Empire Review: The Lyon Who Cried Wolf (Season 2 Episode 16)

There’s a lot we could talk about after this week’s episode of Empire, “The Lyon Who Cried Wolf.” (Spoilers ahead).

We could talk about how there is no way Hakeem isn’t going to cheat on Laura with Tiana. We could talk about how Cookie is finally coming into her own and running the show. We could talk about how somehow Jamal’s obsession with writing about his family actually worked and got him a new love interest. We could talk about how Rhonda knows those Louboutins. We could even talk about how being tortured with a bunch of cakes in the early hours of the morning isn’t something that sounds that bad to me.

But we’re not going to talk about that stuff.

Because we need to talk about Lucious.

I think I’ve made it abundantly clear that I love Lucious. Since day one he’s seemed like the perfect mix of good and evil. But things are getting confusing.

You see, I thought I had Lucious figured out. Lucious is the boss man who runs a tight ship and doesn’t take crap from anybody. He’s the ruthless business mogul who is also a talented artist. He’s the family man with a wound from childhood that runs deep. He’s Dwight and he’s Lucious. He’s a fallen angel. He’s lucifer.

Or so he’d like me to believe.

Because maybe Lucious is none of those things. Maybe Lucious is just a liar.

Is there a difference between a broken artist with a dark streak and a con-man? I think there is. I think it’s big.

A broken artist with a dark streak doesn’t support his mentally ill son because he’s scared that he’ll turn out like his grandmother. He’s in denial. A con-artist doesn’t support his mentally ill son because he doesn’t fit into the identity he’s created for his family. 

A broken artist with a dark streak hides his mother away from the world and his family because she’s hurt him in ways that he can’t begin to tackle. A con-man hides his mother because without her around he can control his own narrative.

A broken artist with a dark streak often puts family before business because he’s better at business than he is at showing love and being supportive. A con-artist puts business first because business doesn’t ask questions or pry into his past.

A broken artist with a dark streak lets the mother of his children take the fall for him because he can’t fully open up to the idea of loving or being loved. A con-artist doesn’t care what happens to other people as long as he doesn’t look bad.

A broken artist with a dark streak does a juice cleanse because he wants to look good on TV. A con-artist doesn’t actually do a juice cleanse, he just pretends to and then drinks whisky.

Okay, that last one might be reaching, but I think you know what I’m trying to say. A broken artist with a dark streak tells lies but underneath those lies there is a discoverable truth. A con-artist is just a con-artist.

If the story of how Dwight became Lucious is true, it’s compelling. It’s heart breaking. It makes it easy to forgive some of the horrific things Dwight/Lucious has done in his life. But if it isn’t, or if it’s been changed to be more dramatic, it shows that whoever is really under Lucious Lyon’s skin is a truly terrible person. No excuses.

Most of the evidence points to Lucious being a broken artist with a dark streak. After all, this week’s episode ends with crazy old grandma force-feeding Lucious a bunch of birthday cakes while demanding he tell her he loves her. Seems pretty scarring.

But I’m not convinced. Because this week’s episode also ends with some very strange music and some very strange looks from Lucious. Maybe we once again aren’t getting the whole story. After all, this is a man who took his children to a fake grave for their grandmother.

At this point all we know for sure about Lucious is that he’s never worn a bad outfit.

I found “The Lyon Who Cried Wolf” quite compelling. We are delving deep. What I really need now is for Empire to not overdo things. Whatever is ultimately revealed about Lucious I want it to be real. I want it to be realistic.

What do you think? Who is Lucious?

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Empire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Fox.