EMPIRE 203 Fires of Heaven With Pitbull & Timbaland

It’s Fires of Heaven on this episode of “Empire,” and it opens up with Ms. Ford telling reporters that she is disgusted with the fact that Lucious was let out. ALTHOUGH one of the conditions of his bail is not to go into Empire, that’s okay as he says. “I am the empire.

Cookie goes to Hakeem’s house and she finds out that he is has slept with the lead singer of his new super girl group. She doesn’t like the fact that the little girl is there and she tells him to come out because he’s late for his interview with Sway.

During the interview sway speaks to Lucious and Hakeem at the same time and the young Lyon make sit known that his new label is going to take over starting with his newest girl group. Cookie is not happy about this.

Meanwhile, Lucious and Anika have their first meeting since last season. It is not on the best of terms as he brings up her sleeping with Hakeem and he asks her if it was worth it. She doesn’t’ answer. He tells her that he wants her to give him the scoop on Lyon Dynasty and what is going on. “Lyon Dynasty is going to fail” is what he tells her. She listens to what he has to say and seems to “get in bed with him.”

Back at the studio, since Hakeem screwed up and told Sway that they have a girl group coming out in “just three days”, they have to make it happen with Valentina, his newest jump off, being one of the girls. Her cockiness is off the chain and she doesn’t listen to anyone, including Cookie, who is not having it. They get it together and the girls actually sound pretty good.

Andre calls a meeting with Lucious for lunch, you know since he doesn’t want to be with Lyon Dynasty anyway. He tells him his plans about getting back into Empire and all the things he can do to help but Lucious does not want to hear it. While they eat, Jamal calls Lucious about a girl at Empire talking about Lucious signing her. He tells his son to sign her but she doesn’t want to hear it since he’s not there and she and her crew walks out.

Anika pays a visit to Cookie and let her know that Lucious wants everything that Lyon Dynasty has done so far. Cookie asks her why she is trying to be buddy, buddy with her and Anika tells her, “’It’s very important for me to hurt Lucious.”

So at Lucious’ coming home party, Jamal and Pit Bull performs their newest single and everyone is having a good time. Then Cookie highjacks the whole thing with her own DJ and her number one artist… Hakeem Lyon. He comes out and does his newest song and his father does not crack a smile. Then Timberland comes out for a cameo on the song, which is only fitting because he’s the new music director of the show. It is hot as hell. Timberland is hot as hell.

Cookie’s men tussle with Lucious’ men and they hurry out of the club. As she rushes to her car, Pitbull catches her by the arm to let her know she has a stage in Miami if they put on a show as good as the one they did there.

Things blow up after the performance and Lyon Dynasty becomes the hottest name in town. Dre shows up at the office to speak to his mother who offers him to come back to Lyon Dynasty. He tells her that he can’t and also lets her know that he and Rhonda are expecting. In her excitement, she suggests that Dre uses his “unborn child” as leverage with this father to get back into Empire. He initially tells her no but then that he will think about it.

He pays a visit to his father and tells him that Rhonda is pregnant. Lucious stops for a second and asks him if he’s worried about the child’s mental health. He has another flash back to his mother (Kelly Rowland).  He comes to and they hug it out. He then pulls him close by the back of his neck and tells him “You are breaking my heart using this to get what you want with me.” Lucious kicks him out and tells him to run to his mother. Damn he’s cold.

Back on the streets, Lucious and his people pay a visit to Frankie’s (Chris Rock) daughter who is in the middle of battle rapping. In the middle of the battle, her opponent says something that makes her stop in her tracks. She pulls out a gun and just as she pulls the trigger, Lucious stops her and begs her to not throw her life away.

As he and his people walk back to their car, the prosecutor, Ms. Ford “meets” him at and pretty much threatens him with charging him with murder letting him know that’s “only the beginning of what I have planned for you.”

