Empire - S1E10 - Sins of the Father
Previously on Empire, ‘Unto the Breach’
This episode, in which Andre prayed away his mental illness, takes its name from the Bible. Nearly forty verses in both the old and new testaments speak on whether the iniquities of one generation will be punished through subsequent generations of the family. The verses can be contradictory. Some say God will forgive, but will not “clear the guilty,” punishing sins of the father through the third and fourth generations. Others state the sins of the father will not affect later generations.
The verses most relevant to this episode come from Ezekiel:
“The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
This week Lucious asked a gun-wielding maniac to punish him for multiple sins, rather than punish his sons or his ex-wife. Cookie struggled to understand bipolar disorder, Jamal lost his boo, Lucious banished Camilla to London, and Malcom finally took those cookies.
Cookie’s best line: “Carol, girl, you know I told you, you’ve got to have that oil bubbling hot when you put your chicken in.”
Lucious B. Lyings: Lucious told Hakeem that Camilla accepted money in exchange for ending their relationship. He tried to run game on Cookie throughout the episode, hoping she could be convinced to re-marry him.
Number of times you wanted to slap Hakeem: It’s getting harder to hate on the kid, but he got two side-eyes this episode. 1. When he rapped live for his family, but his voice was autotuned. 2. When he sang “Drip, Drop” to baby Lola. Lola is not old enough for that song.
Most triflin’ character: Olivia’s abusive boyfriend Reg, aka “Scary Bird.”
Health check-up: Andre had his first psychotic break as a junior in college. A doctor was called, but Lucious refused to accept the doctor’s opinion that Andre had a serious mental illness. Vernon is back on them drugs. Lucious’ hands are shaking, but he’s far from fulfilling Camilla’s wish that he just die already.
Who should jump the line for relationship counseling: Baby Lola. Wait until she finds out that her grandpa is probably her father.
Lee Daniels Extraness: Andre’s music therapist got extremely inappropriate before asking him to pray with her, and his psychiatrist was named Dr. Sirak. It rhymes with Ciroc. What is going on at this clinic? They’re touching on patients and encouraging them to drink.
Best Cameo: Jennifer Hudson as Andre’s music therapist. Her acting wasn’t the best, but her voice was.
Best minor character moment: Malcolm saved the day by speeding back to the Lyon mansion after dropping Camilla off at the airport. He must have taken the HOV lane there and back.
The BET award goes to: “Lola,” featuring Jussie Smollett. I hope they put Hakeem on the remix.
Most unbelievable moment: When Olivia’s abusive boyfriend Reg pulled a gun on the Lyon family, Lucious confessed to sleeping with Olivia while she was married to Jamal! Little Lola slept through high-pitched screaming, a gunshot, and a hostage situation. That’s OK, because the next day, none of the adults seemed bothered by having watched a man die.
“Scary Bird” is no longer with us, and neither is Jamal’s second boo. What will Lucious do to Malcolm when he catches him with Cookie? Did you think you were watching a Tyler Perry production when Andre prayed away his mental illness? Weigh in with your comments below!
This show has me all messed up. I could not help but love that LL said he was going to make Cookie his wife even though I KNOW he is a dirty dying snake. When Cookie kissed Malcolm and asked if he wanted to leave I could not breathe. She is everything in every scene that she is in. Her and Malcolm look so perfect together.
I knew that there was going to be some drama over that baby girl, but damn, her grandpa is her daddy? This girl is definitely a Lyon with all the twists in her short lifetime. She is 3 and was counseling all those adults as she walked out with her momma.
Cookie telling LL that she wished he would have been shot was perfect. She was also amazing in the scene when she walked out on him after not falling for his bullshit, and calling him out for not wanting to die alone. I love that she is such a strong woman that can take care of herself, and then you see her sweet, soft, almost vulnerable side in the next scene.
Loved last nights episode although I definitely had some scratch my head moments!!
First are we sure that Terrance is that babies daddy? For one I can’t believe they haven’t DNA tested her, two when they were singing that bedtime lolaby and they said she looks like Jamal tell me I wasn’t the only saying naw playa!! To me it just seemed like luscious was lying and that so raven is really a thot and needs Maury asap!!
Next can we have a moment to think on this j hud scene?!?! Umm I wanna start out by sayin I love Jesus but if a chick that fine gets all up in me, the very last thing on my mind would be praying!! Also I loved that we saw that my snowbunny is a down ass chick and has been riding since day 1!!! I need more of her please!!
