The youngest member of the hip-hop dynasty — last seen waaay back in December’s winter finale voting to oust his father Lucious as Empire Entertainment CEO — rejected his twisted dad’s invitation to shoot him at point-blank range and walked off into the night at the end of Wednesday’s hour. That wouldn’t have been quite so dramatic had Lucious not vowed to end Hakeem’s life the next time their paths crossed. “Watch your back, baby boy,” hissed Terrence Howard’s alter ego. “I keep my promises.”
Oh, Lucious’ confession to executing Bunkie – on the same exact spot — made the moment all the more chilling. (Was Lucious disappointed when Hakeem didn’t pull the trigger? Yikes!)
Lucious’ rage reached its boiling point when — despite his henchmen’s violent and very effective threats to the Empire board of directors about nominating any new candidates as CEO — Hakeem leapt onto the company’s conference-room table and declared himself the heir apparent.
His first day on the job, however, found him butting heads with his scheming former lover/main Empire shareholder Camilla. Remember Cookie and Lucious’ wager over the epic Hakeem-Freda Gatz rap, which resulted in Empire and Cookie’s Lyon Dynasty producing Jamal’s next album as a joint venture? Cookie would only agree to let Empire release its No. 1 artist’s CD if Empire bought out her label — but also allowed it to exist as an autonomous entity under its umbrella.
Fret not, though, Cookie’s endgame isn’t playing tambourine for “Yoko Ho-No.” She’s planning to destroy Camilla from inside the company, she promised Lucious, Jamal and Andre — and oh, it’ll be a long, hilarious, insult-filled trip getting there.
TVLINE | How will losing their baby affect Andre and Rhonda’s marriage?
It is a turning point. Any couple that goes through such a tragic event is going to face challenges. We explore that between Rhonda and Andre in some detail. It’s not a simple, straightforward, melodramatic story. It’s a story about character. It’s a story about coping.
TVLINE | Is Andre’s bipolar disorder going to become a larger part of that story?
It’s always an issue for him. It doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s going to have a bipolar break, but he’s going to face those challenges and he’s going to be in a tenuous situation, in a tenuous relationship to his own mental health, and with his family constantly vigilant and expecting the worst from him.
TVLINE | Lucious and Cookie were there for each other in really supportive ways this week — complete with Cookie slapping Lucious’ booty. Will that romance be rekindled?
I won’t say whether or not the romance will be rekindled, but I’ll say that the relationship between Lucious and Cookie is one of the deepest relationships on this show or any show, as far as I’m concerned. There’s so much between them, it will never go away. They’ll always be drawn to one another. They’ll always flirt with the possibility of what could have been — and whether it can be again. And if either of them is ever on the brink of finding love somewhere else, you know that the other one is going to swoop in and ruin it.
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