Empire Recap: Unto The Breach
The battle has begun.
So listen, after Empire’s latest episode; I have more questions that I do answers so I am asking in hopes that somebody can me help me out here?
Why didn’t Anika take any of her clothes with her?
Cookie stormed over to Lucious’ house and confronted Anika about her deal with Billy Beretti. We find out that Porsha had told Cookie about Anika wanting to hire her away. She then tasked Porsha to spy on Anika. After confirming her “treason” in not so many words, Anika gathered her purse and walked out of the house while calling some of Empire’s artists to get them over to Creedmoor (Billy’s label). As this was happening, Cookie threw all of Anika’s clothes off the balcony and in to the driveway. Anika simply stepped around them as she walked away from Lucious.
She lost her mind. Cookie is just throwing your Chanel, Balmain and other high end pieces off the balcony and you don’t even stop to pick them up? I know you have enough money to buy them back but it is the principle! You should have picked up those damn clothes! At least what looked like a cashmere blouse at the top of the pile, it looked cute.
Anika is so stupid. Why didn’t you make sure that no one was following you when you went to meet Billy? Has Lucious taught you NOTHING?!! I mean, I don’t even think a day passed before you were outed.
When are Malcolm and Cookie going to get together?
The funniest scene of the night belonged to Cookie as she had a drunken rant. After drinking herself into a stupor while getting an Empire artist back, she stumbled out of Ghetto Ass Studios ( I think that is the real name) and almost got robbed. Luckily, Malcolm was watching her and came to her rescue. Now we all know Cookie thinks Malcolm is fine on a good day but drunken Cookie took it to the next level. She told him to come and take a bite of her. Ha! And even though it seemed he was slightly tempted, he stayed professional and made sure she got in the car safely.
When she told him to ‘take these cookies!” I fell on the floor!
I suspect at the very least they are going to kiss before the season finale. While I am very much team Lucious and Cookie and would like to see them back together before he dies, Malcolm would be a nice change for Cookie, He might be able to crack her back in a few places. He is a bit uptight and always brooding but something tells me Cookie is the right one to loosen him up.
Is Lucious Lyon related to Sonny Corinthos?
Remember I told you guys that Lucious and Cookie were my Sonny and Carly Corinthos from General Hospital. Shucks, I think it was closer to the truth that even I thought. The scene where Billy and Lucious met up in the middle of the road was straight out of Port Charles. The better question is why are all of their men carrying guns? Lucious, with his fedora and trench coat with all his men behind with their guns drawn really reminded me of Sonny Corinthos. I guess that will make Billy Beretti, Lorenzo Alcazaar. Just in that scene though, not with anything else because at least Lorenzo was cute. Billy is not.
Sorry, got a little sidetracked. (Let me make a note to YouTube some old GH episodes for old time sake). Anyway, this leads me to my next question:
Is anyone else after Lucious?
I ask this because of the breach Empire suffered while Malcolm and Lucious were on their way back to the office. The elevators were down and someone was hacking their database. Malcolm brought my pressure up a bit earlier when he told Lucious. “Rest assure I WILL be defending your Empire, and I’m not gonna stop ’til we neutralize this enemy.” Damn, Malcolm. Is there more that we need to worry about? And why does Lucious really need all of this damn security? Granted, he killed Bunkie and they’re going public and has a shady past but he is more heavily guarded than leaders of small countries.
Who else clapped when Jamal put Lucious in his place?
Lucious was on a rampage after Billy and Anika started poaching his clients. They needed to keep as many of the stars on board and hopefully recruit as many new talent as possible. After losing a few key artists, Jamal was positive that he could sign superstar Delphine, played by Estelle. However, Lucious was still upset that Jamal came out at the white party and didn’t want to take any suggestions from him. He was still so angry about Jamal’s declaration that he wasn’t willing to acknowledge that Jamal could potentially save his company and throughout the episode, was doing a damn good job.
Who thinks Jamal is going to be named the successor of Empire?
I read an article in Entertainment Weekly that says we will find out who Lucious chooses during the season finale. For various reasons, including how he step up to the plate during the crisis, I think Lucious is going to choose Jamal. If we were talking about strictly business, Andre would be the obvious choice. He has the knowledge, the education and he has been working with the company for years. He has the necessary tools to help take it to the next level. However, based on the father/son confrontation last episode coupled with the ramifications of last night, we know that’s not going to happen. And this leads me to my next question:
What’s next for Andre?
We saw Andre completely spiral out of control this episode. We first saw him when he flushed his medication down the toilet and followed him through his roller coaster of emotions throughout the day. The most poignant scene for me was when all three brothers were stuck in the elevator. We saw Andre start to loose his balance even moreso than before. In an earlier meeting with an artist, he was on a high. He was jubilant and happy and was able to seemingly sell Travi to sign with Empire. This all changed when they got stuck in the elevator. He told his brothers that he was never good enough and it was because he didn’t have any musical talent. You two weren’t there for the rough times, he said, you didn’t have to experience what I did. He basically raised those two boys, he helped his father build Empire and has worked his ass off day in and day out with no recognition or a job well done. Though Hakeem was a bit confused, it seemed that Jamal was slightly aware of what was happening with Andre. He helped to calm him down. Remember the song we used to sing in the hood when we heard the gunshots, Jamal asked Andre. He started to sing ‘Lean On Me” which Hakeem and finally Andre joined in. It helped to center Andre, if only for a bit, as the brothers came together as a family when it was needed most. Even though they didn’t know the full extent of what was happening with Andre, they knew he needed them.
In the Empire conference room is where Andre finally had his break. Lucious had him detained in there and his wife called but not even Rhonda could help to bring him down. He was in his manic state and going off the hinges. When Lucious came into the room, he wanted to know why he wasnt picked as the successor for Empire as yet. He told his father that he’ll give him a little advice on who he should pick. He should pick the son that knows that he’s a murderer – meaning him. This is very important to remember because there were multiple people in the room. Who is going to take note of what Andre told his father and who is going to chalk it up to Andre saying that because of the state he is in?
Paramedics came and Andre has be restrained and then injected with a sedative before he could be wheeled away and placed in a 48 hour psychiatric hold. A paramedic asked Lucious to sign the form consenting to the hold to which he coldly pointed to Rhonda and told them that she’s his wife. This is another very important detail that we need to remember. Lucious could have very easily signed the paperwork and be done with it. Instead, he put that responsibility on Rhonda who honestly looked like she was not in her right state of mind either. There will be repercussions for her actions because I guarantee you Andre will not take this news well.
Only three more episodes (including the two hour finale) until Empire ends its first season. I didn’t know how it could but Empire continues to up the ante every episode. It will be very interesting to see the fall out from “Unto The Breach”.
As you have seen by now, the structure for the recap changed a bit for this episode. Don’t worry, it was just for this episode ONLY. I just had too many questions that I could not find the answers to so I am hoping that someone could help me out. However, if you happen to like this structure for the recap a little better, drop me a note and let me know.
Most importantly, if you have the answers to my questions – don’t leave a girl hanging!
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.
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