My Review of Empire's 4x18: "The Empire Unpossess'd"

Written by Brett Mahoney & Joshua Allen#
Directed by Craig Bewer

Rhonda (to Anika): "Karma is a bitch."

Now that was delicious! After a rather underwhelming previous episode, this was a finale that delivered in a few major, failed in at least one but also set up enough for next season. I actually cannot believe the show has finally killed Anika off.

It's one of those things I was hoping for a while the show would do but didn't think the show would do. Anika has been pretty tired as a character and this season exhausted her, so having Andre avenge his wife's death and drug Anika while 'Rhonda' haunted before Anika fell to her death was more than fine by me.

I'm sure Grace Byers is a lovely person in real life and I hope she gets more TV gigs but getting rid of Anika is absolutely the right thing to do. Every season she has tried to screw the Lyons over and when she killed both Andre's unborn child and Rhonda, she went too far. Killing the character off was overdue at this point (she should've died last season) and at least she got a rather memorable exit though.

Not that Anika was the only death in this episode. We might have had Lucious and Cookie threatening to kill Eddie but the other big death here was poor Tory, who I was a bit sad to see go. I liked the character and her rapport with Jamal but sadly she fell back into her addiction and her passing also resulted in Jamal deciding to be a bit less known by heading to London. I'm sure he'll be back early next season.

Then there was the cliffhanger of Hakeem, Bella, Tiana and Blake being shot at by the latter's racist father. I'm going to be honest - only Blake will be dead. Bella will be fine and either Hakeem and/or Tiana might be injured but none of those three will actually die. Then there's also Tiana being pregnant, adding another complication to the show. Do we really need to see Hakeem with another kid next season?

However with everything else being pretty great, plotting wise my major gripe with this episode was Eddie actually getting the Empire off the Lyons. I really do think they should've written him out of this episode. On the plus side, despite losing their business, at least we got to see Lucious and Cookie get married by the end of this one.

- Renee's scenes with Lucious were fantastic. I cracked up when she referred to him as Old Yeller. I hope we see more of Alfre Woodard next season.
- Lucious finally accepting Andre was nice. Let's hope they can retain that next season.
- Standout music: Has to be the use of Ain't No Mountain High Enough, doesn't it?
- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

The Empire Unpossess'd marks an ending for this season and a rather strong one to boot. While I am a little frustrated that the Eddie storyline will continue next season, at least we know Anika has finally left the building and hopefully it won't be too long before the Lyons seize back their company.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x17: "Bloody Noses And Crack'd Crowns"

Written by Carlito Rodriguez
Directed by Howard Deutch

Eddie (to Lucious): "I'm going to give you one last chance to save yourself."

Well, there's one more episode until the finale and for a penultimate episode, this was simply okay. Not strictly a bad episode as such but the back and forth between Lucious and Eddie trying to outdo each other in order to hold onto Empire was fairly predictable.

It made sense for Eddie to gain the upper hand and having proof of Lucious's murder of Shyne was something that even the latter should've seen coming. I think by doing that, Eddie has probably set himself up for a similar fate in the next episode or possibly next season. Either way, Lucious and Cookie should've seen this coming.

On the other hand, at least they were willing to fight Eddie at every corner. Andre being sent in to work with Eddie, Anika and Patel might not have been initially successful, but they did gain something of an upper hand and their latest media event also managed to pull at some heartstrings and get a few celebrity backers, even if Eddie managed to undo all of that with the last scene.

Aside from that, not really much else of consequence really happened in this episode. I guess there was Hakeem sort of getting serious with Haven before the latter kind of blew him off for her boyfriend as well as Jamal and Tory briefly having a spat over their 'Collective' suddenly being outed at a public event but none of those things really made huge waves here.

There was a few more Cookie/Lucious flashbacks to the early days but they were archived footage, too brief and weren't needed in order to convey the former considering a back to basics approach in order to oust Eddie though.

- I liked that Becky was keen on putting Tiana's ego in check. Tiana really has become insufferable the last few episodes.
- Not a shock that Eddie has a thing for Anika. I did like that Blake stood up to his racist father on live television.
- Standout music: Good Foot and Emotions by Jamal and his Collective group.
Standout music: Not long from where Fair Terms left off.

Bloody Noses And Crack'd Crowns is a solid though not spectacular penultimate episode. I did like most of it but it felt very by the numbers at times and while Eddie has been a decent baddie for this second half, I won't be too sorry to see him leave now.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x16: "Fair Terms"

Written by Dianne Houston & Jamie Rosengard
Directed by Jussie Smollett

Eddie (to Lucious): "This is all you'll ever be."

Last episode saw Lucious take out Shyne rather gloriously and this week saw Eddie really stick the knife in at the 20 for 20 launch with his public outing of Blake's racist past and instilling more reason for the board to back him over the Lyons. With two episodes left, I do wonder Eddie is about to get a similarly gruesome fate that Shyne did last week.

Speaking of Shyne, there was something audacious in having Lucious give the speech he did at the former's wake but it also felt very in character as well. Even more audacious was Lucious being the one to convince Nessa to throw her lot in with the Lyons family with the promise of him getting justice for Shyne's murder. I can only wonder what that will come back to haunt Lucious.

Eddie and Anika certainly were working over time to undermine the Lyons at every turn and we even had Tiana do her best to undermine Cookie as well. As for the Blake reveal, I did believe his story about his father making him take that photo but at the same time, everyone had a right to be pissed off with that. Saying that, he can't be the only 20 for 20 artist with a skeleton in his closet. What else did Anika uncover?

As for the rest of the episode, the scenes with Cookie, her sisters and her mother were good. Not quite as good as the scenes with Poundcake and Maya from the previous episode but I did like the dinner scene and ensuing tension between Cookie and Renee felt realistic enough.

