We’re one episode away from Empire‘s fall finale, and while there haven’t been as many physical explosions as there have been in the first two seasons, the emotional fallout has not stopped since the season premiere. Following Rhonda’s death it was hard to imagine the Lyons facing more heartache, but looking to the past made that impossible. Through the exploration of Cookie and Lucious’s origins painful memories have resurfaced and colored their present day actions. To the outside world it may look like the Lyons are exploring new avenues, they are really drowning in the tragedies of their past.
Cookie is exploring the road not taken with a man who treats her well, even if the waters he swims in makes her uncomfortable at times. The good news is that Cookie and Andre’s mother Diana are getting along well. They even seem to be running in the same circle of friends now that Cookie is hosting a chic Fashion Show (nice nod to Victoria’s Secret there). Every year Diana hosts a ball which this year will double as a fundraiser for Angelo’s campaign. After seeing firsthand what a wonderful artist Jamal is, Diana asks him to write a song for Angelo’s campaign and sing it at the ball. Cookie knows this has potential disaster written all over it, but Jamal reassures her he can handle it. The energy she would normally devote to worrying about her son is diverted to dealing with Helene Von Weir, the detail-oriented designer making very specific requests of Tiana for the show. Cue Andre for the assist.
Andre has big plans for Nessa they are both very excited about. Considering all of the things that could be going wrong in their relationship, it’s amazing they’ve done so well so quickly. There’s one part of Andre that he’s been keeping together remarkably well, because of Nessa. Since his initial depression when Rhonda died, Andre’s been emotionally stable, enough to explore the world and go after what he wants. What he wants is to be the next Lucious and Cookie Lyon with Nessa, preferably without the prison sentences and divorce. Nessa cares for Andre, and wants more fame from that initial taste, so it’s a win-win. Andre gets Nessa to shadow Tiana on the fashion show, and they both sabotage Tiana into going on a rant against the designer, which is then leaked to the press. Thus the only way Andre can smooth over the situation is by offering Nessa as an alternative artist. Helene does not care for the idea, forcing Andre to take steps to persuade her. Two things here: 1) If you have to say you’re not racist repeatedly, you invalidate the statement, and 2) It is never, ever okay to mess with a girl’s hair whether she’s 6 or 60. The fashion show turns out better than anyone imagined, but Helene warns Diana to get away from the Lyons.
For once Lucious isn’t as in the trenches with the music and the business the way he normally is. At home he has to deal with Anika and his mother to keep them from killing each other. Normally that would be meant metaphorically, but considering one killed her best friend mere months ago and one nearly drowned her son as a child, let’s just assume the knives in the house have been hidden. It seems that Anika and Lucious are getting their rhythm back as a couple, since Anika knows just the right buttons to push to get what she wants from her husband. Then Lucious has to worry about Tariq, who’s been a little too quiet lately. Two toxic situations collide to form a possibly deadly combination for Lucious. Believing that Leah is in an abusive situation, Tariq decides to turn Lucious’s own mother against him. Tariq is so enamored with the idea of taking Lucious down and hearing stories about their father, he doesn’t see that Leah has already been swayed to Lucious’s side. The woman knows how to act to give Tariq and the rest of the world what they expect to see, but is she really on Lucious’s side? With a woman like this you never know. After all, Lucious learned how to conduct his dirty dealings from someone.
Jamal has Philip to help him get ready for the performance. They both take the task very seriously, and Philip figures out a clever way to get Jamal through his PTSD. Whoever thought of using Virtual Reality glasses to help PTSD patients work through trauma should win a Nobel Prize! Using VR puts Jamal back in the environment he is scared of with the option of backing away if he has to. It’s overwhelming, but Jamal handles it. That is until Lucious walks through the door to tell his son that if he screws up this performance, he will be cut from Empire’s roster. Philip realizes that Lucious is the real trigger for Jamal’s anxiety. It’s amazing that it took expensive VR equipment and heart monitors for these two to realize what anyone who stands in the room with them for 5 minutes could realize. Jamal works through his issues with Lucious alright, in a big song that’s a statement to Lucious I can’t say on our site. Jamal respects how his father elevated them all, but doesn’t discount the pain they are all drowning in because of him. Jamal believes it started when Lucious took Cookie away from her father, but Cookie takes full responsibility for that. Lucious will never apologize for loving his family and standing by Cookie, even when it means protecting them from enemies they are unaware of, like Frank Gathers. We’ll see the fallout from that little bombshell next week.
Are the Lyons doomed to stay stuck in the past?
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