Empire – A Lean and Hungry Look

By: Gladys Luna

Lucious (Terrence Howard) takes Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) to a room where he shows her his plans for the culmination of Empire´s 20/20. What we see is a screen showing different colors as the music keeps playing. Lucious wants to take advantage of his condition to create a room like the one he is showing to Cookie for each one of the twenty releases that he plans to call as “House Empire.” Cookie tells him that it will require a lot of money, but he trusts they can make it just like she did when he was at the lowest point in his life and still managed to save their fortune. Later that day, Lucious takes Cookie to a room where everybody has met in order to celebrate Cookie´s return to Empire. Thirsty (Andre Royo) approaches Lucious and whispers something in his ear that makes the man´s smile turn into a full frown. Edna (Sara Sevigny) and Leonard (Will Kinnear) from the board express to her how happy they are that she has come back Leonard also lets her know his concerns about Eddie (Forest Whitaker) leaving the company since he believes he had brought some stability to the same. Lucious steps out and assures them that his first single will be released within the next forty-eight hours and he is convinced that Empire´s streaming numbers will be rocket to the stratosphere. Lucious and Cookie gather Jamal (Jussie Smollett), Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) and Andre (Trai Byers) to inform them about Lucious’ new project and although the three of them are surprised and not entirely convinced about it, they decide to fully support them on the project.

Hakeem and Blake (Chet Hanks) are recording a new song. Shine (Xzibit) and Lucious watch them from the other side of the glass. The young men seem to have a certain disagreement on the song and stop the recording. Lucious decides that he will do some arrangements to the demo Hakeem and Blake are recording and use it on his favor.

Tiana (Serayah) has been recording some promo audios when Cookie decides to break in to announce her that Eddie has gone and now so that she and Lucious will take care of her career. Cookie lets her know that she will turn her the “center piece” of a launch event they will be having at Empire and that will put her as the number one. Although Tiana doesn’t seem to be so convinced with the idea, she agrees knowing that for now, there’s no other choice left.

Maya (Rhyon Nicole Brown) pays a visit to Cookie who had decided to send her the letter she wrote according to what Poundcake (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) has dictated. The young girl assures her that she already has a mother and that she stopped owing to Poundcake the moment she gave up on her, so she returns the letter to Cookie and walks away. Cookie remembers her time in prison when she was celebrating just a few days before leaving and seeing her sons again.

In the meantime, Jamal and Tory (Rumer Willis) have finally managed to reunite a group of artists with whom they plan to make some new music. Lucious and Shine are working on Blake and Hakeem´s new demo when Cookie and Thirsty burst in and walk straight to the cabin, followed by Lucious. Thirsty lets him know that Eddie had contacted them and has threatened them with revealing some information about Lucious to the board if they don’t give him some money in exchange. Lucious decides to give him what he wants and finish it already. All of these had happened without any of them knowing that Shine has been listening all along from the other side of the room. When Cookie and Thirsty leave, Lucious explains everything that´s been happening to Shine since the man won’t stop asking about it.

Andre is on his way to Leonard´s office when he sees him standing on the corner of a street. As the man hasn’t returned his calls or messages, Andre decides to make a stop and face him directly. Leonard has no choice but to confess that something suddenly came up and needs to reschedule their meeting. He also lets Andre know that the board is concerned of Eddie sudden departure, but he can´t say anything else.

Porsha (Ta’Rhonda Jones) informs Cookie about the calls she has been receiving from some clothing brands that want to dress her for their “House Empire” release. Cookie is absorbed for a moment in another memory of her time in prison when she was telling Chyna (Ptosha Storey) that when she was locked up she was wearing a leopard dress. Right at that moment, Officer Burleson (James Colby) walks in the cell and as an attempt to stall Cookie´s release he put some cocaine under her pillow. When it seemed that his plan had worked, Poundcake showed up and told them that she was the one that hid the drugs under her pillow. She was separated from the other inmates and put in an isolated cell. Cookie visited her and thanked her for what she did for her and promised her that she will never forget her.

