Empire review: Collard greens and plot twists

Nothing feeds the soul like a good home-cooked meal and sharing a long-kept secret. This week’s episode of Empire does both.

Lucious and Cookie are declaring a temporary ceasefire with Empire to get Three Black Divas (TBD) back in a recording booth. But Kingsley is set against throwing Lucious even half of a
bone and refuses to release the ladies’ album.

Hakeem is still trying to patch things up with Tiana and things seem to be going well. He’s taken down his leaked diss track to Blake and Tiana even agrees to let ‘Keem take Bella and Prince for a few days.

Andre is still trying to get Quincy out of prison but hits a wall after the judge won’t admit any of the witnesses who want to testify in his defense. Andre decides to tap into the court of public opinion by calling the media to tell them about Quincy’s case.

Jamal gets a surprise visit from his English artist Wynter (played by the lovely Joss Stone). Wynter has followed Jamal to New York to finish her album, but he makes the mistake of letting Cookie hear Wynter’s powerhouse voice. Cookie propositions Wynter to work with Lyon Family Management despite Jamal’s protests.

As Jamal vents about Cookie’s controlling behavior, Kai asks if he’s told Cookie they’re engaged. Jamal is hesitant and Kai tells him he doesn’t need Cookie’s approval to be his own man. Cookie continues pining after Wynter and Jamal finally puts his foot down and announces his and Kai’s engagement. Cookie is begrudgingly happy for Jamal but angry with him for not telling her sooner.

Cookie’s temporary anger with Jamal subsides as she realizes she has bigger problems. Cookie notices bruises on Candace’s arm and begins to worry about her safety. Candace is defensive and walks away when Cookie and Carol confront her.

As Andre and Terri prepare the media blitz for Quincy, Terri begins to blame herself for Quincy being locked up. Terri admits she left Quincy’s father because she thought he was a bad influence, but realizes that Quincy might not be locked up if she’d stayed with him. Andre assures her that Quincy’s incarceration is not her fault and that she’s not alone. Sparks fly between the two and they share a passionate moment in Terri’s house.

All of Hakeem’s progress toward maturation nearly goes down the toilet when TMI releases Hakeem’s diss track and Blake records a rebuttal–over the beat to “Drip Drop.” In probably the most shocking plot twist in Empire history, Hakeem chooses to take the high road and ends the beef via live stream.

After his night with Terri, Andre visits his old prison buddy Mouse and makes a deal with him to hopefully exonerate Quincy once and for all.

Cookie backs off of Candace but her suspicions are raised again when Candace’s ex-husband shows up demanding keys to her house. Candace’s son Franklin also seems afraid of Candace’s ex and Cookie becomes certain that he’s being abusive.

Lucious’ attempts to schmooze with Kingsley fall flat, until he invites him to his house for dinner. Kingsley accepts then goes to visit a comatose woman in the hospital, who we learn is his mother. Kingsley vows to make Lucious pay for what he did to her.

Kingsley arrives to a traditional “walk-the-stove” soul food dinner with Lucious, Cookie, Andre, Jamal and Hakeem, minus Juanita, to Hakeem’s chagrin. Lucious asks Kingsley why he chose Empire and Kingsley admits that he grew up on the Empire sound with his mother. Kingsley asks Lucious the same question and Lucious goes into detail about his drug-slinging past. Lucious acknowledges his checkered history but says he won’t apologize for doing what he needed to do to make sure his kids ate.

During a post-meal jam session, Lucious makes the case for music without analytics and says if Kingsley doesn’t have the music in him, he should fall back. As he watches the Lyons jam some more, Kingsley gets an evil grin on his face. But the dinner seems to be a success as Kingsley agrees to let TBD keep working on their song for the showcase. But during a visit with his mother later Kingsley laments on Lucious’ family act and reveals that Lucious is his father and that he plans to “erase him from the face of the earth.”

Andre visits Terri and the two agree that their night together was a mistake. As she’s talking to Andre, Terri receives word that an inmate (presumably Mouse) confessed to the robbery Quincy was framed in and Quincy is being released. Terri is overjoyed at the news and hugs Andre.

When Candace goes missing the next day Cookie and Carol go to her house and find her son Franklin beating her. After distracting Franklin and hiding Candace in the closet, Cookie calls the police, but Candace reveals that her son is mentally ill and off his medicine. Candace is furious with Cookie for calling the police on her son and tells Cookie she never wants to see her again. Cookie admits what she did via live stream and that she was afraid the police were going to kill Franklin. “But that’s what it’s like to be Black and Brown in this country,” Cookie laments, “Who will protect us?”