Review: Empire, “Our Dancing Days”

Lucious and Cookie are the new Ross and Rachel (with way better clothes) and I’m pretty much obsessed.

This week’s episode, “Our Dancing Days” was all about the Empire crew preparing for a big party for potential investors, but really it was all about Lucious realizing he is still in love with Cookie.

As the pressure mounts, Lucious collapses and is rushed to the hospital. There he’s told that the ‘experimental treatment’ he was receiving is pretty much just poison, and the doctor who was giving it to him is pretty much not a real doctor.

Everyone else is feeling the pressure too. Jamal’s boyfriend moves out of their apartment because he can’t handle Jamal focusing more on his music than on him, Hakeem’s secret girlfriend is starting to resent being a secret, Andre misses another doctor’s appointment, and Cookie convinces Lucious to take a chance on Elle and let her perform at the party.

Oh, and did I mention that Jamal’s potential daughter showed up sans chaperone and is now living with Anika and Lucious until Jamal can figure out what to do? Yup. I’m sure that’s all going to turn out well.

At the party, we see Anika go from jealous fiancé to full-on villain. Elle shows up ready to perform, but when she turns her back to take a selfie with a fan, Anika slips something into her drink. Moments later, Elle is flailing about in the ladies’ room where Cookie finds her, assumes she’s using again, and pulls her from the show.

This is sort of a turning point for Anika’s character as it is now crystal clear that she doesn’t care about Lucious and the success of Empire, she just cares about maintaining her position of power in the equation. All while Lucious seems to be focusing more on family than usual.

With Elle out, Jamal and Hakeem are the main act and the crowd goes wild for them. They also move past their rivalry and begin to act like brothers again. But then Lucious loses his voice (a symptom of his ALS) and can’t give the big speech he prepared for the investors. Andre and Anika vie for the job, but Lucious isn’t a fool so he asks Cookie to do it. She, of course, kills it, and Lucious claps like a man who just realized he’s engaged to an idiot but in love with his ex-wife.

Luckily, Anika has to leave the party early to head to Chicago for business, so the boys and Cookie get a chance to be alone with Lucious. This also gives Lucious a chance to sit everyone down and tell them that he has ALS. Andre is all business and is worried about the label, and his wife (who is seriously such a trooper) has to take him home before he has a breakdown.

She later finds him sitting in the shower fully clothed. So, clearly we can expect to see some interesting drama with Andre in the future.

Lucious pulls the two younger boys aside, and they have a sweet moment. Then he asks them to leave him alone with their mama, and I’m all like “Yes! Cookie and Lucious forever!”

In the final scene, Cookie and Lucious are alone having a drink and listening to an old favorite song. Lucious asks Cookie to dance and pulls her close. “It’s happening!” I yell at the TV.

They take the party to the bedroom but then Anika shows up early from her trip (I guess Lana Del Ray didn’t need her help after all?). She sees them, but they don’t see her.

This week’s episode solidified two things for me.

One: Anika needs to be out. Lucious seems to be inspired by his illness to mend his relationships with the people in his life, while Anika is inspired to grab the company and make it her own. It almost seems like things could wrap up nicely for everyone right here with Anika out of the picture and Cookie back where she belongs.

Which leads me to two: Anika is clearly not going to go down without a fight. I expect the next few episodes to be drama filled. I mean, there’s a mystery little girl (who is potentially the cutest kid on TV right now), Andre’s looming breakdown, and a spurned fiancé who has proven herself comfortable with some seriously shady behavior.

All in all, Empire continues to be an obsession. The clothes are amazing, the sets are amazing, the characters are all over the place, and a pretty major love triangle has developed. This week showed, once again, that although this show is full of super dramatic (and potentially unrealistic) story lines, it also manages to include very touching family and friendship moments.

The only thing I didn’t like about this episode? The dancers in Jamal and Hakeem’s performance. Why did they have cardboard box TVs on their heads? Is this a thing the kids are doing that I don’t know about?

What did you think of “Our Dancing Days?” Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Empire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Fox.

Amanda Coyne

Amanda is an associate editor for Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer, teacher, and pop culture enthusiast with a love for 30 Rock and The Mindy Project. She is also the proud mother of two orange cats. Follow @amandarcoyne