S04.E16: Fair Terms

[Dee]

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When Cookie finally visits her mother, the two must confront their complicated past. Meanwhile, Lucious and Eddie continue their fight over Empire and Eddie makes a power play at the grand opening of Empire's 20 for 20 showcase. Then, Jamal and his band anonymously release their latest single and Hakeem tests out a career in film.

[wanderingstar]

Loved Cookie's reunion with her mom. The lunch with Carol and Candace was also great. It makes sense that Cookie and her mother reconnecting would take time. Things can't be rosy between them after years apart and all that hurt and mistrust. 

That director for the "Down by Day" movie was so problematic. I'm glad Hakeem walked off that set. Not too thrilled at the prospect of a Tiana/Hakeem/Haven triangle.

Eddie is a good antagonist for the Lyons, though I do fear he's going to end up like Shine, Bunkie, and other people who have crossed Lucious.

If Eddie makes it outta this season alive, I'll be shocked.

[Apprentice79]

I laughed out loud when Becky called that White rapper a colonizer, after his racist past was exposed.  I swear Wakanda is everywhere...Becky is so awesome this season.

Damn Luscious is a cold bastard. He gave Shine's eulogy, at his funeral, after killing him.

I loved seeing Cookie with her mom and her sisters. 

I want Eddie to stick around. 

[Court]

I would have rather Shyne stay and Eddie go away.

[luckyroll3]

I love Jussie, but it really showed that he had never directed before.  Direction is not something I often pay attention to, but some of the shots were so bad, it was really noticeable.  

I did love Becky's, "I should have let Shine hit it when he was still alive...." Lol!

Thought we were done with Nessa for good.  I can't stand that heffa either.

[Angeleyes]

The Lyons family members are each quick to expect forgiveness for their own bad behavior, but they are bad at giving that forgiveness to others. It’s a pattern that keeps coming back to bite them later. 

[wanderingstar]

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He gave Shine's eulogy, at his funeral, after killing him.

Just as he did with Bunkie

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I did love Becky's, "I should have let Shine hit it when he was still alive...." Lol!

Followed by Jamal's awkward, "Okaay" and then getting up to leave. Too funny. Moments like that are why I love this show.

[Biggie B]

I hate those board members. They are completely incapable of making informed decisions on their own. Whatever shiny object is dangled in front of them is the last thing they remember and what they follow. It's ridiculous. Eddie says one thing, they support him. Lucious comes along and rebuts what Eddie said, so they throw their support to Lucious, Eddie comes back with something else, and bam, they're back to supporting Eddie. My god - can't they do their own fact-finding and make an independent decision and then stick to it? Apparently not!

I felt a little bad for Blake. I am not supporting the picture of him in any way, and I have no problem with Empire having a zero-tolerance policy, but what if his explanation was true? That he was 10 years old, and just doing what his jerk of a father told him to do? It sounded like Blake had little to no relationship with his father. No one gave him any chance to even explain himself. And again, I am not condoning the picture. But if he's a talented musician and could be a viable asset to the company...would it not be worth investigating to see if he truly is a decent person and that that one old picture might not represent his current views? I guess since they fired him on the spot, that's their answer. One totally wrong moment as a 10 year old can derail your career (unless, of course, Blake really is a racist shmuck, in which case, he deserves whatever happens).

Once again, Becky looked amazing. And her comment about Shine at the memorial service was - wow! She's the best.

Haven sure is pretty. Let's see what goes on with her and Hakeem. 

I was dying during the scene at the beginning with Andre, Lucious, and Thirsty, talking about Shyne and how he needs to be declared legally dead. Can Humpty Dumpty be put back together? Too funny. And once again, Thirsty the Fixer takes care of it all. He seriously knows ALL the dirt on every person in the Lyon family. He could destroy them if he so desired.

[NicoleMN6]

Empire needs someone with a decent PR mind. Blake could have been used as a powerful weapon AGAINST racism, as a kid who was raised to feel a certain way and grew up and realized it was wrong.

