The Empire is being raided! But wait, it’s not just Empire; it’s Lyons’ Dynasty as well. D.A. Ford puts the Lyon family on high alert this week, forcing a temporary truce of sorts within this civil war of a family.
Instead of being upset about the raid, Lucious sees this as an opportunity to make Empire bigger than ever. To quote Lucious, “This isn’t when we hide. This is when we roar!” Lucious’ lawyer Thirsty Rawlings (who I’ll admit, I don’t necessarily dislike) advises the Lyon family to stick together as the FBI continues to put pressure on both companies. His strategy is to find Vernon to get him to flip to their side before the feds can do anything about it. The only problem? Vernon is very much dead.
Lucious and Cookie decide to call a temporary truce for the sake of both of their survival and growth. The first step is for Hakeem and Jamal to come together for a music video. The theme is post-apocalyptic Black Panthers fighting oppression. Not exactly subtle, but I’m not going to lie, I want to see the full version of that video. I guess my dream is not meant to be since Hakeem nearly kills Jamal at the shoot and quits. At least Mimi was having fun. Hakeem ends up at a club drinking away his sorrows, and magically, fate intervenes and sends a superstar his way.
Cookie is trying not to be impressed by the video shoot, but you can see her pride shining through. That is, until she is arrested on trumped up charges by D.A. Ford, who threatens to hurt all of Cookie’s children. Cookie is tough, but she’s done hard time, so she knows her children, especially Andre, cannot handle it. A Mama Lyon always protects her cubs. That doesn’t mean she can’t turn the tides to her advantage at the same time. Cookie tells a little white lie about Bunkie’s death in order to get Lucious’ radio deal tied up so she can get access to the airwaves for Lyons’ Dynasty.
Andre still wants to be a part of Empire, and truth be told, I think he wants the weight of Vernon’s death off his shoulders. So he decides to take care of both in one fell swoop. He figures that digging up Vernon’s body will get the FBI off of Lucious’ back and get him his spot back at the company. Andre tells Rhonda that God is telling him to keep pushing to get back to Empire, and this has Rhonda rightfully scared. Nonetheless, she’s a “ride or die” girl, so she’s with her husband no matter what; in sickness and in health, and in digging up dead bodies. Unfortunately, Rhonda and Andre weren’t in the right frame of mind to remember where exactly they buried Vernon’s body. Lucious shows up after growing suspicious of what Andre has been up to, and when Rhonda comes clean, his response is “You saved my life.” So they make it a family outing and dig up Vernon’s body, after which Lucious forgives Andre. D.A. Ford should be careful what she wishes for. I’m sure when she set out for her search for Vernon she didn’t expect his decomposed body to turn up in her car.
Also, Anika did her best to try to get back in Cookie’s good graces, and while Cookie knows Anika is sincere, she still can’t be trusted. Where did Anika’s gumption go this season?
Jamal certainly had plenty of guts in this episode. He meets with a famous photographer for a Rolling Stone cover (much to Michael’s discomfort), and his beautiful cover becomes an amazing art piece sure to turn heads.
Cookie’s Quotables:
- “Okay Hakeem, don’t embarrass yourself”–Cookie’s brand of encouragement
- “Tell me what kind of grandma has an a** like this”–Just because her baby is having a baby, doesn’t mean Cookie doesn’t still have it going on
- “What, you and Katie Lane best friends now?”–Cookie is not impressed with Lucious and Mimi’s newfound friendship
- “If I die in police custody, I did not commit suicide!”–Surprisingly smart go-to statement when you are being arrested
[Photo credit: Chuck Hodes/FOX]
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