Empire Recap: Our Dancing Days

So Wednesday was National Drink Wine Day and I couldn’t even partake in the festivities while watching Empire! A combination of medication and not having any wine in the house meant a series of bad decisions. Empire is continuing to bring the heat every week and I am here for every bit of it.

Before we get into the latest episode, I just want to say one thing: I. TOLD. YALL!!!!

Told you guys about what? Well we’ll find out in a few won’t we?

Reeling from the shocker of last week, we see that there still hasn’t been any confirmation as to the child’s paternity. Olivia has left the child at the Empire Building without notice or any way to contact her. Vernon has been tasked with finding her but so far no leads have emerged. The most important thing we learned tonight was that Jamal and Olivia were previously married. It seems as if Lucious arranged this marriage when Jamal was 18 years old. Obviously the marriage didn’t last shortly after that though Jamal did admit to his boyfriend, Michael, that he did sleep with her once. So there is indeed the possibility that the child may be his. Though at this point no one is apparently rushing to find out. Lucious told Jamal that he and Anika will take care of the child and bring her to their house until they get this figured out. It was actually a very nice father/son moment when Jamal was obviously reeling from this information, Lucious was there in a touching moment when he was needed the most.

At the beginning of the episode, Cookie was on a rampage, blaming Lucious, about the Jamal/Olivia situation. She follows him into his office where at that point he was already looking a little frail and both she and Becky asked if he was doing okay. Once they got into the office and Andre left the room, as Cookie was mildly yelling at him, he yelled for her to stop and then fainted.

He was rushed to the hospital, with Anika by his side much to Cookie’s disappointment, where he was told that his symptoms were the result of liver failure. ALS wasn’t the cause of this but rather the drugs that his new doctor gave him, who actually isn’t really a doctor anymore. We find out that he lost his license two years ago and apparently has been scamming patients with this spiel for a while. Lucious refuses to believe this and is convinced that the doctor is his only hope. Cookie rushes to the hospital and would like to see Lucious but is refused entry. She goes to the window where she is able to see him in pain and they connect for a brief moment.

The backdrop to this episode though is the Empire investor showcase. Empire is asking for money from wealthier than thou people and everything has to go on without a hitch. This is one of the main reasons that Lucious’ stint in the hospital is kept under wraps. Hakeem and Jamal are headlining the show to prove that the family is a united front, however, they still can’t get along. During practice they are bumping into each other and picking fights. It isn’t until a stern word from Cookie and a cosign from their father that they are able to pull it together to perform a song that has a lot of the investors interested.

During the showcase is when things take a little turn. After his sons performed, Lucious is supposed to give a speech to the crowd encouraging them to invest in Empire. Just before he is scheduled to go out though, he loses his voice. His throat starts to close up, he starts sweating and he can hardly speak – symptoms of ALS, he tells Anika. Unable to go out, he asks Cookie to go out there on his behalf. This does not make everyone happy. Andre thinks he should go because he knows just about everything and Anika feels she should go because she basically wrote the speech. Lucious is insistent that Cookie be the one to go. She knows the company, the culture and what they stand for. Cookie can make them see that Empire is about family and something that will be passed down for generations. She agrees and goes out there to speak to everyone. Initially she stumbles but she quickly rights herself and gives one hell of a speech on Lucious’s behalf. She speaks of how they both started the company with a dream and fierce hustle. She speaks adoringly about her ex husband and praises Lucious for his musical talent and business acumen. She sets the potential investors straight in a way that only Cookie can. Lucious, Andre and Anika are backstage listening to the speech and you can tell how happy Lucious is by what Cookie is saying. He seems genuinely moved. As she nears the end of her speech, Lucious starts that slow stage clap backstage and yells, “I love you, Cookie” to the room while he is sitting next to Anika. Now while no one else heard him, Anika surely did and she was pressed about it.

Cookie: 1

Anika: 0

Granted, Lucious could have whispered that but I don’t care. Good for her! I cannot stand Anika. I didn’t even mention that Elle Dallas was scheduled to open the showcase, She was sober, happy and sounded wonderful during rehearsals. Anika was a little miffed that Elle looked to be doing well when she initially got to the showcase and was upset because it looked like Cookie knew what she was doing. Not one for Cookie to get the upper hand, she drugged Elle’s drink when she wasn’t looking which caused her to not perform. So yes I am petty but too bad! Anika knew better than that mess.

