainment is rereleasing Richard Linkatater’s groundbreaking 2014 Boyhood on 110 screens. Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, it stars Ellar Coltrane as Mason, who literally grows up on screen before the audiences’ eyes. Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette are his parents and Lorelei Linklater his sister. 

IFC’s Motor City is sticking around at 600 locations in week 2 (down from 1,600) after a solid opening.

Limited release: Yashaddai Owens’ debut feature Jimmy from Strand Releasing, starring Benny O. Arthur as a young James Baldwin arriving in Paris, opens at the IFC Center. In honor of Baldwin’s 102nd birthday, a celebratory screening Sunday (Aug. 1) at 6:30 will be followed by a conversation with the director and filmmaker Barry Jenkins. The impressionistic, black-and-white feature premiered at Telluride in 2024 and the New York Film Festival.

Unusual environmental documentary A Paradise Lost by Laurie Sumiye debuts at DCTV Firehouse in NYC for a weeklong run. The film combines animation with live-action footage to explore an unprecedented 1979 legal dispute that saw the rare Palila bird native to Hawaii sue the state to prevent its extinction amidst threats of climate change and fire.

During the court case (Palila v. Hawaii) to establish habitat protections for American endangered species, a stuffed Palila sat at the plaintiffs table, and the film from Blooming Ink Pictures is narrated from the bird’s POV.

Won the Best Social Justice and Environment Documentary Award at the Festival De Cine Antigua in Guatemala and has also screened at the Hawaii International Film Festival, the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival in Oregon, the Santiago Wild Film Festival in Chile, the EcoFrames Environmental Film Festival in Greece, and the SCINEMA International Science Festival in Australia.

Another brave bird: Penny Lane’s Wild Inside about NYC’s beloved owl Flaco opens at the IFC Center via Sandbox Films and HBO Documentary Films. In February of 2023, the male Eurasian eagle-owl, the largest species of owl in the world, was discovered missing from his cage at the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan. What followed when Flaco, who had lived his entire life in captivity, took up residence on New York City rooftops and trees is a surprising story revealing the delight, concern, and fascination of millions in the city and beyond. Sandbox and Rooftop Films premiered the doc outdoors at Central Park’s Great Hill earlier this week.

More to come