S05.E03: Pride

[Dee]

Quote

Cookie and Lucious push to get back in the music game, but they'll need the whole family and some old allies to make serious sacrifices in order to do so. Meanwhile, Andre finds a risky way to make a name for himself among his fellow inmates.

[Biggie B]

I liked Hakeem and Jamal's duet and I loved that Jamal used the royalty clause in his contract to bring in a bunch of money. Well done!

The fight between Becky and Lucious was rough - they have such history, it was sad to see it blow up like that. I think ultimately she'll circle back to the Lyons but not without doing some crappy stuff before that happens. I hope so, anyway!

I can't believe that what's-his-face let Tiana think he'd written those lyrics, and that he and Tiana are going to be a thing now! No! That stinks!

[Dee]

Weezy Jefferson & the shrimp had me on the floor!

[Empress1]

3 hours ago, Biggie B said:

I can't believe that what's-his-face let Tiana think he'd written those lyrics, and that he and Tiana are going to be a thing now! No! That stinks!

When they were walking from the park I was like, Hakeem is going to walk in on them in bed in three episodes.

I am SO excited to see Phylicia Rashad!

Edited October 11, 2018 by Empress1

[Vixenstud]

Who is the Lyon's antagonist, the one that saw Diana Huxtable at the end?  I've seen his sexy ass somewhere before.  Jamal got him but good with the royalties.

I'd tread carefully if I were Becky....the grass ain't always greener on the other side.  Gabby is slammin' on the clothes this season, and I got verklempt at her crossed legs.

It's always a treat to see Cookie and her sisters together; Lucious always comes up with funny names for them.

Cracked up at Weezy Jefferson too, but damn Cookie, this lady is a potential investor....sometimes you gotta know when not to pop off at people.

Quote

I can't believe that what's-his-face let Tiana think he'd written those lyrics, and that he and Tiana are going to be a thing now! No! That stinks!

Yeah, I got that Cherrelle 'Everything I Miss at Home' vibe as well, in fact the second she slithered over to him I predicted it to my cat Spooky who looked at me, rolled his kitty eyes and went back to sleep.

[journalism16]

The episode was great. I think everything seemed to go well for the Lyons, but there is a time and place for everything, and like someone else said, Cookie can't pop off at everyone. As for Hakeem and Jamal's duet, I loved it. And as for getting ahead of Kingsley, that was brilliant that Jamal used the royalty clause in his contract to bring in more money.

 

I look forward to seeing what may happen with Diana still involved in the lives of the Lyons, and I don't think Kingsley will be able to get what he wants from her, but we shall see. Also Tiana and Blake... I don't know what to think about that. And, I wish he had told her Hakeem wrote the song. I look forward to next week.

[UNOSEZ]

I don't mind Tiana and Blake.. Cuz I don't really care abt hakeem in general.. And I feel like Blake woulda just walked away.. But Tiana decided to go as well.. So yeah they prob gonna smush 

[mtlchick]

Claire Huxtable in a prison jumpsuit... 

I'm not a big fan of Vivica A Fox, but I love her playing the rational sister.  Much like the Lyon Sons (cubs?), the show writes siblings well. 

 

Finally...You're So Beautiful!  All these years later, it's still my favourite song from this series.

[phoenics]

OMG this episode was SOOOOOOOO good!  This show finally has a consistent and formidable adversary in Kingsley and I LOVE that he brought in Diane Huxtable (ha) at the end.  I am actually afraid of the two of them partnered up.  Scary.

I was soooo worried for Andre at the end and thought he was being set up with that woman - I guess he's gonna hook up with dude's mama and help him get out of jail?  But man that speech he gave Lucious about learning the street in there and then being unstoppable?  <insert fainting gif here>

Cookie and Lucious building this from the ground up - yes!  Love it.  Loved seeing them bring everyone back into the fold too.  I sort of get Becky not wanting to come - she was right about Lucious - but it's sad that Lucious reaction to her and demand for unconditional support came out so hard and forced Cookie to take a "Carrie-sized" step back.  Part of me is relieved she didn't sell but the other half is worried this will come back to bite her in the end.