If the show could get a lot out of Leah, then they better do the same with Renee as well. The scene where Renee met her grandsons for the first time added a nice bit of poignancy to things as well. Plus we really do need a scene with Renee and Lucious within the next two episodes as well as he doesn't seem that enthused that Cookie is talking to her mother again.

- Hakeem's subplot with the whitesplaining movie director was a bit boring, with Haven predictably getting with him as well.
- Becky made it clear that she knew Jamal was uploading music online with his Collective. Jussie Smollett also directed this episode.
- Standout music: Jamal/Hakeem/Tiana's The Big 20 as well as some familiar favourites.
- Chronology: From where A Lean And Hungry Look left off.

Fair Terms was a bit of a letdown compared to the brilliance of the previous episode. Not strictly a bad episode as such and Jussie Smollett was fine on directing duties but it could've a bit more livelier than it was. The last scene though certainly did end things on an interesting note.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x15: "A Lean And Hungry Look"

Written by Matt Pyken & Joshua Allen
Directed by Bille Woodruff

Shyne (to Lucious): "No matter what you do to me now, you gotta live with that."

I leave the show for a few weeks (busy with other things), come back and the episode I catch up with ends in the death of a character I've been wanting the show to get rid of since last season. I don't know who to thank (probably the people who wrote this one) but good riddance, Shyne. As a character, you overstayed your welcome and it feels like we've had to wait too long to you get your just deserved comeuppance.

This episode had Lucious play the long game with Shyne, letting the latter believe that they were going to teach Eddie a lesson or two while at the same time drawing some parallels between Lucious and Shyne's musical rivalry of the past with Hakeem and Blake's rivalry of the present. Much as I wanted Shyne gone from the show, this was a good final episode for him.

The rap in the sound booth was a good moment along with Shyne's realisation that Lucious intended to take him out. The fact that Lucious got one of his aides to do the task instead was a little smarter on his part. With Shyne out of the way, the focus can go back to both Eddie and Anika being dismantled within the last three episodes.

This week saw Anika trying to plant doubt in the board's decision to accept Eddie's resignation with Tiana also backing Eddie up as well. I've been disappointed that Tiana has been relegated to this role in the season and it's odd to see her and Anika work together. Not to mention her nastiness towards Cookie was pretty uncalled for as well.

Speaking of Cookie, while she was aware of what Lucious intended to do with Shyne, she was however more involved in the Poundcake and Maya subplot and to be honest, I really loved this plot. The prison flashbacks with Poundcake sacrificing herself to make sure that Cookie could get her freedom along with Maya getting to read her mother's letter.

Over the course of the season, the show has done a bang up job with Cookie's prison flashbacks and the complicated relationship between her and Poundcake. This episode ultimately paid the whole thing off and even spurred Cookie into seeing her own mother at the end of things. It'll be interesting to see how Cookie and Renee will interact in the remaining episodes this season.

- I can't tell if Jamal's Collective plot is meant to be hinting at another relapse or just him being somewhat pretentious but I was on Becky's side here.
- Speaking of Becky, is this show going to confirm whether or not she's still pregnant or is that being saved for the finale?
- Standout music: Hakeem/Blake's Payroll and Big Sean/Migos Sacrifices.
- Chronology: Not long from where False Face left off.

A Lean And Hungry Look definitely had a lot of meat to it as an episode. Once again, we got a look of how delightfully ruthless Lucious can be but it also showed us Cookie's caring side with her scenes with Maya and Poundcake as well. Definitely one of the strongest episodes of the season.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x14: "False Face"

Written by Diane Ademu-John & Janeika James & Jasheika James
Directed by Millicent Shelton

Cookie (to Lucious): "We gon get rid of Eddie together."

Well, this episode certainly tried it's best to undo a problem such as Eddie Barker with Lucious going it alone at first and then letting Cookie help and while both attempts were pretty decent, it's no wonder that Eddie was still hard to beat.

The first attempt with getting Eddie's ex-wives - Monique, Celeste and Giselle all in the same room to stop him from wooing Edna was a nice ploy. Then there was Lucious getting to Shyne first before Eddie could get the latter to turn on Lucious, which was also a nice ploy. The third attempt saw Cookie do some digging into Eddie's mentoring and unveiling his penchant for feeding his stars their addiction and that should've been the killer blow to him. Except it wasn't.

Nope, instead the episode ended with Eddie throwing his lot in with Anika with the promise of her becoming CEO if they succeed in ousting the Lyons from Empire for good. The last four episodes have been great with Anika not factoring into things and this latest team up just seems to cement the fact that the show has no idea what to do with Anika other than have her scheme against the Lyons.

Although this season won't do it, it'd be nice if we actually lost Anika by the finale but we won't. Eddie on the other hand is on borrowed time, which makes this team up with Anika even more pointless to watch. Also despite her protests, Anika probably will be Mrs Barker 4 before the season ends as well. Assuming anyone cares, which I certainly don't.

As for the rest of the episode, Cookie had some great moments here. Whether it was communicating with Lucious on how to deal with Eddie or taking Tiana down a few pegs (which was certainly needed), Cookie truly delivered on the smack downs with this episode. However her best moment was reaching out to Poundcake's daughter, Maya even if she wasn't successful in getting the latter to see her dying mother though.

We also got some more prison flashbacks, only this time it was with Cookie getting a visit from her estranged mother, Renee. We got some great acting from both Taraji P. Henson and Alfre Woodard in those scenes and the best part is that next week's trailer showed us that we'll be seeing Renee in the present day. I'm not surprise Renee doesn't like Lucious though.

