Empire review: Will the Lyons ever have peace?

At this point, the only thing that remains certain and unshakeable in the Lyon family is Cookie’s wig game. Always poppin’!

Author’s note: This week’s episode of Empire, “Master of What is Mine Own,” is actually the penultimate episode before the fall finale next week rather than being the actual finale as I noted in my live stream. I regret the error.

The episode opens with Lucious washing blood off of his hands. Cookie comes in saying she got a call that someone was in surgery but realizing what is on Lucious’ hands, she asks repeatedly what he did.

We then flash back to four months earlier — just after the events of the previous episode. Cookie is trying to reach Candace after the incident with Franklin but Candace is ignoring her.

Cookie stops worrying about Candace briefly and tunes into a morning talk show to watch Jamal perform. Jamal plugs Lyon Family Management’s upcoming showcase and also announces his engagement, although Kai is less than pleased about being put on blast.

Lucious gives Cookie a picture of all of the nice things he’s going to buy for Cookie once they’re back on their feet. We then get a flashback to the day Lucious bought Cookie the Derek Adams painting (you know, the one that now hangs in Damon Cross’ house). At the time, he said it was his bet on their relationship (or, his relationship with music but, you know… it’s the thought that counts).

At Empire, Kingsley continues his quest to end Lucious by pulling his music from all markets. When an exec innocently questions Kingsley’s methods, he’s fired on the spot as Kingsley flexes his startup CEO muscles.

Hakeem is recording music with Devon and newly signed LFM artist Carlito. But Carlito’s not feeling it and expresses his displeasure with the song and the showcase, which the artists aren’t getting paid for. Cookie drags Carlito and tells him, in no uncertain terms, to record the song, without asking a bunch of questions. After all, no one questions the Cookie Monster.

Becky comes to warn Lucious that Kingsley’s vaulted his catalog, effectively putting the plug on his residuals, which are the only source of income the Lyons really have at the moment. Lucious is furious, but Cookie talks him down from the ledge before he goes too far. Meanwhile, Tiana is getting death threats because of Hakeem’s beef with Blake. She begs Hakeem to put a stop to the nonsense because unhinged fans are now coming for their children.

In keeping with the theme of people coming back to the Lyons with their tails between their legs, Maya comes to visit Cookie because she’s broken up with Evan and needs a place to stay since she’s estranged from her family. Cookie agrees to let Maya crash with her but makes Maya get a job. Lucious goes to Empire to confront and threaten Kingsley, although he holds firm and vows to make Lucious “extinct.”

Lucious, Thirsty, and Andre want to know what Kingsley is going to do to supplement Empire’s income without his music. But Lucious wants to keep their espionage a secret from a stressed out Cookie. Cookie insists that Lucious’ music is part of their past and she wants to work towards their future. Lucious assures her that they’re in it together.

Cookie flashes back to when they were losing lawsuit after lawsuit to Eddie after she gave up Empire to keep Lucious out of prison. Cookie suggested they move on but Lucious lashed out at Cookie and blamed her for giving up Empire. A hurt Cookie left and met Damon Cross at a bar. Cookie curved his advances at first but the pair got stuck in an elevator and got to know each other. Nothing happened, but it’s clear that Damon had less than pure intentions when it came to Mrs. Lyon.

Kai is still upset after Jamal’s announcement costs him two sources and the respect of his editor. Jamal apologizes but Kai isn’t happy about being the story, rather than chasing the story.

Meanwhile, Cookie is stressed out about the showcase going over budget. Lucious offers to mortgage the house to cover the overhead. Cookie initially protests but agrees so they can have the showcase they envisioned.

Back at Empire, Becky and Giselle talk about Kingsley’s power trip. Becky is stressed about Kingsley’s random firings and drastic actions. Giselle asks her to sit tight and says when the time is right she’ll handle Kingsley.

Candace is still avoiding Cookie, but Cookie visits her at home to ask about Franklin. She learns that Franklin has been institutionalized and is on heavy medication that incapacitates him. Candace reminds Cookie that she’s never called the police on Andre during a manic episode and asks her to leave.

Cookie has Maya working as her assistant in exchange for living with her. With Carol, she goes over plans for the showcase, then admits that Lucious mortgaged the house for the showcase. Cookie feels guilty about holding out on Lucious by not telling him about the condo she has. But Carol advises Cookie to keep it for herself until LFM is making more money.

Hakeem and his entourage pay Blake a visit to talk about his fans’ threats. Blake and Hakeem agree to start over – until Blake refuses to apologize. Hakeem pulls a gun on Blake, telling him to fix things.

Giselle meets a woman in an alley to learn more about Kingsley. We learn that’s Kingsley’s mother regularly took the train into Philly and got involved with Lucious, who was her drug dealer at the time they conceived Kingsley.

Lucious, Thirsty and Andre rope Becky into their scheme to dig dirt against Kingsley. Thirsty, Becky’s former shady sensei, appeals to her to hack into Kingsley’s computer to get some info for them. “It’s time to choose a side,” he tells her. But which side will she choose?

Despite her claims that the Lyons will only ever care about themselves, she does obliges his request – but gets caught by Kingsley and covers for it by demanding her year-end bonus (yasss #GiveBeckyHerThings). Kingsley sympathizes with Becky and rewards her loyalty by doubling her salary. But even a couple of extra zeroes in her bank account don’t stop Becky from completing her task, so she gets a check and the dirt. Who says women can’t have it all?

After Becky cracks Empire’s computer system, Andre finds evidence that Empire has been selling customer data to the U.S. government (sound familiar anyone?) by turning every mobile phone into a listening device. They decide to leak the story through Kai, who jumps on the chance to reestablish himself as a journalist.

Kingsley pays his mother a visit, but Giselle has beaten him there and spills the beans on everything she knows. She leverages the information she knows about Kingsley to secure a better future for herself at Empire.

The episode ends with Cookie and Lucious cuddling and celebrating how close they are to getting everything back after the showcase. But Candace shows up and tells Lucious about Cookie’s condo…and Lucious is furious at Cookie and accuses her of not loving him.

In the next room, Tiana is leaving Hakeem once again and taking the kids as Hakeem very maturely calls her names and hurls insults at her (I guess I was also wrong about ‘Keem making progress).

Both arguments come to a head in the hallway of the Lyons’ mansion, but everything halts when Bella comes out holding Hakeem’s gun and innocently presses it to her chin, before the episode ends.