EMPIRE 2×10 “Et tu, Brute?”

It’s a long hard fall from the top. Everyone’s vying to be in power. And some mean to take it by whatever means necessary in this weeks Empire.

They brought in the big guns for this mid-season finale of Empire. Written by creators, Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, we enter winter hiatus with a bang and hanging on the edge of our seats. This was definitely one of the stronger written episodes of this season. It had the high climatic drama needed to pull viewers in and keep them engaged. Director, Sanaa Hamri, who debuted as a director on the romantic comedy Something New and worked on the sequel to the Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, was able to massage a slightly predictable plot into something exciting and gasp-worthy.

RELATED | EMPIRE 2×10 “Et Tu, Brute?” Synopsis, Photos & Preview [Fall Finale]

Episode 10 has so many twists. Remember Camilla Marks (Naomi Campbell)? Yep! She’s back with a vengeance. Nothing like a woman scorned to marry a rich woman and plot to take over your company all with your son’s help. Oh, Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) , so angry and misguided. You sold out, brah! Jamal (Jussie Smollett) tested the heterosexual waters last episode with Skye Summers (Alicia Keys). This was a concerning character arc. He’s back to his self this episode, but not before Lucious (Terrence Howard) could use his little jaunt to the other side against him. Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) goes back to jail to put on a concert. Lucious loses Empire. And can Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) really be dead? Boo Boo Kitty (Grace Gealey), you got some splaining to do! So much to think about and absorb!!

Boys will be boys: The Lyon men can’t seem to play nice in the sandy box to save themselves or the family legacy, Empire Records.

Lucious is diabolical to a whole new level. How insecure must one be to sabotage his own child’s success? We’ve watch as Lucious grows more and more envious of Jamal’s success. Lucious catch the interaction between Jamal and Skye. In grandiose Lucious style, he announces, “She fixed you!” as if Jamal was a broken toy to be thrown in the trash as Lucious did when Jamal was a boy. When Jamison (William Fichtner) tells Lucious about his plans to get Jamal the cover of Time if he wins the song of the year, Lucious doesn’t hesitate to tell Jamison about Jamal and Skye. Anything to win. Then to top everything off, both Lucious and Jamal get nominated for song of the year. Lucious’s parenting skills are much to be desired but the tension and conflict makes for excellent TV!

“You set a very high bar, but he cleared it. You set it. But HE cleared it.” - Jamison to Lucious about Jamal

Oh, Hakeem! Cookie’s going to beat that ass! Hakeem has some deep seeded issue about his father and they all come out in this episode. As Hakeem’s character grows and develops, we start to see he’s more like his father than maybe he wants to admit. But isn’t that always the way? The two most alike are the ones that can’t get along. Camilla is back. She goes to Hakeem to tell him she still believes in him and that Lucious sent her away. As everything comes to a head and Mimi forces a vote to throw Lucious out as CEO, Hakeem holds the deciding vote. He remembers all the dirt his father has done to him. He recalls the battle and him renouncing the Lyon name. Before Cookie could come in and stop him, Hakeem votes Lucious out of the company. You have no choice to be a man now. Lucious is not going to take this lightly ad Hakeem will most likely pay dearly. But guess what…we can’t wait until March to see what happens now!

“Lyon Dynasty is our company but Empire is our legacy.” - Cookie to Hakeem

Who are we really? The characters take a closer look at who they are as a person and who they want to truly be.

Jamal’s sudden interest in women was a bit concerning last episode. We fear they were taking his character down a slippery slope that he might not be able to come back from. Thankfully, the writers rectified the situation with episode 10. Really. How were you going to get us to buy into Jamal all of a sudden liking women? Skye’s cute and all but not that cute. Who knows…that voice might make us switch to the other team. Skye seem to fall quickly for Jamal but had the sense to understand who he really was and that she would never play the same role in his life as a man.

“I know you’ll never feel about a woman what you felt for Michael.” -Skye to Jamal

Cookie goes back to the prison to put on a show for Family Day. Memories of her time there haunt her as she walks the halls. Porsha (Ta’Rhonda Jones) stops her when Cookie wants to leave, reminding her of her promise and that they were already there. When Cookie sees the women she was locked up with, she remembers where she came from and that they were her family for seventeen years. There stronger bonds than blood sometimes and Cookie realizes this. Lee Daniels and Danny Strong connects us to Cookie’s fears and the strength it took for her to survive prison. It solidifies to woman we cheer for each week, helps us understand why she’s so hard on her boys and how she can love them so much. We also understand in this week’s episode the level of commitment to family and to Lucious. The love and care she showed when talking Lucious off the ledge after he lost the company proved her dedication to the man who almost destroy her and her family.

“Get yourself together. You’re a Lyon.” –Cookie to Lucious

Final Verdict: Empire is back, baby! The mid-season finale drew viewer in and made us what to come back for more!

Finally! Empire fans have been waiting, debating, and hoping for this moment. The moment the show gets back to the level of the first season. We missed the sit on the edge of your seat, holding your breath, or laughing out loud at the crazy antics. The week felt like home again. That excitement of not wanting to get up in case you miss something. They pulled out the big guns this episode.

So much happened that it would be impossible to write about everything. The exchange between Skye, Jamal and Charlemagne the God bring out a topic becoming more talked about in Black circles. What happens when people feel that you’re not Black enough. Charlemagne accuses Skye of hiding or not accepting her Black side. He asks her, “You Black now?” Claiming she’s singing about a race she never really claimed. Love this line from Lucious, “You just picked the wrong day to be Black.”

The lobbying of board members for votes was interesting and comical. After the video of Lucious talking down the board, they knew it would be difficult to get them on Lucious’s side. But no one could have been better than our girl, Edna (Sara Sevigny)! She put Thirsty (Andre Royo) in his place!

“It was good, but not 10 million dollars good.” – Edna to Thirsy (seriously ROTFL!)

Camilla comes back married to Mimi. That chick is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. Lucious really need to understand the whole woman scorned philosophy. Why these women are so infatuated with Hakeem is a mystery. But they seem to be willing to do all kinds of crazy thing to be with him. Camilla is marrying women to get money to take over companies. Anika has dropped off the deep end completely. She’s contemplating kidnapping, being all stalkerish, and now obsessed with Rhonda and her baby.

Poor Rhonda. Beware of who you call your friends! The end of this episode leaves us with Lucious thrown out of his company with Hakeem and Camilla at the helm, Lucious and Jamal head-to-head for song of the year, and Rhonda shoved down the stairs possibly dead. Oh, March can’t get here fast enough!! So, my Empire groupies, what shall we do for the next few months? Contemplate who pushed Rhonda down the stairs? We’re smart people right? That shouldn’t be a hard question to answer. Or will they shock us all? Well, guess we’ll have to wait until next time lovelies to find out the answers.

Questions, Comments, and Concerns:

• Who hurt Rhonda? How many of you think it was Anika?
• Lucious’s demons have caught up with him, yet he still treats his family like strangers on the street. He probably treats strangers better.
• “Is you is or is you ain’t my Mimi?” That would be a no, Lucious.
• So glad Skye didn’t “fix” Jamal!
• March is too far away!!