Lucious and Anika face off, and… MARIAH CAREY IS HERE.
(Or is this really an impression of Jay Z at the Tidal offices?)
Lucious gets a weird expression on his face, and Anika panics: Are you okay?
Credit: Chuck Hodes/FOX
Do you need me to call a doctor?
But then… a woman comes up from under his desk, and Lucious laughs.
She just… couldnt find her earring.
Very classy, Lucious.
Right in front of your wife!
It was a simple misunderstanding, he says at first.
he turns back to the microphone.
What happened to me is whats happening all across America right now, he says firmly.
The Ghost Rhonda shows up.
Is she being helpful or antagonizing?
But the fellow members are less than supportive.
Jamal is like, Im good.
Hot Man (perhaps a new love interest down the line?)
says Jamals PTSD is just as significant as his own and he was a soldier.
To which Jamal says, Yeah I just came here to test the waters and now Im healed.
This is going great.
Back at Empire, Cookie and Lucious are worried (finally) about Andre.
I should have been smarter about it, Andre says.
But they wont hear that.
Lucious says its just because he was born black.
Cookie and Lucious want to fight fire with fire, maybe have Thirsty look into things.
This only makes Cookie and Lucious more worried.
Later, everyones at Leviticus for a new Tiana performance, when surprise!
they realize she brought her new rapper boyfriend, Graham, out to perform on the track with her.
Where has she been?
Anyway, they perform, and Hakeem is furiously jealous.
I dont even think he remembers Lauras name… has he mentioned heroncethis season?
Remember that whole plotline?
(Great advice, Dad!)
So he heads to the studio to cut a track with Shyne and Nessa.
Problem is, Nessa isnt comfortable with disrespecting Tiana thats Hakeems beef, not hers.
I already liked Nessa, but now I love her.
And I think Taylor Swift is about to make a squad opening for her?
Shyne, though, isnothappy with this, and straight up chokes her out for her attitude.
Hakeem tries, in his own way, to stop it, saying Yo, man, chill!
and Wow, really?
to Shyne when she walks out the door.
Or maybe he just wasnt insane to begin with.
the great Mariah Carey) to consider doing a song with Jamal.
First Jamal says yes without knowing what he agreed to, but then backs out.
Im not really performing right now… he says.
In a deliciously awkward pause, Kitty is like, Um… kay?
Im gonna… go back to rehearsal…
This is not a woman who is told No!
And this time wont be the first.
Okay, we get it, Jamal says.
Cookie: Jamal was right, you are a vampire.
Lucious: So why dont you let me suck some of your blood?
Cookie: Drop dead, Luscious.
Lucious: I cant.
I think I liked it.
NEXT: Boy, Bye!
Time for Cookies date with Angelo DuBois, but hes not exactly happy to see her.
The world doesnt need another rapper!
He tells her she needs to undo it and then calls her a hustler disdainfully right to her face.
Cookie says, and Beyonces her way to the door.
But Angelo apologizes, then takes her to another room to show her what he means.
(NO, not like that!)
This is the future right here, he says.
This is how we rise.
And then… theres a more troubling vision of the future.
Aggregated assault, felony battery, trespassing (in his own apartment)!
The judge is cruel, and theres no question whose side shes on.
Im not going to lie about being guilty!
I was in my own home!
Seriously… cant he just show them a gas bill or something?
This is the biggest question for me.
But I guess this kind of situation isnt rational from the very beginning.
The conversation doesnt quite finish, because Lucious picks up the boys in the family minivan a.k.a.
a chunky Empire X Stream limo.
(He really does have a new passion in Empire X Stream, huh.)
You were a baby.
But then I realized, yall dont know youre black.
(Im shocked that Lucious actually watches the news.)
Hakeem stays and tells Lucious to head straight to the studio.
There, he decides to run Tianas vocals from the performance with Graham over his own track.
Thats the monster Im talking about, Lucious says.
Then Lucious gets called home, where Mama Leah is peeling an apple and laughing.
I really dont like seeing her with a knife.
Anikas in the office where Lucious was before, watching the numbers rise.
she says as Lucious walks in the room.
You sound more excited than me, he says.
Then Anika pushes her chair back, and her hot UPS guy from earlier stands up.
Shes up against Lucious in the big leagues!
Lucious grabs a gun and then taunts the UPS guy as he flees: Why you runnin out?
Hello, Lady Macbeth!
I like to call it mutually assured destruction.
Well, okay then!
I guess we know where the power lies right now!
Season 2 Anika gave me the creeps, but Im starting to like Season 3 Anika.
Jamal is also ready to confront his demon: Freda Gatz.
He visits her in prison, but hes really jumpy.
The Jamal Lyon you knew… you shot him, he says.
Youre the one that did this.
Shes confused and tells him she didnt mean to hurt him which she truly didnt!
But that doesnt change his feelings.
This is a hardened, and I think quite scared, Jamal Lyon now.
He heads to the studio, where the recording session with Kitty gets off to a rough start.
But he pops one pill and then another, and gets himself under control.
He doesnt seem to be managing anything nearly as well as hes trying to let on.
In Lucious office later, Zeah is about to sign his Empire contract.
She tears up his contract and tells him that she sees more than a future multi-platinum selling artist.
She sees a brilliant mind, and he needs to go to college where he belongs.
This has nothing to do with Empire X Stream, does it?
Yeah, its personal, Lucious says.
Cookie reminds him that half of Empire belongs to her.
Thats the piece you like to forget, she says.
So he tells her hes retaking control of Empire.
Dont forget I have the board on my side, Cookie says.
You give a shot to kick me out, this means war.
And just like that, Cookie and Lucious are back on opposite teams, battling for their legacy.
He says he didnt…
I just made sure I took advantage of the situation.
He tries to level with Andre, saying he was a black sheep, just like he is.
But Andre says Tariq wont get him to inform on his father.
Youre a Lyon, Tariq says.
Is Tariq the good guy since Lucious is Lucifer?
Or is it the other way around?
All I know is Im never really rooting for Lucious.
Maybe Cookie and Kitty can run Empire together?