Also I gotta say I love Hakeem now!! I love auntie Camille brought out that different sound, and that will be added to my spotify playlist ASAP!! Speaking of long tounge, why is she leaving the country if she’s not taking the money? That made no sense!! Please help me with that!!
That’s all I got can’t wait to hear the show!!
I am sending all my doctor bills and prescription receipts to Lee Daniels and Danny Strong! I am still very up in my feelings and it’s over 12 hours later!! I learned last night that I absolutely cannot eat while watching this show. I almost choked on my sandwich after I gasped.
Lucious is a lying sack of shit and while I lightweight thought he was lying about sleeping with Olivia, she pretty much confirmed it. This explains why no DNA test was done. C’mon, Lucious being the man he is, he would have demanded a DNA test as soon as she showed up with that baby.
Lucious didn’t show up for Andre, came after Rhonda, turned on Vernon, tried to pay off Camilia, impregnated Jamal’s ex, just got dumped by Boo Boo Kitty but is trying to get Cookie to get back with him….can someone please find a redeeming quality in this man??
When the Power Ranger told Jamal he wasn’t down for being a daddy, I was like “you sucka!” But I guess now he and Jamal can be together; how convenient. And that poor little girl. I hope she don’t end up on the pole behind all this shit. (No shade to strippers) Put her in therapy now, Olivia!!
J-Hud; I need her to not speak next week. One would think after all the movies she’s been in, she would take some acting classes. Go to a speech therapist. Listen to herself on tape so she can cringe like we do….SOMETHING!! She needs to work on that.
Miss Cookie and Malcolm setting the screen on fire. I likes!
Great episode last night. Can’t wait for the podcast or the finale next week. Two hours?!? A sista bout to make a menu TODAY! That shit will be cooked and eaten before the show airs.
This show is so crazy!! You can’t help but love it! I know I wasn’t the only one screaming when Lucius came out like I slept with Raven! That man is so freakin dirty! Does everybody wrong at every turn! Cheats everyone out of everything! Seriously tho, the only person Lucious loves is himself!
I love Cookie so much! She is there for her babies no matter what! She ain’t understand bipolar, she started researching. Fierce mama bear! And Malcolm is finally tasting her cookies! Get it gurl! I hope Lucious don’t do a Bunkie on him for that but good for Cookie for not taking back Lucious’ trifling cheatin ass!
Little Lola is toooooooooooooooooooo cute! And she’s up there giving advice to the grown ups. Awwwww. Precious little baby. But seriously, who is her father? And no wonder Lucious wasn’t pushing for a DNA test. Cause he knew that baby was a Lyon one way or another. But geez, Raven’s man was an idiot! How you gonna go up in that house with a gun thinking you was getting out alive. Idiot. That man has security out the yingyang. One of the multiple people in that room probably 911 dialed Malcolm so he could bust thru the door and handle business. Idiot.
Hakeem didn’t annoy me this episode but why can’t he see that Aunty Camilla is using him? While she didn’t take the money, I’m sure she has a long con in store for him.
What’s up with Vernon & the drugs? I gotta rewatch cause I feel like I missed something in that first scene with Lucious.
Raise your hand if you thought J-HUD was about to sex up Andre in that scene! Cause I ain’t never seen anyone pray like that! Kneeling between that man’s legs all up in his face. And Kelly Ripa’s little sister much really really really love her some Andre to put up with the abuse him & his family put her through.
Another great episode. Can’t wait for the 2 hour finale next week! But what are we gonna do during it’s hiatus?
Can’t wait to hear the podcast! And love Nikki’s recaps!
And I forgot to mention my favorite scene! Jamal & Hakeem singing Lola to sleep! So much cuteness on screen!
My feelings are all bunged up now. Cookie and Malcolm getting in the cookie jar?! I need a cold compress on my forehead after that.
Luscius is a turdman. Just a big, closed minded gigantic turd of a man. He best not get anymore cookies. He’s not worthy.
J HUD’s songs all sound like they could be weight watchers ads now. No Andre, no. “This may be against hospital policies…” Ya think?! Go count your diet points. Leave Andre be. He has enough to think about.
Jennifer was the worst part of the episode she just can’t act 2 save her life (ugh Emma Roberts flashback) and please don’t read me for this but I think her singing is kind of annoying. Jamal loves a shirt that can expose his chest (not complaining). So Nina you don’t like when ppl talk about girls getting wet but you like songs about girls getting wet (at least I think that’s what the song is about I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know a lot about the females bodily functions).