- Jamal castigated Tory for her drug use while at the same time, the two of them roped in Preacher Azal to help with their music while Hakeem hooked up with Tiana and Andre organised an event for Hakeem.
- Now that Anika has crawled out of the woodwork, can we see Warren as well again?
- Standout music: Tiana's Sweat and Preacher Azal's Handle The Heat. Also a good use of En Vogue's Don't Let Go and Ol Dirty Bastard/Kelis's Got Yo Money.
- Chronology: Not long from where Of Hardiness Is Mother left off.

False Face made some strides in trying (if also failing) to take Eddie out of the equation and there certainly wasn't a lack of trying on Lucious's part there. The prison flashbacks were great as were most of the other subplots but I do not care for Anika being brought back into the mix.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x13: "Of Hardiness Is Mother"

Written by Dianne Houston & Carlito Rodriguez
Directed by Craig Brewer

Cookie (to Lucious): "I hate to break it to you, but everybody at this table at one point wanted you dead."

With Andre being the only one to actually try and go through with it though. I can see Cookie's point of view here, but I also think Lucious has every right to be mad at Andre for the damage he caused. However Cookie's influence still overruled and Lucious and Andre did actually work together in order to stop Eddie's own little takeover plans.

I did like that when Lucious failed to charm wife 2 Celeste that it was Andre who was able to get through to her and I also liked the stark conversation they later had when Andre pointed out Lucious's ruthlessness as well. I think this episode did succeed in making some headway with the two of them, even if there's still some tension between them.

When Cookie wasn't trying to get Lucious and Andre onside and scorning over having to wear a heart monitor, there was a great subplot here involving Poundcake. This season really has had fun with the prison flashbacks with Cookie and here, we saw that Poundcake's deal with Burleson didn't last long when the latter ended up in jail again.

In the present day, Cookie realised that Poundcake was dying and made it her mission to try and find the latter's daughter, leading to her also dropping a grenade on Burleson's wife for good measure. Sub plot wise, this was pretty interesting stuff to watch and it did tie in nicely to Cookie wanting to be on more equal terms with Lucious as well.

As for the rest of the episode, we saw Jamal experimenting with a new sound that didn't seem to go down well with his fans while Eddie's influence on Tiana had the latter bringing out her worst diva behaviour. Hakeem on the other hand, played mentor to a white rapper named Blake and to be honest, their rap battle in the studio was the highlight of the episode. I also found it amusing to learn that Chet Hanks who played Blake is actually Tom Hanks son as well.

- Tori is back on the drugs, even though her observations on Tiana were rather spot on.
- Going by next week's trailer, it looks like we're going to be seeing Cookie's mother in flashbacks.
- Standout music: Hakeem & Blake Battle by er, Hakeem and Blake, Jamal and Tori's They Don't Know and Tiana's Unforgettable.
- Chronology: Not long since Sweet Sorrow left off.

Of Hardiness Is Mother is a strong episode. Not the show at it's best but engaging enough nonetheless with some nicely done scenes with Cookie and Poundcake, Lucious and Andre and Hakeem and Blake to measure. It does seem like the Eddie plot will intensify a bit more though, which is good as it might be a bit too late in the game to add another antagonist into the mix this season.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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

My Review of Empire's 4x11: "Without Apology"

Written by Matt Pyken & Joshua Allen
Directed by Dianne Houston

Cookie: "I still run this bitch."

Oh Cookie. This week she went from one problem to the next one showing that she really did run both Empire and her family and then the episode ended with her getting a heart attack. Considering everything she's had to deal with since coming out of prison, it's probably surprising that this didn't come much sooner to be honest.

This episode alone, Cookie had a minor problem to deal with in ageing girl group 3 Black Divas who she tried to give a new contract to so they wouldn't cause Empire any bad publicity only for Lucious to nearly ruin her plan before the two of them banded together to actually get the ladies back on board by buying the rival label they were going to sign to.

I liked the focus on the older group and they certainly seemed to be justified in wanting to get a little even with the mistreatment they had experience at Empire. It was also amusing seeing them perform to uninterested people in the mall to getting a spotlight at Leviticus when they decided to play ball with Lucious and Cookie.

However the bigger storyline revolved around Andre finally confessing to his family about his involvement in the car explosion. It was inevitable this would happen and the results were delightfully explosive as Lucious rightfully lost the head with Andre while Hakeem and Jamal were unable to handle their brother's confession.

I didn't however expect the end scene with Cookie having a heart attack though. The scene was nicely shot but also reminded me of something more recent in my own family as well. However I don't think a heart attack will be the thing to take Cookie out of the mix from this show, not for quite a while though.

- Eddie and Wife No 3 are working with that app guy (who was also on Arrow this week) to take over Empire. Eddie also seems a little too interested in Tiana, who sensibly turned down Hakeem's proposal of marriage.
- I liked Jamal and Becky talking about the latter's pregnancy, even if she did end things with J Pop.
- Standout music: Three Black Divas more polished Can't Rock With You and Tiana/Jamal/Hakeem's Beautiful.
- Chronology: Not long from where Birds In A Cage left off.

Without Apology certainly had a little more to it than the previous episode. While I'm not entirely thrilled about Eddie and his wife plotting against Empire, I'm not too shocked by it either. The Andre scenes and the older girl band though were the highlights this week.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x10: "Birds In A Cage"

Written & Directed by Craig Brewer

Claudia (to Cookie): "You can have Lucious but Dwight is mine."

It really has felt like a long while since the show was on the air. Last time I watched this, the DuBois family had been taken (Angelo in a more permanent way of course), Andre confessed to Lucious his past sins and Lucious ended up trapped in a cabin by a crazed Claudia.

It's of little surprise then that the latter plot strand was the main focus here with Claudia resorting to extreme measures to get 'Dwight' back by going full on Annie Wilkes on the guy. I genuinely thought this was going to be a storyline that would dealt with for a few episodes so I was rather surprised to see how quickly resolved it was here.

