We’ve made every possible reference to actually lions where the Lyon family is concerned. Mama Lyons, Daddy Lyons, the protectiveness of a pack over their cubs, and so on. Empire was built on family, but they’re not the only powerful family in town. Up until this point, no one else stood a chance at taking down the Lyons because no one else had equal the amount of support that can only be represented by a family. The Dubois family changed that. Though the complete opposite of the Lyon family in education and beliefs, they have a proportionate amount of power. The biggest difference is that the Dubois are united while the Lyons are not. Now that the game has been made personal with the kidnapping (call it what it is) of baby Bella, it’s all out war.
Some business can’t be put off while Bella is missing. Lucious and Jamal still need to finalize that last song featured on both of their albums, especially with the deadline for their Vegas deal coming up. Lucious is the ultimate perfectionist. Guest star Fetty Wap literally bleeds to bring the track to life, but it’s hypocritical of Lucious to think he can compare because he hasn’t physically done the same. Lucious’s mother of all people shows her son that he needs to follow Jamal’s lead. He makes the right choice musically, inspiring Jamal with large photos of his grandfather. What the heck Lucious is thinking when it comes to Giuliana, I have no clue. Lucious has to know something more about how dangerous Giuliana is. Otherwise there is no way that he would choose her over his entire family during these perilous times.
You think you’ve seen the Lyons angry? You were wrong. Bella being stripped from her family awakens the deepest of dangerous inclinations within all the Lyons. Hakeem and Anika are so distraught, it’s up to Cookie to get down in the dirt. She’ll do whatever she has to do to get her grandbaby back. That means teaming up with Shyne (who is already upset about his and Nessa’s inactive role in the Vegas deal) to send a strong message to the Dubois’s. Hakeem beats her to it, sending the upper-crust family to face an angry mob. By the time Angelo is done feeling the wrath of the public, Cookie happily follows up with a beat down of her own. Angelo deserved every punch, especially when he finds out that Diana really did snatch the baby.
Lastly, I have to give a huge round of applause to Trai and Grace Byers for their tremendous work together this week. Their characters don’t quite intersect on a regular basis, but we knew there was a major confrontation imminent between Anika and Andre. Anika never paid for killing Rhonda and her baby, and Andre chose to bide his time. Propelled by different stressors, including Anika suffering over the loss of Bella, Andre finally exploded. The way that confrontation played out could only be played between two actors who have an incredible amount of trust between them. That the Byers are married in real life contributes to the amazing chemistry of the scene.
There were quite a few scary moments during this episode of Empire. Which one, and which character, made you jump out of your skin?
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