Empire – Time Shall Unfold

By: Jamie Steinberg

At Anika’s home, we find her and Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) having some girl talk when the two are interrupted by Andre (Trai Byers) who has come to visit. He wants to get his marriage back on track, but Rhonda isn’t sure they know how to be who they once were. In the middle of their deep chat, they hear Anika (Grace Gealey) throwing up. Rhonda worries it was something they ate, but Anika explains it’s not about food…It’s a baby.

Meanwhile, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) is trying to get Jamal (Jussie Smollett) to leave Frida (Bre-Z) behind on his album. She’s worried because Frida is really Frank Gather’s daughter and is afraid she’ll find out what Lucious did to her papa. Becky (Gabourey Sidibe) is listening in on their duet though and compliments the two by saying, “You and Frida sound like RiRi and Eminem and reverse!” Well, if that’s not a reason to keep the collaboration going…

Still upset about Hakeem (Bryshere Grey) being in the hot seat at Empire, Lucious (Terrence Howard) hires his attorney Thirsty (Andre Royo) to break into the Empire warehouse and destroy his Antony and Cleopatra merchandise. That way, when they host their stockholder and financial event, Hakeem will be stumbling over himself on how to reassure them. Andre is kind enough to lend a helping hand with his little brother to help him figure out exactly what people will want to know to make sure they stick to their Empire investments.

At Lucious’s home, the family is hanging out when Andre and Rhonda walk in with an announcement. They have brought Anika with them, who finally opens up about the baby on board. Cookie is quick to lash out, “Are you that thirsty,” at Anika and “Don’t you know how to put on a condom,” at Hakeem (with a head smack of course). Needless to say, no one is quite pleased by the new addition. Jamal isn’t worried as his daughter is the true first of the Lyon little ones, but Lucious has done some leg work and gotten a sample of her hair tested that revealed she isn’t his child afterall. With all this talk of who is to be the next heir of Empire, Jamal sums things up nicely by saying, “This family uses the term ‘heir’ is if we’re in a Shakespearean play.” So true…

The next day, Lucious shows up to Anika’s house. Well, he’s actually in it when she comes home. He is willing to write her a ten million dollar check if she’s willing to hand over the baby to Hakeem and disappear. She’s not interested. She knows she can make a lot more by having this baby and raising it as a real lion. Lucious warns her though, “Please don’t make me get ugly.” I’m pretty sure he’s crossed that line a long time ago and with everyone in his life.

Cookie is still looking to get rid of Frida from Jamal’s album. She brings in a big rap name to be a feature and says that the artist won’t work with him unless she’s the only addition to the album. Jamal argues that he isn’t interested, but Cookie explains this is the best way to boost album sales. He tries to explain the situation to Frida and he definitely seems sincerely sad he is in this situation.

Lucious meets up with Andre to talk about mending their fences. Hoping to get Andre to help him get back to where he belongs (head of Empire), he convinces his big brother to sabotage Hakeem’s big meeting. So, when we do see the big event, young Hakeem gets ambushed by Lucious who has some insider knowledge about the latest issues and areas of concern about Empire. Having sufficiently embarrassed his baby boy in front of his financial backers, he tells Hakeem, “You should be proud. You can tell your kids you ran Empire for all of ten minutes.”

After listening to the new pieces recorded for his album, Jamal isn’t into it. He doesn’t understand why she is actually on tour in Japan and sending in her recorded work and not there to duet with him in person. Cookie tries explaining this is a typical new practice in the music business, but Jamal just isn’t feeling it. He explains to his mother know that he needs better, not bigger and heads out to get Frida back.

In the final moments of the episode, we find our jaws on the floor. Thirsty is at a retirement home and he is speaking with the director about a patient…She asks if he’d like to visit with Mrs. Walker, which he declines. We flash to an elderly woman in a wheelchair nearby who is singing to herself while having flashbacks to pushing her son under water in a bathtub. Clearly, Lucious’ mom is actually alive!