The Lyon family splits in two this week on Empire as Jamal turns his back on his mother and his siblings. Everyone is out to prove themselves and find their place, but by the end one Lyon has no place to call home.
Jamal is done being nice, and unceremoniously throws his mother and siblings out of Empire. Cookie is hurt, but she’s Cookie; she rebounds within seconds and claims they’ll just start their own label under her watch this time. It’s a good idea, and Lucious made it work before, except for one key detail. Andre, Jamal, and Hakeem were children when Lucious grew Empire, which means they weren’t yet old enough to lay claim or opinions about how the company was run. Hakeem’s desire to prove himself clashes with Andre’s practical business sense, while Jamal is trying to balance Empire’s daily business and get back to his own music.
Cookie is just trying to keep the peace with all three of her children, but it seems only Lucious can do that, as he encourages Jamal to reach out and get Hakeem back to Empire. Hakeem refuses, and pretty much spits in Jamal’s face by illegally leaking his own album online. To his credit, Hakeem really does want more responsibility with Cookie’s new company. He comes up with the concept of having an all Latina girl group; he just needs to convince hot newcomer Valentina to lead it. Hakeem was once all about what he deserved, but now he’s emerging as a man willing to work hard, even sweeping up the new studio space, to prove he has what it takes to build his own brand.
In prison, Lucious’ creative juices are flowing. This would be great, except that he isn’t doing that well since a few prison guards (including one Officer McKnight, played by Ludacris) have taken it upon themselves to withhold Lucious’s meds from him as punishment for his behavior towards the D.A. He gets some surprise assistance from a new lawyer, Thurston ‘Thirsty’ Rawlings, who not only gets Lucious his meds back, but gets him access to a storage room to record a new album. May I just say, watching Lucious make music is hypnotizing. Of course, it is interrupted by the guards, and Officer McKnight takes particular pleasure locking up the inmates. Per Thirsty’s orders, McKnight gets a pretty heavy beating for stealing Lucious’ track. Score one for the University of Guam, whose alum first gets Lucious’ track released, then gets Lucious himself released by blackmailing a judge.
It’s easy to get lost in the drama and think that the many power grabs the members of the Lyon family make are all simply about power, money, and entitlement. What it’s really about is a feeling of belonging, knowing that you’re doing what you’re meant to be doing. It creates a healthy sense of self, this feeling of belonging, which is no more evident than in Andre.
Rhonda makes a power play this week, begging Jamal to rehire Andre. It’s not a selfish ploy, though, because she sees what Cookie doesn’t, that this kind of rogue venture isn’t right for Andre. Andre himself admits to his mother that his heart isn’t in her “Lyon Dynasty,” and so he begs Cookie to let him go. Andre goes to Lucious with his heart in his hands, only to be rejected. Andre can’t understand Lucious’ hatred of him, but through a flashback we see that Lucious just can’t accept the part of Andre that is his grandmother. Kelly Rowland’s run playing Lucious’ mother in flashbacks is sure to shed some light on this branch of the family history next week.
Cookie’s Quotables:
- “You ain’t born with your name, you grow into it.”–Cookie’s wisdom at its best
- “Ain’t nothing wrong with a couple of J-Lo’s, as long as they can really sing.”–Mama Lyon wanting to take advantage of the Latin market, but she means business
- “That may be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Did your daddy drop you on your head?”–Cookie wonders if Lucious scrambled their youngest’s brains
[Photo credit: Chuck Hodes/FOX]
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