The Lyons try to come to terms with Cookie’s illness after she suffers a heart attack. Fearing she’ll have a setback, Lucious tries every trick up his sleeve to get Cookie to rest and relax. While Lucious and Cookie’s sisters try to keep her away from work, Jamal sits down with Robin Roberts to face questions about his role in killing Angelo DuBois. Later, Jamal lends support to Becky in her time of need.

Will Shady Uncle Eddie Take Down the Lyons on Empire? >>>

Cookie’s Broken Heart

The Lyons spend another evening pacing in the waiting room of the hospital. Lucious, Jamal, and Hakeem hold vigil waiting for the doctors to return with news about Cookie’s health. Hakeem suggests they say a prayer for their mom’s speedy recovery. Jamal seems a little taken aback to learn Hakeem prays. He mentions he prays with Bella every night he hopes she’ll be a better person than the generation of Lyons before her. Empire is doing a great job of developing Hakeem’s character and turning him into a full-fledged adult now. Being a father has made him strive to be a better man.

Out of the Lyons’ Den

Andre shows up at the hospital to check on Cookie. His appearance leads to an outburst from Lucious. His father congratulates him and reminds him he tried to kill Cookie and Lucious in Vegas. Dre pleads with his father to let him stay. Even though he tries to convince his family, he needs to know their mom will be all right, his pleas fall on deaf ears. Jamal and Hakeem tell him to go since he’s just making the situation worse.

The Sacrilege of Grief and Pain

Lucious wanders around the hospital while his sons are praying for Cookie. In the Chapel, he goes off on a tirade yelling at God about all the things God has taken from him and all the ways God has disappointed Lucious over the years. With, tears in his eyes, he snatches a crucifix off the wall and tells Jesus he better make sure Cookie lives or else. Only Lucious Lyons.

The reaction to Lucious tirade on Twitter ranged from oh no he didn’t to people resisting the urge to change the channel out of fear they would be struck by lightning for Lucious’ blasphemy.

Cookies in Bed

After being released from the hospital, Cookie finds recuperating and resting at home a challenge. She tries to work from home and gives her family a hard time about everything they are doing to help her. She continues to call into Empire Entertainment for conference calls and micromanage Jamal’s comeback along with Hakeem and Tiana’s record. 

Playing Keep Away with Dre 

Dre tries to see his mother. Cookie overhears Jamal and Hakeem tell Dre to go. She tells Hakeem and Jamal to let Dre in. After her oldest son pleads for forgiveness, Cookie tells him she knows he’s sorry but he broke her heart.  With tears streaming down her face, she picks up her iPad signaling the conversation is over so Dre should leave. 

Enter the Reinforcements

Lucious decides he has had enough and calls in Cookie’s sisters to help him keep her from being a danger to herself. But Cookie is going to Cookie. The best the family can hope for is slow the force known as Cookie Lyons down to a small roar. When her sisters suggests Cookie call her mother, she shuts that suggestion down fiercely. Cookie’s estrangement with her mother has been mentioned frequently. Will fans meet another member of the Lyons’ family soon?

Jamal Sits Down with Robin Roberts

In a one-on-one interview that tries to paint Jamal as a violent, crazed individual, Jamal goes off script and talks from the heart. He tells Robin that he will not apologize for killing Angelo DuBois in self-defense. He touches on Diana DuBois’ plot to destroy his family and how it almost cost him his mother and brother. Shaking his head Jamal apologizes to Robin telling her he respects her, but he’s done lying to fit into a brand image box.

Empire Season 4 Mid-Season Finale Recap: The Lyons Strike Back at Diana>>>

Becky Makes a Decision

Jamal and Becky discuss her pregnancy. When she tells him she has decided to terminate it, she gears up for a fight. Jamal tells her that he wasn’t trying to fight. He supports her 100 percent. Later J Poppa comes to see her and demands to know what he did wrong. She tells him she’s pregnant and that she’s decided not to go through with the pregnancy. Jamal goes to the doctor’s appointment with her for support. Before the doctor calls her for the procedure, J Poppa arrives and declares his love for her and tells her even though he doesn’t agree with her decision, he wants to be there to support her if she lets him.

Dre and Shine

Dre tells Shine he confessed to his father. He explains to Shine he covered up his involvement in the plot because Lucious would kill him if he knew about his part in the murder plot. This would lead to an endless cycle because Shine’s people would retaliate. Dre wants Shine’s word that all the ugliness is over and that Shine will not make any more threats to the Lyons family. Shine agrees and leaves.

Eddie Draws Tianna Closer

Uncle Eddie continues to mentor Tianna and reinforce the hold he has on her as a mentor and music icon. She tells him she doesn’t want to do the duet with Hakeem but he tells her this is a stepping stone that will take her from being Hakeem’s play thing to the Queen of Empire. She believes the hype and decides she wants to record the single in separate studios. She also demands the bigger booth since it’s befitting her star status. Later, Eddie tells his wife not to sell their condo to Lupe Fiasco because they are about to hit the jackpot. They toast to their good fortune and Eddie smiles smugly believing he is on the verge of stealing Empire Entertainment from under Lucious’nose.

Empire is Where Cookie is

Cookie’s sister reminds her Empire Entertainment’s humble beginnings before the fancy equipment or fancy studios. Cookie laughs and declares she’s the Empire and orders Tianna and Hakeem to the house. She has them record their duet in her bedroom. Tianna tries to act like she doesn’t still love Hakeem but when Cookie yells and appears to have a minor setback, they put their differences aside and record the song. Lucious keeps pleading with Cookie to take it easy. He reminds her she is the love of his life and he needs her The heart-wrenching moment looks like the start of the next chapter in the Lyons’ love story.

Dre Turns His Focus to Eddie’s Schemes

Dre realizes the figures in Eddie’s deal with Patel aren’t adding up. Eddie tries to placate Dre to make him go away, which raises a red flag for Dre. He continues to look at the numbers and realizes Eddie isn’t being honest about Patel. Dre figures out the goal is  to steal Empire Entertainment from the Lyons family. He takes his findings to his parents and lays out Eddie’s scheme. Lucious calls “Uncle Eddie” to the house to explain or deny Dre’s allegations. Eddie admits it’s true and tries to give Lucious and Cookie the song and dance to keep the deal alive. Lucious tells him to get out of his house. Eddie asks for permission to go to CA to tell Patel the deal is off. Lucious and COokie tell him that’s fine and suggest he take a few days off after speaking with Patel. Once Eddie leaves teh house Cookie calls Thirsty to follow Eddie to make sure there are no more surprises. 

What will Eddie do now that the Lyons are on to his plan? Will Cookie’s health crisis bring the Lyons together once and for all? Is Jamal’s career over? Let us know in the comments!

Empire season 4 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on FOX. Want more news? Visit our Empire page on Facebook.

(Image and video courtesy of FOX)

small_logo

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV