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    You are at:Home»Empire»Empire 1.11/1.12 “Die But Once”/”Who I Am” Recap
    Empire

    Empire 1.11/1.12 “Die But Once”/”Who I Am” Recap

    Shilo AdamsBy Shilo AdamsMar 19, 2015Updated:Mar 19, 2015No Comments19 Mins Read
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    Empire1.11 – “Die But Once”

    While playing the piano in his office, Lucious begins experiencing double vision and hand tremors, the former a symptom he hasn’t experienced since being diagnosed with ALS. He gets interrupted by Becky trying to attend to some business and sends her back out into the hall, just as he begins flashing back to life with pre-prison Cookie and how he was his creative rock. Since he’s having some major writer’s bloc, he decides to track her down and see what she thinks about the song he’s working on. However, he finds out that she’s out of town from Becky after he invites her back into the room. The two begin walking around the building as she runs down the status of the three sons for the upcoming concert: Hakeem is avoiding Lucious like the plague; Jamal has his own album release party; and Andre isn’t well enough to come, though he’ll be at work on Monday. Lucious is particularly anxious for the show considering it’ll be his final bow, so he wants it to be as big and extravagant as possible.

    Cookie and Malcolm head to a cabin in the Berkshires owned by one of his war buddies. The two drink wine and swap stories until things turn sexual, with Cookie admitting that she’s only been with one man. Thus, Malcolm gives her full control and she goes through with it, ending up in the bed after starting out on the rug with him. Back at Empire, Lucious is consciously avoiding the ALS treatment he’s been receiving, possibly because he thinks the medicine he’s been receiving is worsening his condition. Not helping things is the sour relationship he has with his sons, as Jamal’s record release party comes and puts the new artist face to face with the fans he’s been reaching, including those inspired by his coming out story. Still basking in the afterglow, Cookie tells Malcolm that she’s okay with Camilla being gone, since she assumes that Hakeem’s ex was a gold digger; however, Malcolm confirms that Camilla didn’t take the check Lucious offered, causing Cookie to wish that Lucious was dead and that this was a memorial concert instead of a tribute.

    Prior to his album release party, Snoop Dogg takes some interviews about his joint venture with Empire and how he avoided going independent so he could work with Lucious. Lucious talks up both Snoop and the coming IPO, saying that Empire will be the first black owned company to be publicly traded at the NYSE, before being bombarded with questions about Jamal, whose album is getting great reviews. Lucious tries to save the interview by making a joke and turning up the charisma, but it’s clear that he’s rattled by the comparisons between himself and his son. Still shaken, he receives an injunction by Beretti that will effectively freeze about half of his personal catalog, thereby making the IPO damn near impossible to pull off. At the Snoop release party, he performs his new single and during a freestyle with a bandmate, invites Hakeem to the stage. The plan was for Hakeem to freestyle and announce that his album is coming the day the IPO happens, but Hakeem uses his verse to come for Lucious and leave Empire for another label. Though he storms out, Lucious manages to catch up to him and punch him in the face for the betrayal.

    Later, Hakeem rants about how much he hates Lucious to Jamal, but Jamal is trying to move past his ill will toward his father due to Lucious’ diagnosis. Empire is more important than allowing Lucious to have power over them, as is their personal recording careers. Back at Empire, Lucious comes to Porsha in search of Cookie, only for her to let it slip that Cookie is in the Berkshires for a weekend. Since he learned earlier that Malcolm was out at the Birkshires for the same amount of time, he knows that the two are together. Elsewhere, Andre goes to the church Michelle attends and watches as she performs on stage. He couldn’t make it in to work that day like he was supposed to – nothing felt right, so he decides to spend his day with her instead. Back at Empire, Cookie brings Carol to show off what’s going to be hers in a few years, only for Lucious to explicitly tell the staff that she’s not allowed on the premises. Though Cookie argues her case, he stands firm, rubbing salt in the wound by revealing that she was never really on the board due to her convicted felon status.

    Cookie does, however, get 15 minutes to clear her office, wherein Malcolm stops by. While he didn’t get fired, he’s taking a government job in D.C. and wants her to come with him so they can start a new life together. But Cookie has worked too hard at Empire just to leave right now, so she rejects his offer and gives him a kiss before he leaves. Meanwhile, Andre confronts Lucious and tells him that he needs a new CFO – he found what he was missing in the church and isn’t going to come back into the business world. Lucious is furious, citing Andre’s vital role in the company, but Andre isn’t budging on his new purpose in life. As such, Lucious heads to Jamal’s release party where he pulls his son aside and informs him that he’s the future of Empire – he can have the keys to the kingdom if he wants them, if he proves that he’s willing to do anything and everything he can for the company. Jamal agrees to the deal that first stipulates he help Lucious out of his creative funk in the way that Cookie would all those years ago.

