Thus, Freda’s got to go, again.
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When Jamal breaks the news to Freda, she’s incredibly understanding – and even seems a little happy for Jamal. Cookie discovered that Freda is the daughter of Frank Gathers (Chris Rock), whom she deems a future problem for the family.
Andre and Rhonda were supposed to give the couple their first grandchild. Lucious pushes back harder and threatens to take out the heir if she isn’t careful. She also might have edged out Lucious for the top spot if he hadn’t ousted Hakeem from Empire this week, because her threats about turning Lucious into the Federal Bureau of Investigation were even nastier and pettier than his antics. Lucious also stole all the equipment for Tiana and Laura’s tour (hope Tiana is nothing like Janet) and planted drugs on the tour bus. Instead of this being a touching moment, Lucious has to make it about himself. Camilla sinks her claws further into Hakeem, Jamal suffers a backlash from his fans, while Andre and Rhonda’s marriage is tested.
In the episode, “Time Shall Unfold”, Thirsty (Andre Royo), one of Lucious’ goons, visited a special care home, where he asked about Lucious’ mother and handed over an envelope of cash.
Given that Lucious has to be in his 50s, since he has a grown son in his 30s, that would mean that Lucious’ mama is somewhere in her 70s or 80s.
In another meeting regarding the fashion line, Hakeem is trying to orchestrate spin control on the delivery delays due to the theft of the merchandise. She gets Stacey Run-Run – a high-profile, chart-topping female MC from the Lil’ Kim/Nicki Minaj school of diva – in to work with Jamal. She had this all planned out, I’m sure of it.
Anika finally came out to the family about being pregnant with Hakeem’s baby. Cookie doesn’t take it well.
She wants her child to have a family. There is a glitch with the app for Empire’s new streaming service, so it’s not ready yet and Hakeem can’t brag about that either. The full line from the play reads: “Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides, who covers faults at last with shame derides”, meaning, what is hidden is doomed to be revealed in time. The shareholders want Lucius for his success, they want Hakeem because he’s a mogul, and they want Cookie for her ability to fix everything. It seems these two are an unexpected friendship waiting to explode, but with the help of Lucious, they just just grow closer and closer. Lucious is preparing its revenge and it looks bad. Previously, she and Lucioushad Frank killed in jail and Freda will most likely try to exact revenge against one of the Lyon boys when she finds out the truth.
Though Lucious usually takes things he wants by brute force, to unravel Hakeem’s position, he opts for mental warfare. And for the next few minutes, Lucious shows out, attacking Hakeem with his business acumen, and proving by his actions which man is the better leader. Why does Cookie always have to save the day? Or was it all orchestrated as part of the plan to bring her family back together?
Cookie tells Jamal she found him a superstar to collaborate with him on his Black & White album.
Oh, what a tangled web you’ve weaved, Mr. Lyon!
There’s no shortage of father-son drama on Empire, especially when the father in question is Lucious Lyon. If the remaining episodes of this season are as powerful, the finale could be well worth the wait.
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I thought that this episode of Empire was just okay. And it’s easier than ever to engage with fellow commenters – like or dislike comments, follow other users, receive instant notifications on commenting activity, earn badges, or take a moment to flag anything that’s offensive or abusive.