In the studio, Becky tells Jamal that he needs to get over whatever happened with his mother because she was the only one that could handle his father and be there form him. “She loves you.”

At Lyon Dynasty, Cookie coaches the girls on their choreography and is super hard on them. Valentina tells her that she can’t take it any more, “I’m a singer, I’m not doing this.” Cookie checks her, letting her know that sleeping with her son does not mean anything, “Everybody wants to be Beyoncé but not put in the work.”

Swallowing his pride, Jamal pays a visit to his mother at Lyon Dynasty and just as he’s about to walk in, his father rolls up and stops him. Jamal tells him he needs his mother and Lucious says you don’t need anyone. No man or woman can do it for you. “You need a God to produce you.” Then and there, they vow to work together.

In the end, while at Sway’s again, Cookie and Hakeem can’t find Valentina. Lucious shows up and drops the bomb on them that Valentina is the newest Empire artist. He is a dirty, dirty dog. Not only did he buy her, he bought a controlling interest in all urban radio stations making it nearly impossible for Lyon Dynasty to get any air time.

But that’s okay, because everyone knows, “You can’t keep Cookie down.”

Lucious just keeps showing why the Lyon is the king of the jungle.

“Empire’s” showrunner did a great interview and gives some insight into what’s coming up for that Lucious Cookie duo.

Let’s talk about that dinner scene. How did the idea come about for Cookie to pull the runner off the table?
In season one, episode six, there’s a very memorable scene in which Cookie turns up at the restaurant and she thinks that she’s there for a hookup with Lucious and it turns out he’s announcing his engagement to Anika and she’s wearing a fur coat with nothing but sexy lingerie underneath. Originally, as scripted, she turned over the table. At the time, we thought, “This is maybe too much — there’s so much happening in this scene that Cookie doesn’t need to actually turn over the table.” And I was just worried that Taraji would feel like we’re just pushing her too far because this was during the era of Cookie barging into offices and all that so we just pulled it back. A little later, we were doing an event and Taraji said to me, “But I do want to turn over a table one day.” So there you have it. And now, she came up with this fabulous moment to end the scene, which I think was unbeatable.

That moment at the dinner table was so Cookie and fun to watch, but also very reflective of Empire vs. Lyon Dynasty. How bad will it get between Lucious and Cookie?
That dinner scene, that’s the declaration of war. Hence forward, it’s on. There will be strikes and counter-strikes and escalations.

So there’s no turning back with Lyon Dynasty? Cookie and Hakeem are sticking by their record label.
Yes. They both are passionate, each for his or her own reason. They both have a lot to prove. Hakeem really feels passed over — his entire life objective is to prove to everyone, even his mother, who’s now his partner, that Lucious chose the wrong son, and that he’s been overlooked and underestimated. It’s an incredible arc of growth and determination for him. Cookie came back to get what’s hers and had the rug pulled out from under her just like she pulled that runner from Lucious’ table. She’s done this once and she’s now going to build her own. I think she believes that with great conviction.

Not only did Lucious get dissed in his own home, but also at his own party. He looked deeply upset when Hakeem came out on stage at his party.
He does. It enrages him. And beyond that, Lucious isn’t a man who likes to be humiliated in any way, and if there’s ever a way to make Lucious Lyon more dangerous, it’s to shine a light on him in public in that way.

Lucious makes a comment in the episode that Hakeem will come back to Empire. Does he still want him back or does he feel betrayed since he’s left for Lyon Dynasty?
He wants his family under his control and he wants to own Hakeem. I think in his heart, he’s always believed in his talent and needed to teach him a lesson, but really still wants that artist and that son to be under his own thumb so he can make him into the artist and man that he thinks he ought to be.