Cookie literally wasted zero time in working with Thirsty to find Claudia's own shrink and realise where she was keeping Lucious and even try to rescue Lucious as well before Claudia went full on psycho and tried to kill her before she killed her own therapist. I'm also a little surprised that Lucious spared Claudia but I guess that means she can reappear in the finale to cause more mayhem for Cookie and Lucious.

However, crazy as Claudia was, she did manage to point out the destructive aspects of Cookie and Lucious's relationship, even if she didn't say anything particularly new in that regard. Speaking of Cookie, we got some more prison flashbacks where she suffered at the hands of that prison guard following Poundcake's betrayal of her. I think thematically it did tie in reasonably well to Lucious's ordeal at Claudia's hands as well.

As for the rest of the episode, it was nice to see Porscha being supportive to Becky when she realised that the latter was pregnant while at the same time, I liked that Hakeem was there for both Jamal and Andre, even if his methods were a little hamfisted. Meanwhile the episode also ended with Andre ready to go into full on confession mode, which should make things very interesting next episode.

- That blonde look does not suit Cookie, at least not in this episode.
- No Anika, Eddie, Warren, Shyne or Tiana this week.
- Standout music: Not a lot this week, so I guess Tori and Hakeem's Talk Less though Claudia using a distorted version of Snitch Bitch to torture Lucious was something else.
- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left.

Birds In A Cage had some interesting parallels to both Cookie and Lucious dealing with prisons and their captors and it put paid to Claudia for the time being as well. It's not the strongest episode we've had and the music highlights were a bit lacking but it definitely had some lovely character moments though.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x09: "Slave To Memory"

Written by Joshua Allen & Dianne Houston
Directed by Sanaa Hamri

Cookie (to Lucious, re Diana): "We got one shot to put this bitch down for good."

It's been building up for long enough and as fun as the DuBois lot have been as antagonists, this probably was the right moment to take them down for good with one of them dying and the other facing public disgrace and arrest to boot.

I loved that in spite of all the protocol that Diana undertook to keep the Lyons out of the Captain's Ball, she still couldn't succeed in having her fancy event go off without a hitch as Lucious and Cookie got to Angelo, made him sign a confession and then gatescrashed the event as Cookie delivered a powerful blow to Diana's social standing within the community.

Having all of Diana's crimes against the Lyon family revealed to her society pals was one way to bruise her ego but also having her arrested for Bella's abduction was another. While I'm sure we'll see her again in some capacity in the second half of the season, this was a glorious takedown for a character who was delightfully villainous but it wasn't just Diana who got her just desserts.

There was something deeply satisfying in seeing Lucious beating the crap out of Angelo after getting him to sign a confession but having Jamal inadvertently kill him to save Warren was another strong moment of the episode. I am glad to see Angelo killed off, even if it's left Jamal in something of a dire situation when the show returns in the Spring.

As for Warren, I think he more than redeemed himself in this episode and despite some justified anger, you could tell that Jamal still cares about him as well and given that Warren basically hung his own family out to dry, getting in with the Lyons or getting out of dodge full stop are probably his only options right now.

Of course it wasn't just the DuBois clan who suffered here too. Hakeem was able to get his revenge on Anika in a calm, collected manner by getting Bella off her and considering the crap Anika has pulled, this was a long time coming as well. How the show is going to keep her around for the remaining of the season, I'm not sure.

The rest of the episode then saw Shyne paying Andre a visit, desperate for the latter to keep his mouth shut, only for Andre to actually reveal to Lucious about his role in the car bomb from last season. However given that the episode ended with Lucious being snatched by Claudia, I think the newly back Lyon patriarch has bigger problems to deal with.

- Becky is pregnant and according to Eddie's ex-wife, Giselle, they're also broke/fleeced by a Ponzi scheme, so he'll be sticking around for a while longer.
- No Tiana and Tory for this one and Porscha didn't really do anything of consequence either.
- Chronology: Yet another version of Jamal/Hakeem's Love Is A Drug but also Andre's opening dream sequence number, Superstar, which was fantastic.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode more or less left off.

Slave To Memory served as a strong mid-season finale. This season has been pretty strong but I'm glad the show is closing down on the DuBois storyline, though I'm hoping that Claudia's Misery style arc with Lucious isn't overly prolonged.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x08: "Cupid Paints Blind"

Written by Diane Ademu-John & Carlito Rodriguez

Directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum

Pamela (to Andre): "You have got to be the dumbest criminal in the history of crime. Did you really think that you would get away with it?"

That I genuinely did not see coming. I knew something was going to be off with Andre and Pamela's relationship and naturally assumed that she was working for Diana DuBois but this twist was something else altogether. 

There was always going to be a consequence for Andre's therapist interfering with his meds but to have him imagine a girlfriend who he then imagined killing after she threatened to arrest him for his car bomb confession was pretty mind blowing for the show. Diana's meddling really did affect Andre both last and worst it would seem.

I guess in retrospect it might have been a bit obvious that Pamela wasn't real as she only ever really had scenes with Andre but it doesn't stop the reveal itself from delivering a fatal blow as both Cookie and Lucious have to witness Andre break down in the fashion that he did. If this doesn't ignite the old Lucious, I'm not sure what really will.

This episode alone it was mostly Cookie doing the heavy lifting against Diana. She got Thirsty to spot which one of Diana's bodyguards wasn't beside her while also paying Warren a visit and making a spectacle out of giving Diana back her mother's ring. At least with Warren, Cookie didn't have to do much in order to get him to co-operate.

Speaking of Warren, when Angelo wasn't taking pleasure in his bruises and Cookie wasn't pointing a gun at him, Jamal was brooding over his vocals on that particular song before recording a new version with Hakeem as the latter got some introspection on how to be a parent from Shyne of all people. Much as I'm not on the love train for Shyne, I will admit that this episode utilised him pretty well by giving us some more into his background.

