After taking some time to decide on an outfit, a nervous Cookie meets Lucious, still uncertain how to interact with him after the rose. However, he’s not going to woo her tonight; instead, he takes her to dinner with the rest of the family, where he announces his engagement to Anika. As Anika recounts the engagement story, Cookie takes a rose from the table and picks the petals before throwing it at Lucious when he calls the rose he left her a friendly gesture. She then reveals that she was only wearing lingerie underneath her fur coat, as she thought that he wanted something more than a friendship with her, and leaves the dinner.
At a listening session for Jamal’s single, Cookie assures her son that promotion for the song will happen, Lucious or no Lucious. As Cookie heads out, Michael catches up with her and asks if she’s seen any changes in Jamal’s attitude and behavior lately. She tells him that he needs to prepare himself for changes, since fame notoriously alters the psyche of even the most grounded of artists, and to get something for himself to keep himself busy; she’s not impressed, though, when Michael lets her know he’s studying to be a chef at the Culinary Institute. Meanwhile, Lucious has a particularly bad episode thanks to his ALS, which is then compounded by Vernon informing him that he’s a suspect in Bunkie’s murder. After pressing Lucious on the matter, Vernon gets his boss to confess to the crime, including the why (Bunkie threatening to metaphorically burn Empire down) with the how. As such, Vernon vows to beef up security.
But Vernon isn’t exactly thrilled with Andre for providing a false alibi to the police. After Vernon attacks Andre thinking that the latter knew about Lucious killing Bunkie, Andre calls Rhonda to tell her that he was right about Lucious being behind the murder. Vernon, meanwhile, talks to a friend about Bunkie dedicating his life to Lucious and dying before being able to do anything meaningful for himself; he doesn’t want to die as a servant to another man, so the thought of quitting Empire has crossed his mind. Back at Jamal’s, Michael brings up the conversation with Cookie and his own fears about being left behind for fame. Jamal assures him that Cookie is wrong, but he won’t head to a secluded bed & breakfast for the weekend, not when the single is ready to be pushed. He half-heartedly, though, agrees to go to Fire Island with Michael and a couple of friends. Jamal then heads to Empire to let Anika and the rest of the key staff listen to “Keep the Money,” which draws pretty solid marks from everyone. Everyone except Anika, who thinks it sounds like a demo, much to Cookie’s chagrin.
Before the two can get into it, Andre bursts in to confirm the roster cuts the company has to make for the IPO, one of whom draws Cookie’s ire. Elle Dallas, once Empire’s crown jewel but now someone who hasn’t released an album in years, is on the chopping block, but Cookie defends her to the point where Lucious agrees to make her Elle’s manager. That night, he introduces Cookie to Elle and Elle has a bit of a meltdown, as she thinks she’s too high priority a client to be stuck with someone like Cookie as her manager. She wants to work with the name talent that Empire has the pull to get, so Cookie telling her that she’ll fight for her and Lucious encouraging her to build new bridges in this industry fall on deaf ears. However, Cookie isn’t one to take no for an answer; the following morning, she arrives at the Cindy Lyn Motel, kicks out Elle’s hook-up, and flushes the former star’s drugs. She wants to provide the type of help to Elle that Elle’s music gave her during her prison stint, so she comforts an emotional Elle who hasn’t been sober in quite a long time.
While Hakeem, upset at the continued media coverage of Tiana and India, calls Camilla and gets high, Jamal, Michael, and Porsha meet Cookie at Leviticus. Though Jamal is annoyed that Cookie is butting in on his personal life, she assures him that she just wants him to be with someone on his level before the DJ puts on “Keep the Money,” which again draws a positive reaction from listeners. The most important listener, though? Football player Vince Boyd, who Cookie introduces herself to. She harangues him into tweeting about the song, 
telling him that he’ll be the first person to introduce Empire’s next big artist to the world. The tactic works, as Boyd’s tweet gets circulated very quickly, but the moment is dampened by a drunk Hakeem, who tries to bait Jamal into an argument. The only thing Jamal is concerned about, though, is Hakeem’s treatment of Cookie and he lets his little brother know that he’s not going to stand for that type of disrespect anymore. Elsewhere, Lucious hires former Navy SEAL Malcolm, recipient of the Silver Star of Excellence and an Iraq veteran, as his new head of security.
The following morning, Michael and Jamal get into it when the former learns of a satellite radio interview the latter will be having that weekend – the same weekend they were supposed to go to Fire Island. Michael is annoyed that Jamal disregarded their plans, while Jamal is convinced that Michael doesn’t know how important it is to push this single now that it’s finally getting traction. Hakeem finds himself in the studio doing a new track and his delivery on the first take isn’t as fiery as it needs to be. After some pushing from Lucious, he gets more aggressive and significantly improves the track. Also in the studio is Elle, who’s having a very difficult time producing a usable vocal. Once Cookie arrives, she listens to another take before checking Elle’s attitude when the latter stops recording. Supposedly, one of her background vocalists came in too early, but Cookie believes that Elle is the one who’s off. She then goes into the booth to talk to her artist and implores Elle to stop pretending to be who she used to be and be who she is today. Channel your pain into your art and you can touch a lot of people, so once Elle gets rid of her fur, extensions, fake eyelashes, and makeup, she unleashes a much better vocal that will help take her to this next stage of her career.
