Empire Review: The Tameness of a Wolf (Season 2 Episode 13)

It’s Cookie’s party and I’ll cry if I want to. This week’s episode of Empire, The “Tameness of a Wolf” has me feeling all the feels. Spoilers ahead.

I’m just going to come right out and say it: I love everything. This is the Empire we got hooked on with at the start of season one.

For one, we finally get to the bottom of all of the weird Lucious flashbacks we’ve been getting since the start of the show. Although it had clearly been implied in the past, it’s not confirmed that his mom shot herself in front of him, causing him to be alone on the streets for many years. Oh, and Frank Gathers is the one who got him into drug dealing (you know, Chris Rock who Lucious had killed and who is Frieda’s father). The way this storyline plays out is artful. Lucious really leans on Cookie to help him tell his whole story. I started crying when Cookie explained that the reason he had to tell the full story was that she went to jail for a man whose real name she didn’t even know. By the time Lucious and Cookie started explaining to the little boy in the video what is going on, I was a complete mess.

Plus, this means that Cookie and Lucious are softening to each other again (which, I think I’ve made very clear is my number one dream in life). This is just perfect to me. Any other scenario would leave Cookie looking weak (which wouldn’t be fair to who she is). This allows her to see something new about him, get some insight into why he is the way he is, and start to trust him a bit more because he’s (for the first time) really trusting her. My heart is basically melting.

Even though the boys are still livid with Lucious, they step up and show up to Cookie’s party so that she can have her one wish (having them all together for a birthday dinner). My heart was breaking for Cookie because it’s so clear that she now wants her sons to get the same thing from the music video that she did. For a second it seemed like it was working.

But poor Andre. I’m so proud of him that he finally stood up for himself. I’m kind of glad that Empire took the time to give Andre this reaction to finding out that his grandmother was bipolar. I’m just scared that Andre and Lucious have reached a point of no return. And with Rhonda possibly at the end of her rope, I worry that Andre might do something drastic like his grandmother did.

I really love that Empire used the story of how Lucious grew up to begin to mend his relationship with Cookie but to also call out the wrongs he’s done to Andre. The damage that was done to Lucious is complex but it doesn’t excuse all of his behavior. I hope we continue down this more developed path.

Other random things we need to discuss:

• Camilla seems to be actually dead. That’s a relief. Oh, and Lucious is trying to float the story that Hakeem killed her. Which is super classy of him.
• I think we can all agree that Andre is lying about going to the doctor.
• I’m going to need a link to where to purchase Cookie’s sunglasses.
• The Laura/Tiana/Hakeem collab is such a bad idea. Come on, Hakeem!
• Little kids rapping is even more adorable than I would have guessed.
• I get that Rhonda needs a break but how does she think Anika is not crazy??
• I’m nervous about what Cookie is going to do about this whole Frank Gathers thing. Really nervous.
• Holy crap. I obviously can’t ignore that Hakeem proposed to Laura (although I kinda want to). He clearly loves the idea of her family more than her. I mean, sharing a knowing look with your ex immediately after putting a giant diamond on someone else’s hand is not a great

What did you think of this week’s episode of Empire? Be sure to leave 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