I still don't like Jamal's boo.  I don't care what he did with the kids, though that was sooooooo cute.  But I just don't like him.  I get bad vibes from him even if I get his viewpoint - I just don't like how superior he acts with Jamal.

I was saying Hakeem needed to find a different cadence for his rap so he could breathe and then Jamal said it!  Woot!  I loved their whole thing - it was super nice.  I'm gonna have to download that.  But Blaaaaaakkkkkkkeeeeeeeee.... what you doing man?  Not cool!  You stealing Hakeem's lyrics and trying to steal his family?!  Not cool.  I'm not the hugest Hakeem fan, but this is trifling.  Get him Keem.

I love you Thirsty, lol.

All in all I loved this episode so much...

7 hours ago, Vixenstud said:

Who is the Lyon's antagonist, the one that saw Diana Huxtable at the end?  I've seen his sexy ass somewhere before. 

"Kingsley is portrayed by A.Z. Kelsey. The rookie actor made his debut on an episode of Unforgettable with Poppy Montgomery in 2014. More recently he appeared on an episode of Bull."  

https://2paragraphs.com/2018/10/who-is-jeff-kingsley-on-empire-thats-yale-grad-az-kelsey/

Edited October 12, 2018 by phoenics

[Dee]

I enjoy watching Hakeem grow.

Frankly, he's no worse than either of his brothers when it comes to self indulgent temper tantrums and self sabotage.

[Athena5217]

16 hours ago, Dee said:

Weezy Jefferson & the shrimp had me on the floor!

Hands down the best line of the episode.

i was so proud of my girl Becky for standing up to Lucious. She has come a long way. I hope this doesn’t come back on her. Lucious is very good at holding a grudge.

Perhaps I would care more about Hakeem’s recovery if he wasn’t partying so hard. It reminds me of Tonya Harding smoking then complaining about how hard it was to skate with asthma.

[Vixenstud]

Thanks, Phoenics!

10 hours ago, Athena5217 said:

On 10/11/2018 at 8:24 AM, Dee said:

Weezy Jefferson & the shrimp had me on the floor!

Hands down the best line of the episode.

For me it was Cookie telling Lucious to sit his bum leg ass down then calling him 'Nubby'.

[Margohill]

This season started a little uninterestingly but it is slowly started to get exciting. I can feel something building up. Good.

Eddie's death was long overdue and had dragged the story down. It would have been more interesting had they kept the Dubois family as the nemesis until the end of last season. Eddie was not interesting at all. If it were up to me (unfortunately it wasn't) I would have ended last season with the Andre revelation that his "ghost girlfriend" was all in his head. That episode was so powerful it left people reeling in shock. Imagine if they had been hit with that and left hanging all summer...……..This season opener would have had higher ratings...…..But it wasn't up to me.

Jeff is young, seems like a rookie to stand up to a grandmaster like Lucious but never underestimate anyone. His hooking up with Mrs. Dubois spells terrible danger. Someone will get double-crossed I'm sure. I'm looking forward to how his storyline plays.

Giselle, I still can't feel her yet. Throwing Eddie's ashes in the street drain was shocking but why? She underestimated Jeff so I am interested to see how she will navigate this treacherous Empire business. She seems too naïve to me.

I love Cookie bonding with her sisters again and this whole business rebuilding seems smart. I was relieved when Cookie changed her mind and refused to sell her loft to support the family. She finally saw something about Lucious which triggered her 6th sense. Good. She had sacrificed enough.

Jamal and his new boyfriend possibly headed for disaster again. He picked the wrong match...again. His collaboration with Hakeem is endearing. I really liked that. Hakeem is really struggling with the traumatic shooting he experienced. It's tough and his behaviour is not surprising. Slowly with the support of Jamal he will come along.

Andre in prison is a very intriguing story. He will come out very hard and maybe more ruthless than his father.