Of course when we weren't dealing with present day problems, there were some more flashbacks between Cookie and Poundcake in prison as the latter gave birth and had her baby taken away from her. I've really been enjoying the prison flashbacks this season, even if they don't feel too relevant to what the episodes are trying to convey. I think we all know how fiercely protective of her sons Cookie is without flashbacks reinforcing them, though they're still a welcome treat.

- Tiana stood her ground and gave Hakeem a much needed slap this week. Shyne also has three different kids from three different women.

- No Becky, Porsha or Tory for this episode.

- Standout music: Jamal and Hakeem's Love Is A Drug and Tiana's Let Me Rock.

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Cupid Paints Blind certainly delivered the biggest twist this season and overall, it was a stunning episode to boot. With Cookie firmly out for blood and Andre suffering the worst of Diana's machinations, I can't wait to see what the next episode will bring to the table.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x07: "The Lady Doth Protest"

Written by Matt Pyken & Eric Haywood
Directed by Karen Gaviola

Cookie (to Diana): "We coming for you, bitch!"

At this rate, Cookie, you might want to get a move on with that. Sure, Jamal gave Warren something of a savage beat down when he realised the latter was Diana's nephew and working to destroy his family but that only played into Diana's hands after the failed attempt of getting Jamal to partake in a threesome.

I did feel for Warren in this episode. Okay, he was a little crass with the way he was trying to initiate a threesome (first a hot bartender, then another hot guy off a cruising app) but over the last few episodes, it's been clear that his feelings for Jamal have been genuine, so Diana ended up screwing him over as much as the Lyons with her latest stunt to boot.

Right now, the next episode needs to give us some kind of a victory for the Lyons because we've had more than enough of Diana actually getting the best of them that it's going to lose a bit of momentum soon. I do however find it interesting that although Lucious is essentially his old self that he wasn't able to step in this week, though Cookie should be able to handle Diana herself.

When we weren't having this particular reveal displayed out so publicly, Andre also had a freak out of his own when he thought that Pamela might have been dead. Instead she later turned up alive and also panicked that she staged another person's death, which seemed to intrigue Andre. I'm finding this relationship pretty interesting to watch but I'm also waiting for the shoe to drop and have Pamela have some connection with the DuBois family at this point.

As for the rest of the episode, Porscha finally stood up to Cookie when Eddie's recording methods basically alienated everyone at Empire. I thought this plot was actually pretty decent and it was nice to see Porscha make a stand but it was also resolved a little too quickly as well, even if Cookie did finally treat Porscha with some basic respect.

- We had more flashbacks of Cookie's time in prison where she helped her rival Poundcake with her pregnancy when she wasn't getting divorce papers from Lucious.
- The writers are so setting up Anika and Angelo as a couple, aren't they?
- Standout music: Jamal  and Tory's versions of Light It All Up.
- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

The Lady Doth Protest isn't the strongest episode we've had but it had it's moments. It's a shame that Jamal and Warren's relationship has come to the messy end that it did but it was inevitably going to go bad. I did like the Cookie flashbacks in this one though.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x06: "Fortune Be Not Crost"

Written by Joshua Allen & Dianne Houston
Directed by Sanaa Hamri

Hakeem (to Anika, re Bella): "Yellow. Her favourite colour is yellow."

Sorry for the delay with this one and after just finishing it, I really wished I had watched it a lot sooner as well. I just knew that the custody case for Bella was going to be a bumpy one, but even I was a little floored with how nasty it managed to become as things progressed in this episode.

I knew that Mama DuBois was going to come up with something that would scupper Hakeem's chances to keep Bella, so telling the court about their Tuesday meetings and then playing tapes where Hakeem pretty much called out every single member of his family just to finally stick the knife.

The end resulted in Anika getting custody of Bella and as annoying as that was, it does serve something of a purpose. As well as showing us the levels both Angelo and his mother will go to screw with the Lyons, it's also reignited Lucious's own particular bloodlust and while Diana is currently having her moment in the spotlight, it will be the Lyons who will ultimately have the last laugh.

The court scenes were some of the best I've seen on any show to be honest. Whether it was Cookie's scathing commentary on Anika, Angelo going full throttle to discredit the Lyons while Cookie also revealed that Anika tried to kill herself that one time or even Hakeem representing himself and showing that Anika barely knew Bella as well.

For all of Hakeem's faults as a character (in this episode alone: blowing up at poor Tiana, not telling his family about meeting Diana etc), he really does care for Bella so the episode did manage to generate the right amount of sympathy for him when Anika won custody of their daughter. I did like the last scene between the two of them and if I were Anika, I wouldn't get too comfortable with the DuBois at the moment, even if Angelo is clearly making the moves on her.

Away from the court case and the Lyons vs. the DuBois, this episode also had Becky reunite with her ex-boyfriend, J Pop and they certainly seemed to have some unfinished business. Much as I want Shyne gone from the show, he actually worked well as comic relief and while Becky's storyline was seperate from the main action, it certainly didn't hamper the episode itself.

- Warren and Jamal looked like they had swapped jobs in the opening scene. Both Angelo and Diana have clocked on to the fact that Warren now has genuine feelings for Jamal. Also Andre's therapist is part of Diana's plan too?
- We were meant to see Claudia in this episode but her scene was clearly cut out. Maybe it'll appear in a later one.
- Standout music: Jamal and Warren's Love Is A Drug v2.
- Chronology: Not long from where The Fool left off.

Fortune Be Not Crost certainly delivered on the most soapiest and nastiest of court room dramas going as the DuBois clan really did play their hand at being truly dangerous to the Lyons. Of course with Lucious now back in the game, it seems like things will really heat up though.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x05: "The Fool"

Written by Janeika James & Jasheika James
Directed by Howie Deutch

Lucious (to Claudia): "Stop calling me Dwight. My name is Lucious."

