All hail Andre Lyon! The eldest son is sometimes overlooked for not being as musically inclined as the rest of his family, but he has his own shine. He took a page out of his mother’s book by multitasking power moves and supporting his family. Empire is all about the family after all, whether you’re raising them up or tearing them down.
After losing his position as Empire’s CEO, Hakeem spends some time over-indulging and wallowing. After hundreds of missed calls and texts Laura tracks her depressed fiancee down. She assures him she’ll stand by him no matter what, until he tells her he’s about to be a daddy. Yeah, she’s not so okay with that. Laura doesn’t believe at first that she can handle being part of Hakeem’s new family, but eventually she comes to stand by her man. It’s admirable, and Laura is a sweetheart, but I’ve said before she has quite a bit to learn about what joining the Lyon family really means.
Andre steps up in a big way. He suggests the family ties the next Empire event with a National Alliance for Bipolar Disorder fundraiser, and he offers to be the spokesperson. This is a huge step in two ways. The first is that it means Andre would go public with his mental illness. Given the lack of conversation about mental illness in the African-American community, this decision is not to be glossed over. In the past Lucious would have been appalled at this, but the publicity from Andre’s admission would only raise Lucious’s status as he fights to regain his position as CEO. Making all of these moves also brings Andre and Rhonda closer together. They look like a healthier, more developed version of the couple we saw in the beginning of the series.
It’s no wonder that Anika ends up in the hospital. It’s hard enough growing a human being without having to worry that someone is going to kill you right after you do. Cookie of all people calms Anika down until her mother can arrive. Hakeem is furious with Lucious for threatening Anika. He threatens his father with never seeing his grandchild. Lucious apologizes in his way (the best visual I could think of would be with fingers crossed behind his back).
Cookie is doing what she does best, hitting every member of her family upside the head telling them to stop being babies. It’s very difficult to do the closer the ASAs come as Lucious and Jamal are constantly baiting each other.Jamal can’t stand the way his father is behaving, so he ditches the fundraiser altogether. It means more of him to sing in a quiet club surrounded by friends. As it turns out, this spontaneous move only raises Jamal’s profile pre-ASAs.
Now we all know that everything Cookie does is for her family. She has also always called Empire partially her company. I don’t think she ever thought that the shareholders would want her to officially become Lucious’s right-hand as co-CEO. Like I said, Lucious usually has his fingers crossed behind his back.
Harper is Lucious’s shadow during this whole process. Things get personal between them but Lucious pulls back when Cookie calls. Lucious has no problem turning on Harper by offering his exclusive to another editorial overnight. Harper is furious out of being cheated out of her exclusive, so she retaliates in kind. She gives Andre proof that his bipolar grandmother is very much alive.
Was Lucious justified in lying about his mother’s death?
Cookie’s Quotables:
-“Are you trying to save your company or are you trying to catch an STD?”-Cookie doesn’t approve of Lucious eyeing Harper
–“Look at the grandmas over there.” “Boy shut your damn mouth!”-Okay, this one is really all Hakeem.
-“He’s your father, what hasn’t he done?”-Nothing about Lucious surprises Cookie anymore.
-“Your little snake must have done some slithering. I smell cheap perfume.”-Now that is the perfect line to use on an ex.
Follow Us
Visitor Rating: 5 Stars