[Apprentice79]

1 hour ago, Biggie B said:

I felt a little bad for Blake. I am not supporting the picture of him in any way, and I have no problem with Empire having a zero-tolerance policy, but what if his explanation was true? That he was 10 years old, and just doing what his jerk of a father told him to do? It sounded like Blake had little to no relationship with his father. No one gave him any chance to even explain himself. And again, I am not condoning the picture. But if he's a talented musician and could be a viable asset to the company...would it not be worth investigating to see if he truly is a decent person and that that one old picture might not represent his current views? I guess since they fired him on the spot, that's their answer. One totally wrong moment as a 10 year old can derail your career (unless, of course, Blake really is a racist shmuck, in which case, he deserves whatever happens).

It looks bad for him to be on the Empire label. There were always going to be people who would give him the side eye because he is a White rapper, who would label him, a culture vulture. Then, to have that vile picture of him, go viral on the internet was going to hurt Empire with their core fans.  They had to cut him loose. It is not fair to penalize him for something that he did as a kid, but, it had to be done.  I am sure that at some point, he will be back. For now, he had to go..

[Biggie B]

Apprentic79, I agree - they didn't have much choice, and of course, it was a great way for Eddie to swoop in and look like the hero. 

[Dee]

Gabby Sidibe ought to wear her natural hair more often. She looked really lovely last night.

[Vixenstud]

2 hours ago, Biggie B said:

I was dying during the scene at the beginning with Andre, Lucious, and Thirsty, talking about Shyne and how he needs to be declared legally dead. Can Humpty Dumpty be put back together? Too funny. And once again, Thirsty the Fixer takes care of it all. He seriously knows ALL the dirt on every person in the Lyon family. He could destroy them if he so desired.

I chuckled a bit too and then?  Became totally turned on....I guess it is true, power is a muhfuckin' aphrodisiac!

LOL @Becky wistfully thinking about Shine and Jamal's "Okaaay".

A few little things almost made me cry....

Hakeem's kissing of Becky's hand when she left him in the bar 

Jamal telling Andre how much he missed him and that he loved him and their reconciliation

Cookie's mother telling Cookie how their reconciliation won't be easy but with time they can find their way back to each other.

Forest Whitaker is kickin' ass as Eddie, I'd be surprised if Eddie makes it out alive at the season finale too.

[tennisgurl]

Oh my God, Becky wistfully wishing she had boned Shine, followed by Jamals awkward "okaaaay" was hilarious. Becky is just the best. She also looked amazing this week, as she has been all the time lately. 

If Blake's story is true (which I suspect it is) then I feel bad for him. He was just a kid who wanted a shitty dad to pay attention to him, and I assume had no idea what he was actually doing. I get why Empire had to instantly ditch him, but that still sucks that they didnt even hear him out on a personal level. Again, only if his story is true. If its not, then bye Felicia. 

The plot with Hakeem and the director was almost shot by shot a scene from Crash, but played a teeny bit more subtly. Glad that Hakeem told him to shove it, but not thrilled about a possible love triangle. We haven't one of those in ages, and thats just fine with me. 

I hope Eddie makes it out of the season, because Forest Whitaker is killing it. Now if only he could ditch Anika. She really is like a rash who keeps coming back no matter how much ointment you put on it. 

Its such a classic Lucious move to have Shine and dismembered (with his head in Statten Island!) and then have a big memorial service for him, and do a whole tearful speech about finding the "real killers" and how much he loved Shine. Sounds about right. 

The scene between Jamal and Andre gave me a serious case of the Feels. I also felt like an asshole for laughing when Andre showed up to talk to Lucious and Thirsty, and said that they would be fine if they have Shines support, and they're both just like "ummmm about that..." "Damn it dad!" 

Edited May 10, 2018 by tennisgurl

[Kaiju Ballet]

I love the scenes between Cookie and her mom. And that introduction of her to her grandsons. Alfre Woodard is killing it.