    In order to do that, he brings Lucious to their old house where they play around with the keyboard and guitar. Jamal questions whether his father, whose musical ability he worshipped as a child, was a complete fraud and the two have an aggressive jam session that gradually becomes more emotional. After the song is over, Lucious demands Jamal get his masters back from Beretti, one of the stipulations in his giving over the company. Later, Cookie goes looking for Lucious and finds him at his place, where he agrees to keep on her with the concert. However, he reveals that Jamal is looking for Hakeem at a Creedmoor party. At the party, Jamal finds Beretti and holds him over the balcony demanding rights to the managers; Lucious arrives and lets his son go about his business while trying to locate Hakeem and keep him from signing with Beretti. Lucious does end up finding Hakeem, though he wishes he didn’t, as his youngest was hooking up with Anika at the party.

    The following day, Lucious learns that he doesn’t have ALS after all. The double vision undid his diagnosis and pointed at Myasthenia Gravis as the real disease he was grappling with – it’s chronic but much more treatable, so he’ll be in control of Empire for as long as he wants to be. Jazzed about his medical update, Lucious heads to the church with Andre and tries to convince him to come to the NYSE opening bell and get back into the real world. When Andre refuses, Lucious makes a power play by going up to Michelle, raving about her talent, and offering her a job, which she happily accepts. The intent of this was to break Andre’s faith and release the stranglehold the church had on him, but it only succeeded in pushing Andre away from his father even more. Later, Lucious receives an injection and some sedatives from his nurse, the latter knocking him out pretty quickly. Cookie comes into his bedroom after he passes out and listens as he begins talking in his sleep – he sees a vision of Bunky on the edge of his bed and confesses to killing Cookie’s cousin and to not having ALS after all. Reeling, Cookie listens to Lucious monologue about how he’s a messiah and goes to get a pillow to smother him.

    1.12 – “Who I Am”

    After Cookie leaves the bedroom in tears, Lucious gathers his sons in the dining room and tells them that he was misdiagnosed and that he would be living for a long, long time. He presents each of them with gifts as a way to begin making up for everything bad he’s ever done to them. Andre receives the Lion of Judah and the promise of a $100 million Lyon Foundation created for him to run; Hakeem gets a chain with the wings of the Empire jet fleet on them, in addition to a private jet of his own; and Jamal is given Empire. Cookie comes in and receives her own gift – a pillow.

    Jamal and the boys celebrate with a newly promoted Becky and they surmise that Lucious set up the succession plan in order to help the pending IPO. Jamal tries to convince his brothers that every decision they make from here on will be communal and that Hakeem will be in full control of his artistic direction, though both seem to be a bit reticent about believing him. While working the concert rehearsals, Cookie gets a text from Lucious and meets with him, only for him to reveal to Jamal that she tried to kill him. He even had security footage from the cameras Malcolm installed, so he has Cookie escorted out and removes her name from the name of the concert. While stunned out on the street, Cookie gets picked up Empireby Agent Carter, just as Vernon is dispatched by Lucious to track her and make sure she doesn’t get herself into too much trouble. During Cookie’s meeting, she gets propositioned to help build a case against Lucious relating to Bunky’s murder, since they have Shyne Johnson willing to testify against him; however, Cookie reject the offer and leaves, with Vernon watching nearby.

    At his place, Hakeem works out while Anika watches. He tells her he’s not going to Creedmoor and that the only reason they hooked up in the first place was to get under Lucious’ skin. She then brings up the possibility of a hostile takeover of Empire and the fact that they need Andre if they’re going to wrestle the company from Lucious. After Vernon reports to Lucious that Cookie was only visiting her PO, Lucious prepares for the press conference meant to promote the tribute concert. He encourages Michelle to perform her favorite song of his, while Patti LaBelle, who agreed to be on the lineup, announces that every performer will be donating 10% of their earnings to #BlackLivesMatter. But the conference is interrupted by homophobic rapper Black Rambo, incensed that Jamal of all people is running the company now. He claims that there’s no place in hip hop for people like Jamal, but aside from being offended at what was said, the Lyons now have a PR crisis on their hands. If they come down on him hard enough, he’ll dominate the news cycle until the concert, so Lucious suggests crafting a short, simple statement that effectively drops Black Rambo from the label. Andre doesn’t agree with that, though, because it could potentially weaken stock prices and shake consumer confidence in the new company. This is not the time to alienate their customer base, he argues.

