Dee

Ronnie needs to DIE.

Or an alternative? What if Cross isn't lying. Not liking them together is one thing, assuming Cookie is acting out of character is another. Nothing so far has indicated that Cross is lying or that Cookie and/or viewers should second guess his backstory. Even before Carol found about Cookie's emotional affair, Cookie knew her dalliances with Cross weren't good for her marriage. Hence her inability to actually sleep with him anytime they're alone together. Even at her angriest with Lucious, she refused to sleep with Cross. That doesn't mean Cookie is stupid for being genuinely torn between a man she's genuinely attracted to versus loving another man who, despite his best efforts, continually disappoints her in on way or another.

Cookie is leaning on a man (who she doesn't know is dangerous) for emotional support. She has been willing to disclose their friendship to Lucious several times, before being dissuaded by Carol or Cross. Cookie from earlier seasons was primarily focused on getting her fair share of Empire, which put her constantly in Lucious orbit. And even then she was always looking elsewhere for a primary romantic partner who could provide for her what Lucious wouldn't/couldn't. Now that she's relatively settled, in life and her marriage, she's doing the exact same thing. It's unfair for Lucious to parade that love child in front of Cookie, especially after years of abandonment & expecting her to play second fiddle to an endless string of women in his life. If the tables were turned, and Cookie were in Lucious current position, Lucious wouldn't be nearly as forgiving or gracious as Cookie has been. If Lucious wants to make amends with his son, that's his right. But expecting Cookie (and the rest of the family) to accept Jeff (especially given Jeff's previous behavior) is a bridge too far.

Why does this show insist on wasting Cotton? I get that they want to highlight issues that Black trans women experience, but Cotton can't be a walking PSA for all of them. At some point the show has got to stop having her jump from plot point to plot point with little to no character development and focus on the huge changes that have happened to her in the last year. She's been in prison, dealt with an abusive relationship, had her true love murdered, was almost killed herself, reconnected with her bio Dad, experienced her bio Dad's death, learned her auntie murdered her bio Dad, found out she was a parent, found out her son had a life threatening illness, and had her son kidnapped by her auntie's psycho ex. That's enough material for 10 shows, let alone 1.

Why is Cookie unlikeable? It's Lucious who keeps screwing up. He's the one using her charity for unseemly purposes. He's the one forcing his outside kid on her. He's the one offering Cookie little to no support during Andre's ordeal. He's the one constantly obsessing about getting Empire back. He's the one who still refuses to credit Empire's success to anyone else besides himself when push comes to shove. Lucious has made huge strides as a husband and a father over the years, but he's still terrible.

That story wasn't really about Diane either; at least as it concerned Andre. As you said, Diane was angry about Zoey & Andre's relationship, with Andre's unwitting compliments being just an irritating byproduct of Diane's frustration.

This is the first story where Andre has EVER had any kind of real relationship with Diane.

Strawberry means to become a pass-a-round.

Jack reading Terry McMillan novels had me HOWLING.

Cookie liked Teri well enough, but she had done her own research about Andre's condition and wanted to help in whatever way she could. And yet the fact that Cookie trusted Andre and respected Teri enough to acquiesce to their treatment regimen, relatively quickly, speaks volumes about her feelings about their relationship. Especially seeing as the last woman who tried to get in between Cookie & one of her sons ended up really regretting it.

Also, Teri has no room getting self righteous since she betrayed Andre's trust by telling the rest of the Lyons in the first place. And the fact that the whole reason Teri felt the rest of the Lyons ought to be made aware of Andre's illness is so they could/would potentially contribute to Andre's ongoing care makes her a first class hypocrite.

Cookie spent much longer than 5 minutes searching for a doctor, and it was made crystal clear that she went through great lengths to understand quite a bit about Andre's disease and its subsequent treatment, Cookie is Queen Mother. All others bow down.

The same thing happened with Ashleigh Murray, Vanessa Morgan, Hayley Law & Jordan Calloway on Riverdale. Many of the Riverdale cast stood up for them, but the girls themselves were each others biggest defenders.

Unpopular Opinion: 'Bughead' is TRASH.

Interesting Carol gets compared to Wonder Woman, instead of say, Okoye or Nakia.

Andre barked at Lucious & Cookie (and by extension his brothers) when they launched into making plans to get him access to the best treatment possible. Teri may be a nurse, but the Lyons power and influence (even at its currently reduced level) easily overshadow Teri's capabilities. But instead of Andre & Teri being willing to meet in the middle, they immediately get an attitude and act like everyone is irrational for wanting to help him. Andre, as an adult, certainly has the right to maintain his healthcare on his own terms. However, for someone whose long acted as if his family didn't care for, or about him, to suddenly resent them for showering him with unconditional love and affection is the absolute height of irony imo. Also? Michael was never a solid anything. At various points during the course of their relationship, Michael both abandoned and cheated on Jamal with little to no shame. Which was in between Michael constantly whining about the concessions Jamal had to make to make as an artist to further his career which proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, he never understood or appreciated Jamal as an artist or a human being. So glad his wack ass is long gone.

Kai is the guy who Jamal proposed to, and whose proposal Jamal accepted. Michael meanwhile remains trash. For YEARS all Andre (and Andre fans) have complained about is how wrong the Lyons were for attempting to keep Empire running while Andre was dealing with another one of his (usually self inflicted) personal crisis. Now that the rest of the family is willing to drop everything for Andre, suddenly he wants to bark at everyone and act as if they're being unreasonable for wanting him to have access to the best care possible.

I used to like Gallavich, but there's WAY too much water under the bridge for me to ever care about them again.

Gross. Hopefully he gets run over by a truck in the first episode.

Michael was, and always will be, trash. Kai is a 1000x better for Jamal than Michael ever could be. While Teri standing up to Cookie was great, Andre has NO right acting like the family (especially Cookie) owes him something.

I actually like the little quadrangle because it's adding a lot of strong characterization without being actively harmful to the characters themselves. Tiana's the semi-bitchy diva instead of a full on mean girl, Blake is the good friend with a misbegotten crush instead of a total chump, Maya is the ambitious ingenue instead of an entitled brat, and Carlito is the charmingly aloof spaz instead of a sleazy opportunist. Teri standing up to Cookie was great. She (and Quincy) will be a wonderful addition to the Lyon family. I continue to LOVE Jamal & Kai together. Kai isn't perfect, but neither is Jamal. What I like most about them is that they illustrate how much work and personal growth comes with being in an emotionally mature adult relationship. I also like the quiet work Bryshere is doing as Hakeem. In the past Hakeem would be right in the middle of the Carlito/Tiana/Blake/Maya quad. Instead, he's devoted to being a true team player and quietly focused on work. I appreciated Jamal giving Porsha props for the job she's doing as tour manager. Really liked the small touch of having recovering addict Carol working to help build Lucious future rehab center. Loved seeing Jeremy & Ajiona back. Mini Lucious & Cookie flashbacks are always welcome Taraji, and most especially Terrence, are doing some of the best work of their respective careers.

Phenomenal episode. Craig Brewer is the best director this show has ever seen.