I never saw Crash, so I didn’t realize the movie set/Hakeem scenes were direct lifts. Those scenes didn’t ring true for me – the director was too much of a caricature (and yes, the Board Members are too). In fact, didn’t Thirsty already collect dirt on the Board Members some time ago? I thought there was a missed opportunity in drawing a parallel between Blake being a white boy trying to make it as a rapper while the Director was a white dude trying to make an actual rapper be more of a white dude’s vision of a rapper. Haven also seemed like a caricature too. It seemed like a different show/writer than the scenes with Cookie and her mom, or between Andre and ...pastor dude? The exchange between them about forgiveness was really well done.

Another part that did make sense was Nessa being Shine’s successor, and her treatment by the Lyons coming back to haunt them. 

Getting really tired of Tiana’s divatude.

And I really hope Eddie’s and Annika’s downfall will be sweetly satisfying.

[Margohill]

On ‎5‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 11:47 PM, Court said:

I would have rather Shyne stay and Eddie go away.

Oh! gosh, I feel exactly the same way. I miss Shyne. I just can't stand Eddie. He is like an annoying little tick that you just can't pull off your skin. A real blood sucker. I am just disappointed that Eddie had been a real friend and confident to Lucious and for him to turn out this way......I feel like Lucious, I could strangle him myself. Very annoying man. Empire just keeps killing off the wrong characters SMH.

Andre should have known what his father would do to Shyne if he found out about the LV bombing. His confession freed him but killed Shyne. It was great to see Nessa again and her song was very moving. I prefer Nessa to Tiana at this point. I hope she gives the Lyons a run for Shyne's vote.

Lucious is a natural at telling lies and pretending, Ander was right. His father is a real sociopath. When he spoke at Shyne's memorial, I was just shaking my head. When he promised Nessa he would do everything to find her brother's killer, I shook my head again. Lucious Lyon is a natural at being bad.

Cookie just had to ruin the dinner with her mother. Of, course it will be difficult to build a bond now but her mother is right. They just have to enjoy their time together now because they can never make up for lost time. Her meeting Cookie's sons was very emotional. That was great.

I'm so glad Tiana rejected Hakeem's proposal. The guy still has a lot of growing up to do. Kissing that actress while Tiana was performing just to try to make her jealous was the most juvenile thing I have ever seen. I was proud of Hakeem though for telling off that movie director. It's insane what some of these directors expect actors to do.

I get the feeling that the season won't end well. With just 2 more episodes left to go, I can only imagine what will happen. Andre seems to be getting depressed again, Tiana is completely off the rails, that witch baby-killer is still lurking around and the annoying tick Eddie just won't let go of Empire. But of course, we always have Thirsty who makes up for everything and saves the day at the end. Love that guy Thirsty. I'm always routing for Lucious and Cookie. I hope they get a good revenge.

Good episode.

[Neurochick]

I don't like Eddie at all.  But, he represents something interesting, he represents an attitude that does exist.  Eddie wants to sell Empire to this wealthy white man.  Lucious told Eddie that he's treating Empire like a slave and Eddie said something dumb like, "Well, a slave wouldn't sell for this much money." (I think Eddie should visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture, so he can see just how much slaves went for).  Lucious wants to keep Empire as his legacy, his and his son's.  Eddie doesn't give a shit about legacy or anything, just money. 

[darkestboy]

Not the greatest episode but at least Eddie is proving to be a bigger problem for the Lyons than they expected him to be. I imagine he's going to get an ending worse than Shyne in the next two episodes.

I think Blake did deserve to be called out on his past, even if it was his father making him pose for that photo.

Does Jamal's Collective storyline serve any purpose at all? It's not terrible as such but it's adding very little to things as well,

Hakeem's movie cameo plot was pretty dull as well.

I did like Cookie's scenes with her mother and sisters though, 7/10

[Court]

I'm over the Eddie steals Empire story. 

 

Also, I think it's ridiculous that they fire and ban Blake within a matter of minutes over a SINGLE photo when he was 10. If it had been a current photo,  then okay. Kids are forced to do all kinds of crap when they're kids. Yes, it's offensive and racist but I'm not placing blame on a 10 year old who didn't know any better then.

I've come to hate Tiana. I wanted her to break down on stage. I doubt all artists would refuse to perform that quickly. 

 

Loved the Jamal/Becky moment at the funeral and Jamal/Andre moment.