BWW Recap: EMPIRE, Delta John, What's That Flower You Have On?

We are back and Hakeem is still gone! Tonight, we not only found out what happened, but also, who is stupid enough to cross Cookie and Lucious Lyons.

Cookie is getting more and more irritated as Hakeem hasn't shown up for rehearsal with Menage a Trois. When she finally receives a video showing him kidnapped, she takes it right to Lucious. The two spring into action to try and recover their youngest son. Lucious isn't all that worried since the ransome is rather low, but Cookie is in major panic mode. When the drop for the ransom money fails and Hakeem isn't released to them, Cookie has a full-on meltdown. Thankfully, Hakeem was released elsewhere in the city and finds his way to Anika's mouth. Funny, how that works.

Hakeem, suffering from a tad bit of PTSD, is having trouble finding his flow and can't seem to sync up with Menage a Trois. Jamal is pretty pissed that Staples Center rejected him for a show so he brings on an old acquaintance of his father's, Jamieson (Guest Star, William Fichtner) to rebrand Jamal as an artist who happens to be gay instead of a gay artist. Jamieson and Lucious used to work together until Lucious found out he was gay. That seems to be a running theme in Lucious' life.

Delgado suggests to Cookie to maybe hire the people who kidnapped Hakeem and jacked Tiana. Hiring the people after you as security seems to be a tactic that has worked for him in the past. #shady Cookie sets up a meeting with Hakeem's captors. Hakeem pulls a gun on them and Cookie talks him down. She immediately grabs the gun and pulls it on his captors and threaten them in vintage Cookie style. Yeah guys, not the gal you want to mess with here...

Dre decides to take a new approach to Gutter Records and hold the artists to a higher standard. He isn't impressed with the majority of the artists, until he meets J. Poppa (Guest Star, Mo McRae) and encourages him to incorporate scripture into his music.

Dre unveils J. Poppa who breaks into scripture mid-song to his delight and to the horror of Lucious and Becky. Lucious threatens Dre that although he is the boss of Gutter Records, he still reports to Lucious. Lucious unveils Freda, but when she is heckled, she can't keep it together and attacks the heckler. As Menage is about to take the stage, Hakeem is still panicking. Lucious finds him and offers him a new song Lucious wrote, "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom," but, Hakeem rejects him again. Jamal and Dre decide to counsel Hakeem on their own as they know Cookie and Lucious are probably the problem. Hakeem still gets stage fright mid-performance, but Laura is able to refocus him and get him through it. Anika shows up at the after party and Hakeem asks her to leave so he can be with Laura. Lucious, in turn, decides to give the "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom" song to Freda for her first release.

All right, I don't trust Delgado further than I could throw him. Cookie can't be this stupid to trust this guy, right? I mean, yes, he is SUPER hot, so that gets in the way sometimes, but it's just all so shady. It does make me happy that through all the drama, the Lyons' brothers are still sticking together. Clearly, they are at their sanest when they are all on the same team.

I can only imagine Hakeem's reaction when Freda releases the song Lucious offered him. Freda is good though, Lucious isn't wrong to push her. It's odd that he has such a fatherly way with her, the daughter of his enemy, that he can't seem to come up with for Dre.

Slower plot points this week, but some fantastic music numbers. I LOVED Jamal's song, "Delta John" and all of the performances at the unveiling... concert (?) whatever that was. Hakeem's kidnapping was resolved ultra quick which makes his PTSD harder to believe, but I'll buy it as this show rarely lets me down. My concern lies with Cookie, but I sure am happy to see Becky getting some.

Here's a preview for next week's all new episode:

Photo Credit: FOX

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