    While getting his hair cut, Hakeem is forced to talk to Cookie, who doesn’t like the way Lucious did him. She thinks both Hakeem and Jamal deserved a piece of Empire, so she suggests that they build their own company and show Lucious just what he let go. Meanwhile, Andre arrives home to find Rhonda packing her things; she’s hurt that he was so emotionally intimate with Michelle, so she decides to go to her friend Gina’s until she can figure out what to do next. Later, Andre and Hakeem meet with Cookie and Anika under the pretense of structuring their attempt at a coup. However, Cookie and Anika get into a physical altercation that ends with Cookie choking her on the pool table; the two get separated and Cookie agrees to be civil since Anika has a connection to the corporate raider they need in order to make this happen. Meanwhile, Jamal comes to a club Black Rambo is battling at and challenges him to the rapper’s delight. After enduring a barrage of homophobic insults, Jamal sings his response and effectively drops the mic after his verse.

    In order to satisfy the raider, Anika and company will have to find a way to put his aspiring rapper grandson on, which they promise they can do. It’ll take about $500 million for the raid to happen and while Cookie negotiates with the raider to get him to pay $250 million of that, the group still needs to come up with $250 million more. And it’s not like the money is a guarantee of success, not when they have to replace the board in order to replace Lucious. What they can do, though, is catch Lucious up in a scandal and knock him out before replacing the board. After meeting with Cookie and telling her the reason behind Bunky’s murder, Vernon heads to Andre’s bearing a gift. He tries to convince Andre to hang on with everything going on around him, but Andre feels betrayed that Vernon would support Jamal being given the Empire over him. The two get into a physical altercation that Vernon tries to stop and Andre forcefully continues, hell-bent on taking out his frustrations on someone. While Vernon has Andre down, Rhonda comes into the room with a candlestick and hits him on the head in order to save her husband. Andre might’ve been spared some extra punches, but a pregnant Rhonda inadvertently killed Vernon in the process.

    At the NYSE, Lucious pushes the green button that rings the bell and effectively makes Empire public. That night at the concert, Lucious hangs backstage while Hakeem and Jamal perform “What the DJ Spins” and Michelle collaborates with Juicy J. When Jamal makes it to the dressing room, he learns that Lucious’ real name was Dwight Walker – he changed it in order to give himself the live he deserved and to survive the streets in one piece. Lucious then tells Jamal that he loves him and that his primary concern has always been his son’s safety, which could have been compromised by his being both black and gay. He tries to apologize, but Jamal interrupts to say that he’s proud of his father for coming so far regarding his tolerance of homosexuality. Just then, Agent Carter bursts into the dressing room and arrests Lucious for Bunky’s murder; Lucious blames Cookie for the arrest and urges Jamal to perform the song they wrote. He honors his father’s wishes and performs their new song on stage with Patti LaBelle, all the while Lucious is escorted out of the arena. His arrest quickly becomes big news and causes the stock to plummet, yet with Carter’s star witness missing, this could all be perfunctory.

    While Jamal takes over for Lucious, Andre attends Rhonda’s ultrasound, and Anika hits the studio with Hakeem, Lucious gets loaded into the car and taken to prison. However, he promises that he’ll return soon.