The showcase was deemed a success and afterwards Anika had plans to fly out to Chicago for contract negotiations. This proved to be the perfect opportunity for Lucious to tell his family about his condition. Lucious invited everyone, including Cookie, to his house where he broke the news about his health. Of course no one took it well. Andre immediately flipped out and the first thing he asked was who else knew about this. Andre was worried about the IPO and the company going public. This really pissed Hakeem off. He wondered how Andre could be worrying about such a thing when their father was dying. These two almost got into a fight but it was squashed momentarily and Andre left the house with his wife. Jamal and Hakeem were visibly shaken up by it and Lucious just asked them to remain strong. He then asked for them to go home as Cookie was taking it the worst and he needed a moment alone with her.

Cookie and Lucious started to reminisce about how they started and their love of music. He thanked her for the kind words she said about him earlier at the showcase while she said that he shouldn’t be surprised. She has always believed in him, which he agreed on. Lucious said that she saw all of this success before he did. She knew he was a fighter and that he could overcome anything – that is why she knew he had to beat this disease because she couldn’t loose him again. As she started to tear up, he asked her to dance. One thing led to another and they kissed. Soon they were in the bedroom having sex when we saw little Miss Anika arrive home when her ass was supposed to be in Chicago. Long story short, the bedroom door was ajar and so she witnessed Cookie and Lucious doing the damn deed.

Yes, she did.

Cookie: 2

Anika: 0

This round goes to Cookie!

Like I told you earlier, I’m petty! I am glad her ass saw, next time be where you are supposed to be!

All I know is that I can’t wait for the next week. The aftermath of Cookie and Lucious having sex, in Anika and Lucious’ bedroom I might add, is going to be amazing to watch.

I hate to rub it in again but didn’t I tell you all that Cookie and Lucious would be getting it on soon? Didn’t I say by mid season?!

Of course I did. I know I did. I know you all won’t take me for granted anymore though. That I do know!

A few important questions and observations from tonight’s episode:

Do they really have this grown 40 something year old woman playing this attached semi groupie for Hakeem. You would think she would be a cougar in every sense of the word and that she would have Hakeem basically falling at her feet. Camilla is upset that Hakeem is claiming Tiana in public even though they both know it is to appease the public. She insists on being invited to investor showcase and eventually wants to be able to go out in public with Hakeem hand in hand. GIRL, BYE!

I guess Cookie is the magic cure for Lucious. For someone who had trouble speaking earlier and looked a little frail, he got an extra pep in his step when it was time to take Cookie to bed. I don’t know where that energy came from but he had more than enough to throw Cookie’s ass on that bed.
We are about to see Andre unravel in the next few episodes. During the last few minutes when Lucious revealed his condition, he said something that makes me think he knows what’s going on with Andre. When Hakeem got incredibly upset about his father’s condition and how Andre was reacting to it, he wanted to fight him. Lucious pushed him away and told him that Andre should not get upset. I was under the assumption that no one knew Andre was bipolar outside of his wife, except his doctor of course. I think I may have been proven wrong.
Lucious definitely peeps that Cookie is flirting with Malcolm and he can probably tell that Malcolm may have a little thing for her too. After what went on in this last episode, I can guarantee you Lucious will not be letting Malcolm anywhere near Cookie – even with him still engaged to Anika.
Speaking of Anika, based on the previews Cookie will wonder if and when Lucious will ever leave Anika. That won’t happen. The most important reason being that Anika’s father agreed to sign that clean bill of health for Lucious. I guarantee you if Lucious tries to leave her, her father will threaten to expose him.
This is technically not a part of last night’s episode either but an observation from the previews for upcoming episodes. We saw a brief glimpse where Jamal has obviously set up shop and has a room decked out and everything for the little girl. Speaking of, what is her name?! Have they ever mentioned and I just didn’t care to remember? Anyway, that’s not important. What I was getting to is are they going to do the DNA test between now and that episode? Did they just decided to ask a woman named Dana if the child is his or not? Because he was looking mighty cozy with her for them not to know the truth as yet. I hope he and the whole family are not setting themselves up for disappointment. Just based on tonight’s episode they are already getting attached to that little girl.

Apparently we have four more new episodes until the season ends. While I am not happy about it, since it has already been renewed for season two I can be satisfied that more is to come.

Author
Recent Posts

Natalya

Natalya is an Account Manager by day and an editor and author's assistant to passionate creatives by night. When she is not adding to her enormous book collection or stationery supply, she is catching up on her favorite television shows.

Natalya is the author of All The Things I Never Said, a soul-stirring collection of short stories, prose and love letters for the soulful wanderers, the brokenhearted and the hopeless romantics.

You can follow her rantings and occasional sparks of brilliance on Twitter @NatalyaMuncuff.