This is one of those episodes for me where it felt like not a lot happened but thats a lie because the plot progression really sped up this week. I always had a feeling that lucious was the daddy, cause he was too chill with that little girl being there. I loved the scenes cookie had with malcolm im totally here for that. And wth all of a sudden Luscious boys is a coke head? whered that come from. And lord forgive me but was i the only one who thought that scene with hakeem and jamal was soooo bad? I guess this is why some movie stars say they wont act with kids or animals. And are we supposed to believe camilla loves hakeem with those crocodiles tears of hers? Please can someone tell Jamal im going to need to start buttoning his shirts all the way. I feel really bad for andre but im happy he didnt come cause he know is family is the worst and would rather be locked away. Im happy cookie walked away from Luscious, hes a horrible man, as soon as he started comparing himself to god it was a wrap for me. And what kind of praying was jennifer . trying to do? dick sucking theraphy cause thats what it looked like and might have helped more. Anyways sorry for this long ass comment, i really enjoyed last nights episode of im looking forward to next weeks 2 hr finale. You guys are doing a great job with the podcast, every week ii feel like i should keep a tally of the shit nina says that i agree with but no one else does! lol Anyways thats it and thanks!
I have to make this short?.my job is actually making me work for my vacation next week.
Within the first 10 mins I had tears in my eyes. Cookie?s reaction from thinking therapy is bullshit to that guilt she has for not being there for him while growing up and just simply wants her son to be better?.and the looks Taraji was giving him?.omg you would think he was her real son cause that was love, confusion and compassion. My favorite thing about Cookie besides her one liners is her love for her boys. Let?s face it Andre hasn?t been the most welcoming but for her that?s her baby and I got ALL IN MY FEELINGS.
Can we talk about this hospital?..when I was young I had to visit one of my parent?s in a mental hospital and the only thing they had in common with this show was the PJ?s. otherwise?.dayum!! I wouldn?t have been so freaked out if there was a piano and guitar for me to play with during those uncomfortable visits. I may not have gone to church as a kid but I do know you don?t step between a man?s legs to pray?.unless you worst something below the belt but that?s another topic for a different day. And mentioning an IPO is not good therapy?.sorry is that all he?s good for? Not a good brother? A good husband? or friend? just a money maker?
I knew from the first flashback Lucious was the daddy and later was confirmed! By the end of the episode I loved how even Hakeem hated him cause he was missing his fake momma?.sorry that relationship is creepy.
Miss Lola the newest Lyoness?omg HOW cute is that little girl?! OMG she made me wish I had one!!
Lil Kelly Ripa?..I originally thought she was with Andre for the money but she?s been with him since his first break and has been his rock cause she knew his father was good for nothin?! But when she broke down to Lucious about paying for Penn herself and worked for everything ? I was like YES LIL RIPA!! TELL HIM!!!
I think Cookie would have been happy to get back with Lucious about 5 episodes ago but it seems the more she learns about him the more she hates him?.but this is a soap so I know they?ll end up together next season. :p
I will have to wait until Monday to see the finale and won?t be able to comment but I wanted to say thank you Nina and crew for giving us a few weeks of Empire and Nikki?s recaps are magical.
i’ll try and keep this short for each character
Cookie Cookie Cookie she was about to set it out for the vine and I’m not talkin about the internet. I’ve seen Derek Luke in person and I understand the urge.
Hakeem - so young so dumb it really showed how young he was with that photoshoot and how he was searching the whole house for his old boo.
Camilla - that was wrapped up quickly
As a matter of fact all the side characters were wrapped up a little too neatly for me. You brought the abusive dude in for a scene and a half just to make LL confess?
Jamal was cute singing to his sister daughter but that baby don’t look like anyone in that family except maybe Cookie. why couldn’t one of them take that afro puff down for her to sleep?
Andre - I like his story arc so far. JHud was…JHud whoever thought that prayer fake out made sense should be fired. I said it in the group but I AIN’T NEVA gotten that close to any man to PRAY. I like the add in for F.A. Kelly Ripa too.
Lucious is the worst. “Y’all not gonna forgive me because i saved your lives by telling the truth about lying? So ungrateful that’s why i took your IPO shares!”
I loved that Cookie called him out for not wanting to die alone.
Can’t wait for the two hour finale!
Now that Andre is using again, I predict that he will let slip the facts about Bunkie.
Beyonce deserved the Oscar more then j hud and Beyonce wasn’t even that much better
I just want to thank the stylists for this show because Lord knows Cookie was filling out everyone of those dresses yassssss!