    Additional thoughts and observations:
    -“You use your inside voice when you talk to Becky.”
    -“I ain’t know nothin’ since Y2K.”
    -“But hell wants the devil back and Lucious is on his way.”
    -“No, thanks. We got a bell here.”
    -“I’ll send a prayer down to you.”
    -“My father is the devil and you just spread your legs for him.”
    -“What am I, Empire or Jamal?”
    -“Tell me why I shouldn’t throw this drink in your bitch-ass face.”
    -“Who’s Boo Boo Kitty now, bitch?”
    -You can check out recaps of the previous two episodes here and here.
    -Bless whoever fixed Gabourey Sidibe’s wig. Her hair in the final two episodes was much better than it was for the first 10 episodes of the season. Now all she needs is a storyline and she’ll be cooking with gas.
    -The gasp that came out of my mouth when Lucious gave Cookie the pillow. That’s the type of scandalousness I want from this show – just crazy enough without being too over the top.
    -Although I’m glad we got the answer as to how the show will deal with Lucious’ ALS (i.e. it won’t), the misdiagnosis felt less like an organic plot development and more like a response to the massive ratings it premiered with. The show was nine episodes deep when it premiered this January, so this was a decision made for the longevity of the show vs. what’s best for the character/the dynamics of the show.
    -While I liked all the flashbacks used in the finale, there was probably a few too many. Some of them were really effectively used, either for character (e.g. Jamal going downstairs in heels cut with his going upstairs in the performance) or punctuation, but others just reminded us of stuff we already know (e.g. Lucious put Jamal in the trash, Cookie was Lucious’ partner/muse, Lucious killed Bunky, etc.). It just felt a little lazy.
    -I did like the parallel, though, between Lucious and Jamal thanks to the ridiculous do-rag in the first flashback – the same thing that Jamal wore during his performance.
    -I kind of wish we had more build up to Jamal releasing an album. That’s such a big moment in an artist’s career and we never really saw him putting together an album – it was just kind of introduced as a big, floating plot device. But this show hasn’t been great at the music industry elements, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise.
    -The sideways shot of Cookie on top of Malcolm was an interesting stylistic choice. And I liked that the show didn’t have Cookie immediately leap into action with Malcolm – she got nervous and we’ve very rarely seen that from her this season.
    -I’m curious why Hakeem didn’t do anything after Lucious punched him. I figured he’d at least make a scene, especially considering his reaction to the event with Jamal, but he just kind of let it happen without any recourse. He’s obviously not here for the excuse of Lucious being sick = Lucious being able to do what he wants, so I wondered what kept him from retaliating.
    -Snoop’s new single is good. (He’s still the kind of pot smoker that I can’t deal with – the kind that constantly reminds you that, yes, they do get high.) I hope that this show won’t become the next promotional venue for urban artists, though, because that’d take me out of the show and make everything a little more hollow.
    -Jennifer Hudson has literally one volume she sings in. It can be powerful in certain contexts, but whenever I hear her, I just want to suck on a cough drop and go on a three-day vow of silence.
    -Also, I got the best laugh from Michelle performing with Juicy J. Apparently she knows how to dance, too?
    -I’m glad that we’re not going to get devoutly religious Andre next season. That would’ve gotten annoying quickly, given how obsessive he can be, and I’d much rather explore his dynamic within the family and how Vernon’s death impacts his marriage with Rhonda.
    -I like that the show made Lucious a hack. It puts his entire God complex into perspective (i.e. he overcompensates for his lack of talent), as well as his dynamic with Cookie.
    -That being said, his song with Jamal was awful. (I did like them returning to the boys’ childhood home, though.) As was everything about Black Rambo, who might be the worst act this show has brought out. The show had a lot of promise as far as addressing homophobia, but what they did in the finale felt shallow, from the straw man of Black Rambo to the unsatisfying leap Lucious made to tolerance. Regarding the latter, I can buy that Lucious’ new lease on life put things into perspective, especially since Jamal would be running Empire, but he went from an uncompromising bigot to someone who accepts his son pretty much overnight.
    -The green screen on Jamal’s Suge Knight moment was hilariously bad. A show that makes this much money can’t afford something remotely realistic?
    -I didn’t know sedatives made people give soliloquys. Think about that the next time you take a sleeping aid, you guys.
    -I appreciated a gospel performance being intercut with a scene of gay sex. Just on the right side of ridiculous, that one was.
    -Also on my appreciation list: Andre’s absolutely horrified reaction to Lucious revealing he was misdiagnosed. And the delightfully on the nose reference to Machiavelli while Hakeem gave us a sweaty workout.
    -I feel like the Rita Ora panic was inspired by this year’s Teen Choice Awards. And the Anika/Cookie fight was a very obvious nod to Dynasty, which the show has been compared to since its pilot. A bit too self-aware, but it was a fun bit of craziness.
    -So, Patti LaBelle had the time to learn and rehearse the song Jamal and Lucious wrote, like, a day ago? Okay.
    -The raider being nicknamed Tricky Trickter made me think of Rabbi Jewy McJewJew from Childrens Hospital.
    -R.I.P. to the dropped storylines we had this season. Especially egregious is having Elle unknowingly relapse and be mentioned one time after that, with no update on her. And Cookie didn’t mention Elle to Anika whatsoever? C’mon.
    -I would have liked the final sequence with Lucious if there wasn’t such a tight close-up on his face. Just a weird decision and one that made the ending much less ominous than if it was just a voiceover.
    -Well, that brings the first season of Empire to an end. It had some amazing, operatic highs and some genuinely frustrating lows, but I’m glad I stuck with the show. Hopefully it manages to keep what makes it fun while sanding down the rougher elements in season two. And hopefully you all join me to talk about all the craziness next season.

    Empire Empire Die But Once Empire FOX Empire Recap Empire season finale Empire Who I Am FOX recap
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