And he's back people. Well, it only took five episodes and while I was expecting something slightly bigger to have Lucious resurface and Dwight slip from Claudia's grasp but getting a glorified spoof scene from Demi Moore's most infamous movie, Ghost was as good a way to trigger Lucious's memories as anything.

The timing is great for the show as entertaining as Dwight has been, it was time for Lucious to make a return and it's timing for Claudia wasn't great. Her slow but determined campaign to get Dwight to herself came crashing down after they (predictably) had sex following their music/colour/paint session.

Speaking of colours, Claudia well and truly showed her own when she revealed to Lucious that she was interested in writing a book and became visibly angry when Lucious reminded her that he now knew who he was even if Cookie herself was too distracted to actually take that on board. Then again there is next week for Cookie to really process that Lucious is back and it seems that we're not rid of Claudia yet even if her grip on Lucious has diminished.

Of course when the episode wasn't drip feeding us Lucious coming back to the fore, Cookie also had to deal with the board wanting to oust her, so she roped in Eddie to help keep her seat and make some music with Lucious and Jamal. Forrest Whitaker really does class the series up and I do like his interactions with the Lyons so I'm hoping he's going to be around for a bit longer this season.

As for Angelo - anyone else getting bored of this guy now? Like Shyne, he's a character I feel the show could afford to lose and this week, he was even more annoying than the latter. His constant slut shaming remarks to Warren to one side, the vitriol he showed for both Jamal and Hakeem (including getting the latter to punch him) was too much. Like I said, can we just lose him already?

Of course Hakeem responded rashly by trying to run away with Bella, but at least he was stopped by having both Tiana and Cookie working in his best interests while Jamal still couldn't get a clue that Warren is betraying him, even if the latter seems to be showing some genuine feelings for Jamal at this rate.

- Detective Rose managed to play Andre and Shyne off each other this week. Does she know more than she's letting on?
- No Tory or Anika this week. They're also really spacing out Diana's appearances as well.
- Standout music: Hate The Game by Tiana and Do You Remember Me by V. Bozeman.
- Chronology: Not long from where the last episode left off.

The Fool did a good one in bringing Lucious back to the fore and while it's nice he's back, the show really needs to take the likes of Andre and Shyne out of the equation as neither of them add anything to proceedings nowadays.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x04: "Bleeding War"

Written by Diane Ademu-John & Jamie Rosengard
Directed by Sanaa Hamri

Cookie: "Show me how you fight!"

Okay, in what universe does a one year old have a Prince themed birthday party? I appreciate Empire for wanting to celebrate the late singer but like Glee with some of it's themed episodes (remember when Gwyneth Paltrow sang an Adele song during an episode about neglected artists?), this wasn't the place for it.

Don't get me wrong - I loved the costumes and I loved Jamal and Hakeem's take on Let's Go Crazy but having it for Bella's birthday jarred a little bit though. Of course, it wasn't too heavily focused and the main thing was Anika having the cheek to apply for sole custody of Bella, thanks to Angelo getting his Lyon hating groove back on this week.

While Hakeem is hardly father of the year, Anika absolutely doesn't deserve custody of Bella either considering what she did to Rhonda. Speaking of Rhonda - how terrible was it that Andre actually had to remind his entire family that it was a year since her death as well? I know they weren't close to Rhonda but that came across as rather callous to me. Even the new detective was more sensitive to Andre's plight than his family. Personally I was disappointed that Andre didn't get to take Anika down a few notches but hopefully someone will this season.

When the episode wasn't remembering both Bella and Rhonda, Lucious himself was also unsure about wanting to be the man he used to be for Cookie. He was able to listen to her prison stories but found himself put out by her ruthlessness over the 2020 showcase that ate up into a lot of this episode as well.

Much as I enjoy Cookie's fiery side, even I found her a bit too blunt in this episode with most of the artists competing for a spot at times, so I liked that Lucious called her out on it a little. However it seems that Claudia has certainly sank her claws a little further into Lucious's vulnerable as the episode ended with something of a past reminder for the latter as well.

As for the rest of the episode, Jamal did a love duet with Warren, which sounded nice but at the same time, Warren is still gloating to Diana about getting information out of Jamal, which Diana went to the media about. Then again we did see Warren showing some guilt as well when Diana was at her most smug over Lucious's current state, so there's that.

- Just noticed Porsha's new hairstyle in this episode and Cookie herself had a few different looks throughout this one. Cookie's prison flashbacks were excellent as well.
- Again, who has a Prince theme for a one year old's birthday party?
- Standout music: Has to be Love Is A Drug from Jamal and Warren this week.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Bleeding War had it's moments - good music, great flashbacks but I am starting to wonder how much longer Diana can be sustained as a villain and surely we're at the point now where Lucious's memories should resurface, right? Other than that, this was pretty enjoyable though.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x03: "Evil Manners"

Written by Matt Pyken & Carlito Rodriguez

Directed by Bille Woodruff

Diana (to Cookie): "It's time we put these hostilities behind us."

Big difference between what one says and what one does, huh, Diana? This week Diana seemed more determined to continue on her mission to take out the Lyon family while Angelo seemed to prefer to drink himself into a stupor and call Warren a whore and add nothing else of value to an otherwise enjoyable episode.

Diana got a minor victory at the start when her cousin the bank clerk guy was able to reject Cookie for money but she ended up having to save face when Cookie was able to charm those women at the photoshoot they all shared. I hope Cookie is smart enough to see through Diana's "let bygones be bygones" facade because Jamal is sinking further in Warren's clutches.