Becky standing up to Lucious was sweet revenge on her part but unfortunately she is too naïve to think all will be well with her at Empire. She must not burn her bridges.

This 2 year time jump is really throwing me off but I am adjusting.

Good episode, great story build up....slow and steady. 8/10

[luckyroll3]

On 10/11/2018 at 10:30 AM, Vixenstud said:

Gabby is slammin' on the clothes this season

Yes!  Everything she wore this episode was slamming and fit her body well.  It makes such a difference when effort is put into wardrobe for folks who aren't size 00.

[Dee]

I'm glad she ditched the wigs and began rocking her natural hair. It gives her such a youthful look.

[phoenics]

Also - who the hell is in the casket?

[TGinKY]

I'm with phoenics - wtf

[Destiny74]

I came away from this episode thinking that Hakeem needs to put his pride aside and go see a respiratory therapist.  Not that things would turn around immediately or he would ever have the function he once did but it certainly would help.

Also, Andre as the prison Godfather was awesome.  He's going to run his business totally differently when he gets out of jail, and I am all in to see it all.

Love Cookie and her sisters.  They as hilarious.

Good on Becky and she's right.  If Lucious had stayed in charge, she'd still be his assistant.  She doing great right now and needs to keep on.  Not to mention, she could still be loyal enough to let the Lyons know if something evil is coming their way.  I bet she has some conscience crisis later in the season regarding telling the Lyons that Empire is going to pull a dirty.  

Don't care about Jamal and the boyfriend.  Fast forwarded.  Hope I didn't miss anything important.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Destiny74

[phoenics]

On 10/11/2018 at 10:43 PM, Dee said:

I enjoy watching Hakeem grow.

Frankly, he's no worse than either of his brothers when it comes to self indulgent temper tantrums and self sabotage.

Probably not - but he just acts the most spoiled and whiny out of them. 

Most of Hakeem's problems can be laid at his feet, whereas Andre and Jamal had true, legit reasons for being so angry and having tantrums.  Andre went to college and business school to learn how to do what he does so well and still couldn't get respect from his dad or anyone for his talent/skills/prominence in business.  Because he couldn't sing and because of his mental illness.  Jamal was definitely super talented and literally creme de la creme but he couldn't get his dad to respect him either because he was gay.  Those two were literally every black person on the planet who were legit 10x as good, but couldn't get half as much as Hakeem just had handed to him.

Hakeem is super talented yes - but he didn't have to fight in the beginning for his dad to be willing to hand everything over to him.  Jamal and Andre DID - because of stuff neither of them could control (Jamal being gay and Andre not being a singer and his mental illness).

I think that's why I can identify so much more with both of them when they get angry than I can with Hakeem, who pretty much had everything handed to him in the beginning.  And most of his drama is of his own making.  Even when he found out about Bella and Diana Dubois - he could have handled it better and saved them a lot of drama.  He made that situation worse because of how poorly he handled it.

The only time that's not true is right now - it wasn't his fault he got shot and lost a lung - and now the dude whose dad did that to him is trying to take his life.  For once, I'm on Hakeem's side - but I need him to man up and handle it and not be a whiny bitch about it like he usually is, lol.

Maybe this is the season he does that.

I feel like the only thing Jamal ever wanted was to be an artist that has full control of his craft and full respect for what he does.  He doesn't want to rule Empire or anything (the only reason he took over was because he thought that was his only path to respect from his dad and control over his art).  He just wants to be an artist.  Seeing him grow into that has been very awesome.

Andre is the only one who consistently wants to rule the Empire.  And each season he comes a bit closer to being the very best Lyon to do it.  I love seeing him grow.

Hakeem?  Honestly I don't know what his motivation is - but I *think* it's to find love and have a family.  Maybe that's his growth path?  Out of all of them, he cares less about ruling Empire or even the art of his music - he seems to crave love and affection and relationship.  I think.  It's hard to tell because the writers haven't really done him justice with a solid motivation the way they've done with Jamal and Andre.  Hakeem just seems to get flung around a bit, with the only constant being his focus on his love life.