Empire review: At last, Jamal Lyon jumps the broom

In the latest episode of Empire, we see love triumph for Jamal and Kai. But as Jamal Lyon jumps the broom, will another character kick the bucket?

If I had to choose one word to sum up last night’s episode, I’d pick human.

In “Never Doubt I Love,” viewers got to see all of the Lyons as their most human, flawed, problematic selves.

Lucious is still homophobic and doesn’t accept his son enough to give him away at his own wedding. It doesn’t surprise me that Lucious has some bias – toxic masculinity is still very much a thing in the Black community. But it is disheartening to see that once again, Lucious has to be badgered into putting his own feelings aside to be there for his family.

Cookie can’t shake her disloyalty to Lucious and is having trouble keeping Damon at bay. Her fears only increase after an unsuspecting Jamal invites him to the wedding.  Meanwhile, Jamal is still too concerned with what others think and has an unrealistically idealistic view of love and marriage, as evidenced by his horror at learning of Cookie’s fling with Damon.

Despite their imperfections, family still matters more to each of the Lyons than their own hangups and they manage to leave their crap at the door on Jamal and Kai’s big day. Lucious walks Jamal down the aisle, Jamal seems to accept that love and marriage are messy sometimes but worth the work, and Cookie curves Damon to keep her drama from interfering with the ceremony. Kai even meets Jamal halfway by agreeing to talk to the New York Times about being HIV-positive and being loved despite having reservations at the beginning of the episode.

Say what you want about Empire but tonight was special. Yes, the show can be sudsy and melodramatic. Yes, the way Empire handles hot-button topics is often heavy-handed and excessive to the point of silliness. Yes, there are plot holes and some of the storylines are just downright weird.

But the show continues to discuss issues that other primetime series refuse to touch. Gabourey Sidibe, who plays Becky on the show, said it best in a tweet she posted before the episode aired.

For me (and I admit that I’m a straight Black woman who grew up in the church with my own history of being problematic), watching Kai and Jamal jump the broom and run out of the church hand in hand gave me goosebumps. It was the perfect juxtaposition of knowing where you came from and deciding to make your own way and start your own traditions.

It’s 2019 and Jamal and Kai’s marriage should be just another wedding episode on a network show, but unfortunately, we have a ways to go before that’s the case. Empire has been steeped in a ton of drama both on and offscreen, but I congratulate them for making history tonight.

“Never Doubt I Love” is comforting in a way because it seems to put all of the turmoil the family (particularly Cookie and Lucious) has been through aside for just a day to give everyone a chance to experience a little joy.

Jamal gets his happy ending, Lucious and Cookie are together and even Kingsley’s been included in the fold (even if he gets a side-eye from Cookie). Off camera, Jussie Smollett got the best sendoff possible given the circumstances surrounding his exit (though I and a lot of other people hope he’ll be back for season 6).

Unfortunately, that all comes crashing down during the last few minutes of the episode as Andre reveals that the chemotherapy he took to get rid of his lymphoma destroyed his heart muscle. The damage is irreversible and the toxic lymphoma medication in his body makes him ineligible for a transplant. Lucious is heartbroken but Andre refuses to live out his final days wasting away, “I want to die the way I should have lived—on my terms.”

Obviously, this plot twist is heart-wrenching. Andre, the Lyon son who has arguably lived the most to please his father, won’t get to enjoy his new lease on life and Lucious has to deal with the reality that there are some things you just can’t control like illness and death. There are few things more human than coming face to face with your own mortality.

Even more sadly, Andre’s revelation that he’s still dying comes just as Terri tells Cookie she’s pregnant, even though she swears her to secrecy — “Andre can’t know.”

I’m not sure if that’s a hint that Terri’s not keeping the baby. Either way, it’s painful to see that even as he celebrates his own brother’s marriage, love, family and happiness remain just out of reach for Andre.

I’m still expecting that Andre’s illness is a red herring for the real death that’s going to happen in the next couple of episodes–it is Empire after all and anything can happen. But whether Andre lives or not, whether Jussie Smollet returns or is gone forever, Empire as we know it is coming to an end in the final episodes of the season (the preview for next week’s episode said as much).

Empire airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.