Back at the studio Hakeem and Blake are recording again, but still seem to have some ego issue as they are sort of fighting for the microphone. Lucious suggests Shine go in there and show them how the things are done. The man performs in front of them while they record the demo.

Jamal and Tory are working on some music with the other artist they have joined to. When they are done, Becky (Gabourey Sidibe) walks in looking mad since Jamal hasn’t answered her calls. He lets her know about what he is doing and how important it is this project to him and she decides to cover for him only because she knows he is really putting his heart into it.

Cookie decides to visit Maya at the dance institute. When the girl sees her she tells her that she had already made herself clear about not wanting to see her birth mother, but Cookie says that she wants Maya to see the real “Poundcake” for who she is and she tells her how she sacrificed everything for her and helped her to be released from prison. This new confession seems to have brought some sense to the girl.

At the studio, Hakeem, Shine, Blake and Lucious are listening to Shine´s demo. After a while, only Lucious and Shine are left until Thirsty walks in and informs Lucious that Eddie will be landing in a few hours, so he wants to know if he´d like to set up a meeting and Lucious agrees. He still can´t believe he is about to pay to Eddie for his silence when he just betrayed him. When Shine expresses his disagreement on the way Lucious is about to approach things towards Eddie we see Thirsty decides to walk away and leave the two of them to discuss the possible ways to get things done. Shine and Lucious decide to fix things using the “Philly treatment.”

Anika (Grace Byers), Tiana and some members of Empire´s board have gathered on a private place in order to discuss the recent situation of the company. Anika assures them that with Eddie back on the game the company´s numbers will be increased and an example of that is Tiana who had escalated quickly to number one in different music charts. Edna and Leonard have different opinions about it yet still it seems they are planning on giving Eddie a chance. All of them are unaware of Andre watching them from the other side of the window.

Cookie and Maya go to see Poundcake and the nurse (Rashawn Nadine Scott) informs them that she hasn’t been able to speak for a while but she´s is glad they are visiting her. Maya looks a little hesitant at first, but she takes a seat next to Poundcake while Cookie wakes her up. She tells her that she has found her daughter. Maya introduces herself and tells her that Cookie has told her a lot about her and that she wishes she had known her better. Cookie takes out the letter she saved after the girl gave it back to her and starts to read it. In there is written a list of things Poundcake would like her daughter to know about her. At some point, Cookie stops reading and gives the letter to Maya in order for her to continue and that way her mother can hear her voice a little longer. Maya starts to read and gets emotional by the second until her tears won´t let her continue and is comforted by Cookie.

At the plane hanger, Shine, Lucious and a bodyguard are waiting for Eddie to arrive. Lucious begins to tell a speech about loyalty and how it is incredible that some people you have spent and shared most of your life with just end up stabbing you in the back. That moment, Shine realizes that he has been set up and that Lucious already knows about his betrayal, which takes us to the moment where Shine whispers something in Lucious ear at Cookie´s reunion. It is there when Thirsty confesses that Shine had killed Giuliana (Nia Long) to cover his tracks and had also collaborated with Andre to kill him. Shine takes his gun out in a swift movement just as Lucious does. Shine tells him that he knows that Lucious has always jealous of him just because he is better in many ways and when he asks him if he is going to shoot him Lucious denies it. Then, Lucious’ bodyguard is the one that kills Shine from behind. Right after, Lucious asks them to clean up the place and erase the cameras. Then, he calls Cookie and confirms her that things have been taken care of. Cookie, on the other side, tells him that there is something she needs to take care on her own before she returns home. The woman steps out of her car and calls at someone´s door. When it is opened, it is revealed that the woman behind it is her mother Renee (Alfre Woodard).

The truth always comes to light and when it comes to the Lyons’ not every truth is pleasant. Please catch up with Empire recaps every week on Starry Constellation Magazine and keep up with a fresh episode every Wednesday at 8/7 c on Fox. ¡Hasta la próxima!