Empire continued to rule this week after their fall run's penultimate episode from last week, where Trai Byers' Andre Lyon had given an Emmy worthy performance after the plot twist involving his not-really-there girlfriend, Pamela (Teyonah Parris). After his mental breakdown, we start the episode with a musical performance from the eldest Lyon. Trai finally gets to use his singing talents here, and he does a wonderful job.

The scene, of course, is a dream that Andre is having while in a medically induced coma (as a reminder, Andre Lyon is not musically gifted, but incredibly business savvy), while he's recovering from his breakdown in the hospital.

I wouldn't mind if Andre somehow wakes up with the ability to sing for real. It'd be a nice way to bring Andre into the rest of the family's orbit, and have the writers finally use Byers, who is arguably the strongest actor on the show, to his full potential.

Lucious reclaims the throne of his 'Empire' and Cookie gets vengeance

Lucious tells Andre that he will avenge his son by taking down the DuBois tonight at the Captain's Ball. Cookie is skeptical due to her on-again off-again boo being a gentle and harmless amnesiac named Dwight for the better half of the fall run. However, Lucious proves that the gentle him is dead and gone as he pummels Angelo (Taye Diggs) into signing a confession that has to do with his mother, matriarch Diana DuBois (Phylicia Rashad), being involved in grandbaby Bella's kidnapping.

He then forces his way into the Captain's Ball and allows Cookie to take it from there.

Cookie has Jamal and Hakeem exposes Diana first, followed by a performance of "Love is a Drug," with an orchestra to add a classical edge to the song due to the classical setting in which the Ball takes place.

Cookie then uses Diana's own nephew (and Jamal's latest ex) Warren to expose her and the rest of the family's dastardly deeds to the very public crowd. Angered, Angelo leaves to find and put down his cousin permanently for his betrayal.

The Lyon matriarch manages to goad her enemy into not just berating her in public, but also being condescending to the guests of the Ball as well!

She's finally arrested for kidnapping by the police and hauled off. It was very satisfying to watch Lucious return to his normal self, and Cookie finally exposes the DuBois after the family had been a thorn in their sides for a little too long.

A Battle with a 'Lyon' and some major reveals

Jamal, who is clearly not over Warren, goes to see him in his motel to thank him for helping his family when he walks in on Angelo aiming a gun at him. He shoots Warren in the shoulder before Jamal and Angelo get into a scuffle, in which, you guessed it, Angelo dies once the gun goes off and kills him. This is where we leave Jamal's storyline until the Spring.

Lucious asks Cookie if she's convinced that he's back and no longer Dwight, and she suggests easing back into a relationship to be on the safe side (deciding to move out after Lucious gives her the ultimatum to move into his bedroom or move out of the mansion).

After, Lucious goes to visit Andre at the hospital after all is said and done, and he gets quite the earful as a result: Andre, still in his coma, admits to being the one who set the car bomb up from last season's finale to kill him! Before he can even react, Lucious's former unhinged nurse Claudia injects him with a serum to knock him out. When he comes to, he finds himself tied down to a bed with no way to escape, and Cookie is none the wiser.

Final thoughts

After a few hit or miss episodes during the fall run, Empire finally gets back on track thanks to last week and this week's episodes. The DuBois storyline is finally over, and we've got a lot to look forward to due to Andre's confession and Lucious's abduction.

According to Deadline, Claudia's comeback is going to be major, and other characters such as Uncle Eddie and Tory Ash will have prominent storylines as well. Another report from Deadline also suggests that we haven't seen the last of Nicole Ari Parker's Giselle, who made her debut tonight. Empire returns to FOX in Spring 2018.
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