Jamal Lost His Cool – Empire 4×12

“Sweet Sorrow” opens with Cookie being rushed to the hospital, as Lucious is separated from her and the doctors take a closer look at her. The crossfade from Cookie witnessing her father having died from a heart attack will play an important role in this episode.

Tensions are still understandably high as Jamal and Hakeem sit in the waiting room in the hospital when Andre walked into the space. Lucious wonders if his eldest son wanted his mother to be hurt, reminding him he was the one who orchestrated the car bomb in Vegas, unbeknownst to him, Shine was also working on the assassination attempt to claim hold of running Empire.

It certainly seems that Lucious is unafraid to threaten anyone, even Jesus Christ himself, as the Lyon patriarch intimidated Christ on the cross inside the chapel. He doesn’t want Cookie to die, and he’ll be furious with God for doing so if it were to happen.

The mild heart attack Cookie suffered was deemed a result of diet and stress by her doctors. Lucious affectionately flew in cardiologists and nutritionists to care for Cookie, as her bed is set up as a makeshift recovery room.

Cookie is a bit crazed not being able to work, and she encourages Jamal and Hakeem to keep focused on their goals, with Hakeem needing to record a duet with Hakeem, and Jamal needing to repair his bad press since beating his ex boyfriend Warren and tusseling with Angelo over his gun.

Andre visited Cookie last, expressing his guilt over orchestrating the car bomb, and feeling as though Cookie’s heart attack was his fault. She’s understandably hurt by her eldest’s sons actions but seems to be working towards accepting things.

Eddie’s various wives play very bizarre roles in his life, with his second wife Celeste playing real estate agent to an artist named Lupe, selling their lavish apartment in a desperate attempt to gain back lost capital.  His other wife Giselle helped arrange the fashion side of things during rehearsals in the episode prior. I don’t like where all of this is going….

Jamal is not having the idea of losing money via advertisements following “the DuBois situation”. I laughed so hard when Cookie chimed in over the phone as Jamal sits with the PR team and Becky in the conference room.

Becky and Jamal talk afterward about her current pregnancy, and she defends herself quite well as she tells her best friend that she has decided to terminate. Being both personal and professional friends, I just love that Becky and Jamal are close enough to share such personal details, while still being respectful and supportive of one another’s feelings.

Tiana is flabbergasted that she has to work with Hakeem, following their breakup. Eddie speaks with her, and his gazing on her is still not sitting well with me. But Tiana agrees to record the duet with Hakeem so long as she and him record in separate groups.

Shine and Andre speak about the eldest Lyon confessing to the car bomb, and Andre insists he left the gangster out of it. They agree on a truce since Andre knows that Shine going after him would result in back to back retaliation that would make things worse. This talk seems to help Andre pay closer attention to the fact that Eddie needed Shine’s numbers for a phone deal. Andre clearly isn’t allowing Eddie from getting away with some shady shit.

 

 

Cookie seems to never be able to stop working, even on bed rest. And she doesn’t want to eat rabbit food. Which is why Candace and Carol were called in for reinforcements since she’s refusing basic self-care and no work from Lucious’ instructions.

J-Poppa is ignoring Becky since their breakup, messing around on his phone as she speaks about his needing to expand his music with other markets. He presses her as to why she ended things, and Becky eventually caves, telling him she’s pregnant. Becky confidently rejects the idea of keeping the baby, as he walks away.

Cookie has managed to extend the corded phone across the room, so that she can listen in to Tiana’s recording, before she has everything confiscated by Candace.

The Robin Roberts interview with Jamal is difficult. She plays the video of Jamal beating Warren, as Jamal asks her politely to pause the video. Jamal follows the scripted notes for a moment, before he throws political correctness out the window, as he explains the DuBois family was out to get his family, that he wasn’t sorry Angelo is dead, and his worries about Cookie’s health before walking off camera. He embarrassed himself this time, and Cookie would slap him again if she got his son in the same room.

Carol helps brainstorm a way for Cookie to work from home, reminding her of Empire’s golden days, and within hours she’s ordered workers to come by to setup soundproof equipment, mics and recording devices to host Tiana and Hakeem’s duet. Cookie seems psyched that she gets her hands on experience. Lucious only agrees to the arrangement given that Cookie record and produce one song.

Jamal goes to the abortion clinic with Becky in support, as he apologizes for his actions in the interview. I was pleasantly surprised to see J-Poppa come into the clinic to support his ex, despite disagreeing spiritually with her having an abortion.

The episode wraps up with Tiana and Hakeem recording a great duet, settling their professional differences for the sake of recording a cohesive song.

Andre still knew that Eddie is up to something, bringing the facts to his parents, with some off seeming numbers and a gut feeling regarding the Patel deal. It seems Eddie is trying to steal Empire from the Lyons, and it’s a relief to see them finally realizing what’s up.

Cookie and Lucious confront Eddie, who tries to charm his way out of the situation, trying to make it sound like Kelly Patel buying the company will help hold together Empire. Lucious is pissed, because he can’t believe his longtime friend could have betrayed him like this. Uncle Eddie is ousted from the house.

Cookie frantically asks Thirsty to track Eddie’s movements as he left, and Cookie can’t. stop. working. Lucious can’t understand why Cookie won’t pause to take care of herself, and Cookie confesses that she’s afraid of dying the same way that her father did. Thankfully, she’s rest up now, with Lucious’ support and love.

 

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