Jamal really had all the hit and miss material this week. On one hand, I loved that he was honest to Lucious about their past and I enjoyed all their scenes together but he was unable to stop Shyne from figuring out that Lucious has memory loss and he certainly was reckless in telling Warren about Lucious, which mean Diana has one more trump card she can now play with.

Of course when Jamal wasn't revealing things he shouldn't have, the episode gave us some interesting flashbacks to Cookie's time in prison where it seemed like the women were more keen on being her friend than an enemy. They tied in fair enough to her current situation at the photoshoot and again, I liked that Cookie was honest to Lucious about being in prison for seventeen years.

As for the rest of the episode, when Shyne wasn't vying for more albums and settling for five, Andre and Detective Rose seemed to be playing mind games with one another while Hakeem seemed determined to keep Anika away from Bella as best as possible with Tiana taking on a more neutral role. Both plots were decent enough but the best stuff was with Jamal, Cookie and Lucious this week.

- Who was that woman that Diana had to mess with Andre? By the way, Diana views Andre as the Scarecrow, Jamal as the Tin Man and Hakeem as the Cowardly Lion.

- No Claudia, Tory or Porscha this week.

- Standout music: Rantionale's Tethered, Hakeem's Shut Up and Jamal/Hakeem's Chase The Sky.

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left.

I enjoyed the episode. Evil Manners certainly showed a lot of DuBois scheming and while Cookie managed to inadvertently get one on Diana, Jamal on the otherhand wasn't so quick to see through Warren though. Add some great music and bits of Lucious's memories trying to surface and this was a goodie.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x02: "Full Circle"

Written by Craig Brewer & Eric Haywood
Directed by Craig Brewer

Lucious (to Claudia): "You're the only one I can trust."

And that statement is not a good thing. As we've suspected, Claudia is not going to be a good influence for Lucious and her manipulation of him certainly came out in this episode, especially as the end scene meant that she got her claws into Lucious pretty good.

I actually don't mind Claudia as a baddie though I'm not sure how long she actually can have Lucious on side, especially with Cookie back living in the house but she certainly played a role in Leah being taken out of the mix. Of course Cookie was the main factor as Leah unwisely confessed her murder of Tariq to her, which even surprised me.

The upside of things is that Leah got sent away and Anika with a new hairdo got released from prison, although that had more to do with her using Bunkie's murder to get Cookie and Thirsty to spring her out of jail rather than Leah's own confession. Going by the trailer for the next episode, it does look like we're going to have an Anika vs. Hakeem/Tiana fight for Bella though before Diana also gets involved with things.

Going back to Lucious though - the episode confirmed that he's not faking his memory loss. A scene with Uncle Eddie (Forrest Whitaker) proved that his memory loss is genuine. Speaking of Eddie, he's an interesting new character from Lucious's past that the episode added into the mix and I thought Whitaker played off well with both Lucious and Cookie here too, so I'm interested in seeing more of him.

Another new interest character also added into the episode was Detective Pamela Rose. Andre nearly had sex with her in a bathroom at a bar he was and then later it was revealed who she was. With Nessa clearly out of the picture, it looks like Pamela will be both a love interest and a potential antagonist for Andre this season.

As for the rest of the episode, there was a subplot where Jamal and Becky clashed over a song and the latter ended up giving it to Tory. To be honest, I was on Becky's side with this one as I think Jamal came across pretty unprofessional throughout the whole thing. On the plus side, I did like the singing session with Jamal and Warren when they were on their own though.

- Cookie's face is in the opening credits. I meant to point that out in my previous review.
- We never did learn the movie that Jamal was doing a song for, other than the mention of a hero's journey.
- Standout music: Both Jamal and Tory's take on Appreciated and Hakeem's She's A Monster.
- Chronology: Five months since the previous season finale as emphasised by how much time Anika has been in prison before her release.

Full Circle (not sure what came full circle here to be honest) was a little stronger than the opening episode. Some interesting new characters with Eddie and Pamela added into the mix and nice character bits as well. Too bad the ratings aren't as great for a season that's really promising so far.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 4x01: "Noble Memory"

Written by Brett Mahoney
Directed by Sanaa Hamri

Jamal (singing): "Yesterday I had a dream we were family. I woke up and you weren't next to me."

Sorry for the delay but with so many shows back on at the moment, I've only just caught up with the season premiere of Empire and to be fair, I really enjoyed this one. It's not the show at it's classic but it certainly had it's moments.

Last time we saw Lucious, he saved Cookie from a car explosion and lost his memories. Fast forward a few months later and it's not just his memories he's lost but also a leg. I have to admit to be genuinely surprised that the show went there but it's an interesting move nonetheless. However the focus was more on Lucious's memory loss and Empire's 20th anniversary for the Lyons this week.

Seeing the softer Lucious and his interactions with Cookie, Jamal, Hakeem and Andre was interesting, especially when he got visibly upset over more negative memories of his past (like not crediting Cookie for a particular song) creeping into the mix and the behind the scenes at the 20th anniversary for the Empire was handled well enough as well.

It's hard to tell if Lucious is genuinely unable to remember everything or is faking it to sniff out who nearly killed but either way, along with the quiet scheming of his nurse Claudia, I am finding this storyline great. Demi Moore in particular is bringing in a nice subtlety as a possible antagonist, compared to Diana being more blatantly soap opera villain this season.

Diana popped up in enough scenes to remind Hakeem that she's watching him while warning Warren to up his game with Jamal. I'm still somewhat enjoying Diana as a baddie but I do wonder if she can be sustained beyond the first half of this season. As for Jamal and Warren, despite the deception, there might be some potential with those two. Either that or I am being far too optimistic.

As for Andre, he was largely on edge as Shyne took out one loose end to finish up the episode. Either way, it doesn't seem like their great big scheme has actually worked out well for either one of them at this rate. It was also the least interesting aspect of the episode. I'm just bored of Shyne and I'm really hoping we lose him early this season as well.

