So many battles, so little time.
That’s how it felt on this week’s Empire. At every turn, somebody was battling or bickering about something or another Wednesday night. Some battles—like the rap battle between Hakeem and Freda—were pumped up and full of adrenaline and insults (more on that later). While others, like the tiff between Cookie and her sister Candace (guest star Vivica A. Fox), were more subtle and full of past wounds.
In the end, most of the battles were resolved to a certain extent but all we really cared about was the way Cookie open-hand slapped Laz when he pushed Hakeem. That slap was everything. And the memes. Sigh. Those memes and tweets gave us life and a bad case of the night giggles.
A Lyon always protects her cub. #Empire pic.twitter.com/19tePYWhbR
— Empire (@EmpireFOX) November 19, 2015
Cookie don’t play with her kids she slap tf outta that dude #Empire pic.twitter.com/tUBi2nYcpT
— Rebellious Soldier (@PrinceApocolysp) November 19, 2015
Other high points included Jamal’s song for Pepsi and the way it sort of brought Cookie and Lucious together, Cookie calling Hakeem a “snitch bitch,” Jamal and Hakeem giving each other advice, Lucious and Cookie’s jabs at each other, Anika’s pregnancy, and Anika rocking a wig pretending to be a driver for Laura. Huh?! We’re just happy to see that Anika finally has a purpose or at least a plotline even if she’s clearly gone insane. Once again the tweets were on point.
“Maury I’m pregnant by my ex fiancé’s son and he just wants to be friends” -Anika #Empire
— dab.newton (@screwyoumegn) November 19, 2015
And:
I wonder how Cookie is gonna feel about Anika being pregnant #Empire pic.twitter.com/aYACzoKeZI
— Shawn™ (@ShawnMinaj) November 19, 2015
As for the aforementioned rap battle, that was kind of a low point. Yes, we loved when Hakeem told Freda “I’m about to send your funny looking ass back to the circus.” We also loved that Freda said Hakeem would need to call his mama but why did she take digs at Cookie and Jamal? Why? Ugh. Also, what was up with the crowd knowing the words to Hakeem’s chant? That doesn’t happen in rap battles. Rap battle victors also don’t declare themselves the winner, drop their last names and destroy property soon after. But as much as we love Empire, even we have to admit the show doesn’t have the best track record for realistically portraying rap battles. Can you say Black Rambo? At least Hakeem and Freda have real skills.
Me watching this rap battle #Empire pic.twitter.com/HfPDxUJA2o
— Paul Etienne (@PaulEtienne) November 19, 2015
Other low points included Lucious sucking on a lollipop at a business meeting, Lucious saying he was on a “ledge,” Cookie hiding in the closet with a sandwich – ok, that was funny – and Anika’s face-to-face with Hakeem. We’re most excited about what Anika will do next and what Cookie will do to Laz when she learns the truth about him. Alicia Keys’ guest appearance should also be a homerun.
What did you think of this week’s Empire titled “My Bad Parts” and what are you anticipating in the coming weeks? Weigh in below.