It’s already time for Season 2 of FOX‘s crazy breakout hit “Empire,” so for those that need a little refresh before the premiere hits, here’s where things left off. Episode 1 kicks off three months after Lucious is incarcerated so you know he’s primed and ready for some Cookie.
On the season finale of Empire, there is a lot going on. Lucious realizes his time is drawing to an end. While trying to figure out a way to write an epic song for his last concert, he can’t concentrate with everything going on around him and calls for Cookie who is nowhere to be found. Why? Because she is getting in some “me” time with her new boo Malcolm.
They steal away to a quant cottage in the mountains and share an intimate weekend together. They finally ‘do the do’ and remember, it is her first time being with a man other than Lucious. I hear you Cookie but from the looks of it, um… you can’t tell. Do you boo!
At a press conference/performance for Empire’s IPO, Hakeem openly disses his dad. Hakeem walks out but that doesn’t stop luscious from showing him who’s the boss. Daddy Lu punches his son right in the face. In the next scene we see Hakeem telling Jamal he is leaving Empire because Lu thinks he owns him.
Andre still deals with his mental instability. He can’t go back to work and so finds Jennifer Hudson’s character at her church where he says that “nothing fits anymore.”
He then pays a visit to his dad and tells him to find a new CFO. Dre tells him that the void he has filled with darkness he is now filling with a higher power- God. And Lucious says, “What higher power is there than making music.” Wow sound more like Lucifer the fallen angel of music.
So Portia spills the beans to Lucious that Cookie is in the Berkshires with Malcolm. Why the hell did she open her mouth? Lucious then kicks Cookie out of everything Empire giving her 15 minutes to get her shit and leave. Malcolm shows up and says he wants to take her with him to Washington DC. She says she can’t go because she’s worked too hard for what she has.
Lucious turns to his gay son for help (can you believe it). They share a moment in their old house and we see flashbacks from their younger years. In this scene, they actually work together and make a song that is pretty good. Lucious promises his son that he will get Empire if he is able to get his masters from Berretti.
Next scene, we find out that Jamal is headed to Berretti’s to “make a move on him.” Here he shows his toughassness and literally threatens to drop Berretti over the balcony of his own spot. Hakeem is also there getting it on with Anika, and Lucious is the one who catches them.
Later, Lucious finds out he doesn’t even have ALS but MG better known as Myasthenia Gravis. This causes him to have a new lease on life.
Meanwhile, the new meds he’s given for MG have him hallucinating and Cookie sees and hears firsthand as he talks in his sleep. Here too, we see Cookie attempt to smother her ex-husband with a pillow.
Part II
In the opening, Lucious tells his sons, who all sit at his table, that he doesn’t have ALS. He presents each with a gift and actually apologizes to each son. His gift represents something personal to each one and in a shocking turn of events, Jamal is chosen as the new head of Empire. He even gives Cookie a gift and it is a… are you ready for this…pillow.
Andre and Hakeem are salty as hell. Jamal asks his brothers for his support and they are hesitant. So Lucious pulls a quick one on Cookie and reveals that she tried to kill him (it was catch on security video) which really doesn’t sit well with Jamal. She is kicked out of the building (again) and picked right up on the streets by her FBI handlers. They tell her they are building a case against Lucious and need her help. This chick is one loyal girl because even in the face of him doing what he did to her, she doesn’t snitch.
Anika is back in the picture and pumping all kinds of stuff into Hakeem’s mind bringing up the idea of a hostile takeover. Patti Labelle and others make an appearance at Empire’s press conference and Black Rambo, an artist, calls out Jamal being gay and says he won’t perform for Empire because of him.
Rhonda leaves Andre because he left her for his gospel singing therapist. This situation prompts him to join forces with Hakeem. They meet, along with Anika and Cookie, and it finally goes down. The chicks fight and while boo, boo kitty holds her own, Cookie whoops her ass. In the end, they all agree to work together to defeat a man they hate.
They partner with a guy well versed in hostile takeovers who tells them what they need to do to overthrow Lucious and Jamal. They put a plan in place and work to follow through with it.
Vernon and Jamal converse at his house and it turns into a brawl. Vernon is beating his ass when Rhonda comes in and hits him on the head which kills him and they scramble to figure out what to do. She also drops the bomb that she is pregnant.
At the IPO opening, they wait for Vernon, who obviously can’t show up. Lucious can’t wait any longer and pushes the green button making it official- Empire is a publicly traded company.
At Lucious’ concert it is epic but the excitement is short lived because the FBI come in and arrest him before he can perform. He tells Jamal to go out and do the song they wrote together. Hakeem and Andre look at their father as he is taken to jail and it is all clear to Lucious what happened.
It ends with Lucious behind bars… “Game time bitches!”