- Bit of a crossover with Lee Daniels other musical series, Star as Queen Latifah's Carlotta appeared at the start of the episode and mentioned her girl group. Jamal popped up in their show.
- Both Warren and Tory have been upgraded to regulars this season. Anika and Leah also sat this episode out.
- Standout music: Love Me, the song that Cookie wrote and Jamal and Hakeem performed at the anniversary party.
- Chronology: Five months since Toil & Trouble Part 2.

Noble Memory kicks off the latest season off with an engaging starter. It's not the most explosive opening episode we've had but it's definitely an engaging one with lots of nice character moments and great music along with the earlier timeslot that doesn't seem to have effected the writing for the series either.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 3x18: "Toil & Trouble Part 2"

Written by Ilene Chaiken & Joshua Allen
Directed by Sanaa Hamri

Lucious (to his family): "Who are you?"

If there is one thing Empire can certainly deliver upon, then it's a finale. The previous two have seen Lucious arrested for his crimes as well as Rhonda and Anika going over a roof. This one went for a car bomb and a bout of amnesia for Lucious and as soapy and cliched as that sounds, it's actually worked well for now.

This episode almost seemed to go out of it's way to try and redeem Lucious. First of all, he kicked Giuliana to the curb and chose Cookie and when both of them met up with Barry and Michelle (not them, Cookie's ex-boyfriend and his wife), it was enough to motivate Lucious to actually hand over the keys to the kingdom to Andre.

While Cookie might have been successful in calling off her potential act of sabotage for Lucious's Las Vega gig, Andre fared less successfully as Shyne went ahead and blew up the car, which didn't kill Lucious but certainly put him a coma with Nurse Claudia (Demi Moore) watching over him and of course, the old amnesia plot.

I think with this plot, we're going to see the Lyons struggle to keep Lucious onside, the DuBois's up their campaign against the Lyons and of course, that creepy doctor also getting her claws into Lucious as well. Speaking of the DuBois lot - Diana revealed that Anika was in on the Bella storyline all along while Hakeem is now under their thumb along with an unwitting Jamal though.

However while Anika was happy to play along with Diana's revenge plan and use her own child as a tool in it, Leah managed to frame her for Tariq's murder. I just love how delightfully evil Leah was with Anika in the episode and her scheming certainly paid off big time. It'll be interesting to see if Anika's alliances with the DuBois will be able to get her out of this one though.

- Another member of the DuBois posed as a singer and managed to seduce Jamal. Damn and I was hoping Jamal was finally gonna get a decent love interest.
- Given the rumours of Nia Long being a nightmare on set, I take it this is the last we'll see of Giuliana, though I'm hoping we'll see Charlotte again though. I did laugh that her husband was called Mitt.
- Standout music: Warren's (Terrell Carter) Born To Love U, Lucious's Dream On With You and Jamal's Mama.
- Not long from where the first part of this one left off. The show will be paired with Star from September onwards and will be getting an 8pm timeslot for FOX viewers.

Toil & Trouble Part 2 definitely delivered as a finale. While the show's ratings have noticeably slid this season and inevitably, that was always going to happen, I do think the quality while shaky to begin with, did manage to get back to the same levels as the show's first season. This was a great way to end this season while setting up next year for viewers.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 3x17: "Toil & Trouble Part 1"

Written by Diane Ademu-John & Eric Haywood
Directed by Craig Brewer

Charlotte (to Andre): "Your family is very interesting."

Interesting might be an understatement there, Charlotte but yeah, being around the Lyons does tend to be an experience or something else. This episode, the first part of a two part finale was also something else too.

On one hand, we strayed into Ocean's Eleven territory with Cookie, Carol, Candace, Becky, Porsha and Thirsty all banding together to gatecrash the Leviticus Vegas night in order to steal Giuliana's dodgy ledgers and that provided a lot of amusing hijinks, especially when both Becky and Carol had to swap their assigned roles in order to pull off Cookie's genius heist.

However, with all the effort the gang made to get Giuliana out of Lucious's life, it didn't really pan out as Lucious managed to pay off Charlotte to look the other way of his current flame's dodgy dealings, much to Cookie's annoyance, although with Charlotte being rather sweet on Andre, Cookie still has an ace in her sleeve though.

I did like that this episode gave us a little more scope into Charlotte. We learned that she's a Mormon with seven children and doesn't approve of the tug culture that can come with the Lyons. However the hook up between her and Andre might have been a little more shocking had we not need it in the trailers though.

As for the rest of the episode, I hated that Giuliana's influence resulted in Lucious actually firing Thirsty but I loved that the latter threw in his lot with Cookie though and while Jamal came around to his album being postponed for a few months, Lucious is being rather reckless with Giuliana, especially considering that he was wary of her not so long ago.

Of course the biggest shock of this one was actually seeing both Lucious and Tariq working together in order to find Bella and actually seeing the pair of them bond with one another. It was a nice moment that was cut short when Leah decided to murder Tariq in front of Lucious before the latter could reveal Bella's whereabouts. Leah certainly knows how to pick her moments, doesn't she?

- The episode opened with casino antics before going back to "two weeks earlier" leading to Cookie being banned from the opening night.
- Becky can be somewhat hit and miss in the way the show writes for her but this was really one of those episode where the show utilised Gabourey Sidibe well.
- Standout music: Jamal's We Got Us and Dean Martin/RJD2's Ain't That A Kick To The Head.
- Chronology: More or less from where Absent Child left off.

Toil & Trouble Part 1 was a good start to the finale. I loved the casino antics and Leah murdering Tariq certainly provided a decent shocker but I am hoping the Bella storyline is actually resolved in the last episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10