Lucious’ relationship with Andre is also not at a high point right now. What should we take away from their sad scene together?
We’re beginning to learn about Lucious Lyon — his childhood, his past, what made him who he is, the damage. We’re getting new insight into the damage that might have made this man that certainly has some of the qualities of a sociopath, and also certainly some fine characters. We’re learning that in a way that we never have before. Lucious Lyon had a mother who was mentally ill. That’s something that his family doesn’t know and, in particular, Andre doesn’t know. The audience is learning ahead of Andre. It’s incredibly meaningful to Andre’s character and identity, as well.

How did Lucious’ mother (Kelly Rowland) shape him into the man he became?
He loved her in a way that only a child could love his mother, and she hurt him in a way that a mother could hurt a child by not being there for him and being abusive to him.

Jamal is also upset with Lucious because he’s focusing so hard on Freda. Will Lucious really work hard to make Jamal a huge star?
Lucious respects Jamal’s talent and his ability, but there’s always going to be a little discomfort between them. Jamal is still his gay son and he’s not as comfortable hanging with him, and he’s kind of running from it in a way. Hakeem is more his kind of guy, and Jamal recognizes that Lucious is not working with him and putting the time in with him that he put in with Hakeem and that Cookie has put in with him.

Is Freda going to be Empire’s next breakout star?
Clearly, it’s a little bit of a twisted relationship because Lucious killed Freda’s father (played by Chris Rock in episode one) and Freda doesn’t know. Lucious has the hubris to believe that can all be overcome because he’s the greatest artist there ever was and it’s a gift to Freda. And I think that there’s a little bit of this feeling that he can atone for the sins that he perpetrated on her by taking her under his wing. He also just sees a real talent and he wants to own it because he always wants to own talent. He can put everything off the side for that — not everybody else can, but Lucious can.

Speaking of talent, Lucious stole away Valentina (Becky G). That’s a low blow to Hakeem, both personally and professionally. How will he react?
Hakeem is either going to fold because he got hit so hard or it’s going to just reinvigorate his conviction. That’s what remains to be seen — is he going to give up now that his father has beaten him down so hard?

Is there any hope for the girl group, now that Valentina left Lyon Dynasty for Empire?
Cookie never really believed in the girl group all that much, but wanted Hakeem to have something that he was excited about. So the question is, will Cookie continue to support this or is she going to try to re-focus Hakeem? Because she desperately needs him to be producing as an artist and working on things that are going to pay off.

Now that Valentina is going over to Empire, does that mean will see more of her working with Lucious?
No, not this season. We love Becky G, but we made a two-episode deal with her to play this great little story arc, but we won’t be seeing her again this season. But we had a lot of fun with her, and she really is a little spitfire.

Another spitfire: Anika. Is Boo Boo Kitty on Cookie’s side or Lucious’s side?
The Lyons are going to make that girl crazy. She got caught up with a very twisted family, and there’s no way that it’s not going to take a toll on somebody who I think started out as a pretty wholesome person.

Timbaland performed for the first time on the show. He’s the exec music producer, but why did he want to get in front of the camera and sing on the track?
That was a little kind of stealthy way of giving the audience a gift. He wrote that song and I think it was one of the best songs that Hakeem has ever done. If we’re doing warring kingdoms, and we’re having Pitbull performing on Lucious’ side, to have Timbaland on the Cookie side, it just felt like it signaled a real battle.

Speaking of guest stars, I noticed the second Beyonce name-drop this season in tonight’s episode. Any plans to have her on the show?
It goes without saying: we’d love to have Beyonce on the show. If that ever were to happen, it would be fabulous and thrilling. I think I read somewhere that we reference Beyonce a lot, but I think that’s just the world of the show — people in that world reference Beyonce a lot, and in the world of Empire, it’s a given that these folks would be talking about Beyonce. She would be a touchstone.

Any details on Mariah Carey’s guest role yet? Would she play herself?
There’s nothing official yet. Nothing official to report. It’s still at the conversation stage and very much schedule-driven. Something that we all really, really want do, but we haven’t yet figured out if it’s going to work with everyone’s schedule.

So she hasn’t filmed yet?
No.