First of all, I know this recap is HECKA late. I’m so sorry for that; I had a lot of work to catch up on and some job opportunities to apply for, and then my internet went out…so things got hectic. Anyway, enough of my apologizing. Let’s just skip all the pretense and get into what was really pearl-clutching about Empire‘s penultimate episode, “Sins of the Father.”
HOW IN THE WORLD CAN LUCIOUS BE THIS AWFUL OF A PERSON?! Lucious admitted that he fathered Olivia’s child, not Jamal so he could save Cookie from Olivia’s abusive man’s gun. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this.
So Lucious can hate Jamal’s sexuality, get all up in Hakeem’s sex life, and devalue and nearly disown Andre because of his mental illness, father Jamal’s then-girlfriend’s daughter, and allow Cookie to take the fall for 17 years, and still think that everyone’s supposed to love him and easily forgive him? Hmmmmm……
I know Lucious is supposed to be a complex character, but now he’s downright unlikable. I don’t know what to even do with just how awful of a person Lucious is. At least Cookie called him for what he is afterwards; he could care less about any of them, but he just doesn’t want to die alone. He just wants to string people along until they’ve served his ends, and then he just tosses them aside. It was a lot of him to ask Cookie to live with him after all of the foolishness he’s released on his family this past season. Thank goodness Cookie asked Malcolm to take her somewhere far away. At this point, Malcolm is the best romantic prospect Cookie has (except for Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character. He’s got to come back.)
So what exactly is Olivia’s child to the Lyon family? Is she their stepsister (or, in Cookie’s case, stepchild)? O something even more nefarious? This is like a Steve Harvey Morning Show Strawberry Letter.
Also, Jennifer Hudson’s character is someone who’s very interesting. It’s clear she’s supposed to be Andre’s next love interest (and I’m here for that), but who prays like this:
Sike! Let’s pray. #EmpireFOX pic.twitter.com/NsLuplDBfz
— Jawbreaker (@jawbreakernyc) March 12, 2015
“@deylove_monte: Lord ???????????????? #Empire #EmpireFOX pic.twitter.com/5MZ7IQZVgj” ce moment ????
— 30 (@KandaMegane) March 13, 2015
Even Andre was confused by that, as were the audience.
I’ll close with this: Apparently, Camilla really loves Hakeem. Admittedly, I can’t be completely against Lucious for trying to get rid of her since her love seems…really odd. She seems more like a momager than a girlfriend. But she was crying on the way back the airport. I guess she really loves him. Who knew?
What did you think of this episode? What did you think of the awful wigs? That Jamal wig was especially tragic. Give your opinions in the comments section below! Also, take a look at my interview with Empire screenwriter Eric Haywood to learn more about the writing process.
Photo credit: Chuck Hodes/FOX