Although Tiana was not in this week’s episode of the hit show Empire, there were still plenty of reasons to watch: Cookie in lingerie, Jamal’s new song. Guest stars like Courtney Love and Raven-Symoné are just a few of them. Below I’ve listed the top 7 highlights from last night’s episode.
Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) in lingerie
Lucious invites Cookie to dinner. But what she assumes will be an intimate meal turns out to be a family affair where Lucious announces his engagement to Anika. Furious to discover that Lucious proposed to Anika right before underneath her sable fur coat. A chorus of “Daayyuum!” rang out in my house, as both my girlfriend and I expressed our approval. Cookie storms out of the restaurant, but as she does, she flashes her derriere, slaps it and says, “Anika, now this is an ass.” Indeed , it is Cookie. Indeed, it is.
Lucious confesses to killing Bunky
While eating breakfast, Lucious has trouble with his motor skills. Yet before he can worry about that, he sees the cop investigating Bunky’s murder lurking outside his house and going through his trash via his security monitors. He seeks advice from Vernon, who demands that Lucious tell him what’s really going on. Lucious confesses to shooting Bunky and asks Vernon for help. Vernon solves the problem by paying someone else to take the fall.
Cookie gets a new client
In an effort to trim the fat off the budget in preparation for going public, Anika has decided to let go of a few of Empire’s artists. When Cookie hears that Anika plans to get rid of the legendary Elle Dallas, one of Empire’s oldest artists, Cookie asks to manage her. Elle proves difficult: She doesn’t want an ex-con like Cookie producing her album. She fights with Cookie when she flushes her stash of drugs. But in the end, the two Elle realizes that Cookie has her best interest at heart. Afterall, they are both founding members of Empire looking for a comeback. Cookie is able to get a good performance out of Elle when no one else could.
Hakeem is chuffed because Tiana “double-crossed” him
Hakeem is sulking looking at pictures on the Internet of Tiana and her girlfriend, India, out and about. The headline of the gossip site states that he has been double-crossed. Tiana calls Hakeem but he won’t pick up the phone. Aww, looks like poor Hakeem’s pride is hurt. Did he forget that, as Tiana put it, he had a sidepiece, too? He gets angry, he gets high, and ultimately, he writes a woman-hating song about how women can’t be trusted.
Jamal’s new track “Keep Your Money” starts blowing up
Jamal finishes his song and plays it for Cookie. She loves it and is determined to get it on the charts with or without Lucious’s help. She has the DJ at Leviticus play the song while a popular football player is in the club. After he confirms that he thinks the song is dope, she convinces him to tweet his opinion to all 5 million of his twitter followers. He does, and by the end of the night there are thousands of retweets. Riding on the wave of publicity, Cookie books Jamal on Sway’s satellite radio show where he performs “I Want to Love You.” Later, Sway asks Jamal if there was a special lady in his life. Jamal says he is only in love with his music at the moment. This does not make his boyfriend Michael very happy.
Lucious tries an experimental drug.
As his symptoms worsen, Lucious hires a concierge doctor who tells him about an experimental drug that is working well in a Russian trial. Though it’s experimental and costly, Lucious wants in. Anika expresses her concern over whether or not the drug is safe, but knowing that there is no approved cure for ALS, Lucious takes it anyway.
A secret from Jamal’s past is revealed.
The Lyon family is heading home, just as an unseen woman is attempting to get past security to see them. The director of security stops Lucious on his way out and the security guard at the door steps aside to reveal Olivia (Raven) standing there with a little girl. Olivia says hello to the family and then seeks out Jamal. She tells him that his new song is always playing on the radio and that Lola knows all the words. Little Lola sings a bit of the song at her mother’s request before Olivia (which happens to be the same name Raven-Symone’s character on the Cosby show. Coincidence? I think not.) tells Jamal that Lola wanted to meet her father.
Whaat??!!??
The preview for next week’s episode teases more screen-time for adorable little Lola, a health scare for Lucious and a possible kiss between Lucious and Cookie. I can’t wait until next Wednesday! In the meantime, I’ll be watching last night’s episode again. What do you think was the most important moment of the episode?