In the elevator, Anika begins seeding Porsha’s defection from Cookie, offering to double her pay and treat her better. Meanwhile, Lucious’s doctor tells him about Russian progress with ALS research and how the experimental drugs they’re working on lead to a 60% reduction in symptoms. With no deaths thus far, it seems like an ideal fit for him, especially since he doesn’t care about the corruption of the Russian health care industry; he just wants to live. Jamal makes it to his radio interview and does a performance of new song “I Wanna Love You” for the audience streaming online, which includes Michael. However, Michael is dealt a major blow when Jamal denies having someone special in his life and doesn’t opt to correct the interviewer when he asks about a “special lady.” Elsewhere, Vernon meets with Lamont and procures a guy willing to take cash for confessing to Bunkie’s murder. He goes over the story with him, promising a little money at a time for the guy’s family, and the following day, the guy signs his confession as Lucious and Vernon look on. While Lucious is happy that “justice is served,” Vernon isn’t quite so happy with what he had to do to protect his boss.
That night, Lucious gets his first dose of experimental ALS drugs from his doctor, while the following morning, Cookie is shook by the new security protocol at Empire. At first irritated that someone doesn’t know who she is, she calms down when Malcolm comes by and explains that they’re double checking IDs for the protection of everyone at the company. In the Empire bathroom, Andre assures Vernon that he didn’t know about Bunkie and that he’s never lied to him before threatening him if he touches him again. After Hakeem plays a new track for Anika and Lucious, one which they both respond to, the trio, along with an annoyed Cookie and Jamal, head out, only to be stopped by security. The problem? A woman claiming to be a relative. The woman? Olivia, who brings along a little girl named Lola that she claims is Jamal’s daughter.
Additional thoughts and observations:
-“Remind me to get both y’all autographs after dinner.”
-“Was I givin’ you body?”
-“I assumed it was a demo.” “You would, because you’re a hater.”
-“So what? I’m drunk and you brilliant.”
-“She call everybody stupid, okay? That’s what she do.”
-“Put your hands on me again and I’ll slit your throat.”
-I’m glad that Anika is trying to poach Porsha from Cookie. Not that I want it to watch one of the most interesting/entertaining relationships on the show implode, but it would be monotonous to watch Cookie continually win against Anika. You wouldn’t be able to buy Anika as this strong businesswoman capable of running a record label if she wasn’t able to get a meaningful victory against Cookie and as much as I love Cookie, the tension between her and Anika would dissolve if their feud ended up being that one-sided. At least something like this will provide a challenge to Cookie’s reign and shows Anika isn’t a punk.
-That being said, everything about the dinner party in the cold open was just excellent. Cookie peeling the rose, throwing it at Lucious, and revealing what she had underneath her coat was delicious, as was the comment about her ass.
-They’re going to the “Michael and Jamal fall apart” well faster than I would’ve thought. I figured something like this was heading down the pike, but it was something I expected later in the season after “Keep the Money” found more traction and Jamal got his biggest taste of fame yet. Then again, this show is telling a familiar story in unfamiliar ways, so this might just be par for the course. I will say that I buy the possibility of Jamal having a child – the negative influence from his father likely kept him in the closet and forced him to try and live the “normal” way before he got more comfortable with his sexuality.
-Also, I really wish that I didn’t know that Raven-Symone was going to be episode. Half the fun was the “oh snap, it’s Raven” realization, but I think the character is still going to be a lot of fun. And the Cosby Show reference was not lost on me.
-Was I the only one who thought of that episode of Fresh Prince where an ex-girlfriend of Carlton’s came claiming that he was her baby daddy only for it to be revealed that he was still a virgin?
-How long will it be before Cookie and Malcolm get down? Because she’s obviously feeling some kind of way about him and he definitely had a reaction after interacting with the infamous Cookie Lyon for the first time. (Was that reaction related to his attraction for her? Or is he infiltrating the Empire offices on another mission and hopes to use Cookie to further his agenda?) On any other show, I’d say they were going to circle one another until the season finale, but since this isn’t any other show, I give it 3-4 episodes tops with someone finding out about it in the finale.
-Another episode, another Hakeem track that I could see playing on urban radio. “Don’t Trust ‘Em” would be a beast if it was released as a single.
-I was a little disappointed at not seeing Tiana this episode, since I think she’s the best character after Cookie. But she wouldn’t have really fit into Hakeem’s jealousy rampage (how effective that storyline was related to Tiana not being there) and Empire has done a fine job at balancing every plate it’s got spinning, so no cause for alarm just yet.
-Sway! Derek Luke! Courtney Love! This episode had some pretty strong guest stars, you guys. I will love Derek Luke forever and Courtney Love kind of killed it as Elle Dallas, a role that taps into the anger and sadness she’s used to propel her music career. I also like the show introducing a kindred spirit for Cookie in Elle, just because I don’t think anybody has really understood Cookie until now. They might empathize, but Elle is the only person who truly knows the depths Cookie’s been.
-“I Wanna Love You” is a jam and a half. Again, a little old school, but it’s still contemporary enough to be recorded by a mainstream artist.
-My guess is that Vernon stayed at Empire in order to bring it down from the inside. Because he seemed pretty resolved to leaving until he decided to stick to the plan he has with Andre, which, I think, is to overthrow Lucious and install Andre as the new CEO.
-Next week on Empire: Lucious attempts to rebrand Empire to the detriment of Hakeem’s relationship with Jamal, while Cookie and Anika continue jostling for position ahead of the IPO.
