My Review of Empire's 4x12: "Sweet Sorrow"

Written by Eric Haywood & Jamie Rosengard
Directed by Eric Haywood

Lucious: "I love you."
Cookie: "I love you too, that's all that matters."

I've seen a lot of praise for this particular episode and having just watched it there, I can see why. The main plot revolved around Cookie, having seen her suffering a heart attack with Lucious trying and mostly failing to get her to take things easy and for Cookie to do her best to maintain her independence.

It was nice to see Lucious in the caregiver position this time around, considering we had Cookie in that role for him earlier in the season. I did like that he brought in both Carol and Candace to look after their sister when he wasn't around. The show doesn't give us enough scenes with Cookie and her sisters but when it does, they're gems and seeing the three of them squabbling was very entertaining without it going overboard.

More importantly, it showed us that heart attacks run in the Holloway family as the ladies father had also suffered one when they were younger and it also set up the seeds for Cookie and her sisters mother to be introduced in a later episode. We already know that Alfre Woodard will be playing the role towards the end of the season, so I like the set up here for her impending arrival.

Meanwhile following Andre's revelation about causing the car bomb, this episode did have him on the outs with his family but at the same time, he was also the one to expose Eddie's takeover plan to both Lucious and Cookie. I did like that Eddie actually admitted his treachery to both Cookie and Lucious before they ran him out of the company. Of course, I don't think this will be the last we've seen of Eddie this season though.

As for Jamal, his attempts of cultivating good PR for himself went south pretty fast but I did like that he was supportive for Becky and her decision to have a termination. I also that J Pop was written pretty sympathetically and stepped up for Becky as well. You know an episode is on to a winner when the B-plot is as enjoyable to watch as the main plot.

- Jamal was interviewed by Good Morning America's Robin Roberts while Eddie and his second wife, Celeste interacted with Lupe Fiasco at the start of the episode.
- I wonder if Candace and Andre have ever talked about marrying spouses who are a white. Both Cookie and Carol teased Candace again over that.
- Standout music: Tiana and Hakeem's Big Shoes.
- Chronology: From where Without Apology left off.

Sweet Sorrow excelled with all the scenes Cookie had with Lucious, Carol and Candace while the Jamal/Becky bits were also effective. I'm intrigued to see how Eddie will also strike back now that the Lyons are aware of his plans and the sooner we see Cookie's mother, the better too.

Rating: 8 out of 10