Empire, in my opinion, never fails to entertain. Even slower episodes add complex elements to our beloved Lyon family. Or should I say pride? “Be True” begins with a celebration of two things: Lucious being acquitted, and Andre coming back to Empire. It only took a shady moment in the middle of the woods to earn Lucious’ trust back. Are you sure you want that approval, Dre? If Lucious wasn’t tricky already, he tempts Dre with a party full of dancing women as part of an initiation to president of Gutter Life Records. Classy, Lucious.
Tiana! Where has she been? Busy with Lyon Dynasty, I guess. Laura and Tiana meet, and I was so excited. Maybe they’ll be friends, maybe they’ll have a duet! No, Empire brought Tiana back into focus so she could be the center of a mugging. Why!? I’d love to see Tiana become a more integral part of Empire as a show. Cookie is fantastic, but I would enjoy more emphasis on all of the ladies in the show. Taraji P. Henson can carry half of the show, but she shouldn’t have to.
We get a nice subplot with Jamal and Michael. Initially, Mal has no qualms about bringing Michael on tour, something of which Ne-Yo approves (hey, nice cameo overall). Lucious thinks it’s a bad idea, and Michael will take away from Mal’s performance on tour. Poor Michael, really. The artist steps in (because he’s totally an authority on this) and agrees with Lucious. He even goes so far as to say that same sex marriage is the worst thing that happened to the homosexual community. This guy is not getting any points with Jamal. Mal and the artist take a walk, and the artist (this guy doesn’t even have a name?) comes onto him, and like the faithful Lyon I know he is, Jamal tells him off. Phew! Sadly, later on in “Be True” Mal catches the artist attempting the same thing on Michael, and it looks like he is successful. This plot will definitely continue throughout the season, and I wonder if it will break the pair up for good this time.
Dre’s reverend sets him on a mission of forgiveness in order to receive baptism into the church, and he takes it head-on. Rhonda protests, saying that he doesn’t need his family’s forgiveness, and I agree, but he seeks them out anyway. Dre even explicitly turns down Thirsty’s proposal to steal music from Lyon Dynasty. That’s two classy moves for the Lyon sons, way to go boys. Andre gathers the brothers together to confess his sins, reminding them of the values Vernon taught him as a kid. Dre admits to setting up the attack on Mal last season, and it is tense. Hakeem is the first to forgive, and Mal eventually does too, just with the condition that the church will not ask him to “pray the gay away.” Dre reminds him that he would be there to support his brother, not the church. Fair point.
Dre’s confession with Lucious does not go as well. His father sounds like a broken record and tells Dre to “Check [his] faith at the door.” He even goes further and says, “There is no God. You just need to man the hell up.” That’s some tough guidance, but it’s exactly what I’d expect Lucious to say (especially because he thinks he is a god).
Cookie meets her new love interest, I mean…concert promoter! He tells her he’s not afraid to get dirty, and he proves it later when they’re alone in the studio and two men break in. Both he and Cookie pull out guns and find out that Thirsty sent the men to mic the studio. Look at these two, figuring out vital information together, I cannot wait to see how this goes.
Hakeem makes Laura uncomfortable at a party and she walks out. Way to go Laura, draw the line and stick to it! Keem takes her seriously and later asks for her forgiveness, promising that he will never come onto her again. Three stars for the Lyon boys, I am so proud of them. He gives her his ride home and takes a cab to the church for Dre’s baptism.
Dre and Cookie have some time to talk before the Baptism, and we really see him try to tell her how horrible he has been and she tells him he is wrong. “We are all good people, you wouldn’t be here trying to make it right if you weren’t,” she tells him. Everyone is there to support Andre, except for the devil himself, Lucious.
However, it’s not a party without a dramatic entrance from Lucious, so of course he makes a last minute appearance. Dre and Lucious hug, and Dre says, “I love you,” and Lucious responds, “I know you do.” That was cold, Lucious! Cookie is loving that Lucious showed up to church and the two spend some time trying to whisper (they’re not very good at it). During Dre’s baptism we see Lucious’ flashbacks of a similar situation with his bi-polar mother where she used dunking him into the water as a punishment. Lucious gets up and walks out before the ceremony is over.
We keep seeing these flashbacks, and I want to be clear: what happened to Lucious in the past in no way excuses his horrible treatment of Andre. If Lucious can communicate to Dre his fears about his own experience with his mother, maybe he and Andre can come to a point of understanding. Who am I kidding? This will most likely end in tears.
Speaking of tears, two men take Hakeem hostage at the very end of “Be True”! I cannot wait to see how this pans out and who is responsible. I think Hakeem can handle himself, but maybe this will be a wake-up call for the youngest Lyon son. Maybe we’ll get some vulnerable music from him? We just have to wait and see!
Some notes:
- Cookie’s honesty is true and consistent, especially when she says, “If snitches don’t kill themselves, someone else will.”
- I really loved Ne-Yo’s cameo this week. He sang a bit, too! I laughed when Ne-Yo and Mal considered how ridiculous taking advice from Lucious would be. Nice little jab.
- Also, Jamal’s music is really nice this season, I’m looking forward to the season two soundtrack. (Yes of course I own the first one, don’t you?)
- I would watch a whole show of Cookie making fun of Lucious, “If that devil walks in here, this whole place might catch fire.”
- A+ to Rhonda for silently putting up with this crazy family. She just came to church to support her husband, not to shush his family!
[Photo credit: Matt Dinerstein/FOX]
