Tonight on FOX Empire premieres with an all new Wednesday October 7, season 2 episode 3 called, “Fires of Heaven,” and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) and Anika (Grace Gealey) work behind Lucious’ (Terrence Howard) back to pull off a performance that will catch Pitbull’s eye; at the same time, Lucious tries to convince Frank Gather’s daughter to sign with him; and Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) focuses his energy on making Ménage a Trois a success.
On the last episode, Cookie and her cohorts decided to start their own small record label, but their opposing visions made for a bumpy start to the venture. Meanwhile, Hakeem wooed a hot Latina singer for the girl group he wanted to form; Lucious hired a new lawyer and recorded an epic track from inside jail; and Jamal proved to be just as ruthless as his father when making business moves. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it, we have a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the FOX synopsis, “Cookie and Anika work behind Lucious’ back to pull off a performance that will catch Pitbull’s eye; at the same time, Lucious tries to convince Frank Gather’s daughter to sign with him; and Hakeem focuses his energy on making Ménage a Trois a success. Meanwhile, Andre and Rhonda pin their hopes of a return to Empire on their baby to come.”
Don’t forget to join us for our live recap tonight at 9:00 pm when Empire airs on Fox. While you wait for the recap, check out a sneak peek of tonight’s episode below!
RECAP:
#Empire begins with DA Ford telling the press that Lucious will be held accountable and is not above the law. The press then runs to Lucious and asks if he knows Ford is running for State AG and is trying to make the case against him her career move. They announce that Lucious can’t go back to Empire as a condition of his bail. Cookie comes to see Hakeem and finds him with the Latina lead singer. Cookie tells him that his dad is out of jail. Hakeem is confident but Cookie smacks him for screwing Valentina.
Cookie screams at him to come on since they need to go see Sway. Thirsty talks to Lucious about the terms of the bail. He can’t go into Empire or he’ll go back to jail. Jamal is with him and he speaks to a group on the steps of Empire. Rozanne Ford lurks in her car nearby watching this go down. Lucious talks about Empire taking over the music world and says soon the world won’t say the word music without using the word Empire.
Hakeem is on Sway’s radio show singing one of his new songs. Cookie videos it on her phone. The song is about his dad plotting and his mom riding for him. Sway tells Hakeem that’s a bold move the way he busted out of Empire. Thirsty gets a call from Sway who asks for Lucious. Sway asks why he didn’t give him the exclusive on Snitch Bitch then says he’s with Hakeem talking about his leaked album. Lucious says Hakeem has a lot of growing up to do.
Hakeem says his dad didn’t stop the leak because he was prison and he’s running circles around him. Sway talks about Lyon Dynasty and Hakeem talks about Mirage a Trois, his Hispanic girl group. Sway says to bring them this week and Cookie shakes her head no but Hakeem agrees. Jamal is with Michael, Rhonda, Cookie, Andre and Hakeem at an awkward family dinner. Andre asks if Lucious wanted them there to kill them all at once. Lucious comes in and he says tomorrow they’re at war.
Cookie drinks her champagne and gives him a cold look. They all eat in silence then Cookie asks why he’s not eating and asks if he poisoned them. He says that’s too easy. He says he had time to think about them while he was gone and how they tried to band together to destroy him. Andre says sorry and Cookie says not to apologize. Lucious says if they dismantle Lyon Dynasty all will be forgiven including the leaked album and hostile takeover.
Lucious says they’re family at the end of the day and he wants them together. Cookie says no. She says she’s going to save her sons and build something nice for them. Lucious says they failed. He calls them his ex-wife, ex-CFO and ex-son and his ex-wannabe girl. He says they get one last chance. He tells them to let go of their pride and Cookie says she doesn’t know what happened while he was locked up but she’s fine without him. She pulls the table cloth off and dumps the dishes on his nice floor.
Anke is at the club where Lucious is setting up a party. She asks what he wants from her. He mentions her and Hakeem and she says Hakeem is not her type then he says he wants her help with Lyon Dynasty. She asks why she would betray them for him. He says he knows things can’t be good for her there and says it must be a hell working with Cookie. Anika says it’s no better with him.
Lucious says Lyon Dynasty will fail and she knows it. She says it has a chance and says Hakeem is coming into his own. Lucious says Hakeem is coming back to Empire and asks how it will play out with her and Cookie. Mirage a Trois is rehearing at the studio and Cookie says the hook is no good. She and Hakeem argue and he says he’s the producer and to let him produce. She says he has put her name on the line with Sway by saying they can bring them in three days.
Valentina gives her sass and Cookie calls her bitch. Hakeem says to trust him and Cookie walks away. The girls start singing again. Cookie admits it’s good and says they need some choreography and then they got a gold mine. Lucious sips a drink at lunch with Andre. He asks why Andre wanted to see him. He talks merger and the acquisition of 200 urban radio stations. Andre says he wants back into Empire but Lucious says no. Andre says he’s trying to man up and no one else is doing it.
Lucious says he can hire 50 other people who can do what he does. He says Andre has to bring something no one else can bring and Andre asks like what. Lucious tells him to pray on it. Jamal calls Lucious and says the producer he sent him sucks and some girl showed up with some thugs and said Lucious was going to sign her. It’s Frank Gather’s daughter and Lucious tells him to sign her right away and says she’s very important.
Jamal tells Freda they want to sign her and she gets annoyed that Lucious isn’t there then says her daddy told her not to trust Lucious anyway. She walks out even though Lucious said to sign her. Jamal tells Becky that Lucious told her that musically, she’s everything to him. Jamal asks where that leaves him. Lucious shows Jamal a video of Freda and asks how he let her go then says Hakeem would have signed her. Jamal says he’s a real artist and has held all this down while he was inside.
He calls Freda a hood rat and Lucious says he was going to revive Gutter Life Records with her. He says they’ve got a raw sound. Thirsty says he found Freda for him and says she’s in a raggedy ass park on Newman Avenue. Lucious tells Jamal to focus on getting Hakeem back. Jamal says at least Cookie was there when he needed him. Lucious says if he wants his attention, do what he told him to do. Lucious and Thirsty roll out.
Cookie finds Anika in her office and she says Lucious thinks she still works there. She says Lucious reached out to her with a proposition. Cookie says Lucious is not allowed at Empire then asks where she met her. She says he’s setting up a party at Laviticus where he’s setting up a big party for himself. Cookie asks what he said that made her slither back to the ghetto. She says Lucious wants all the music from V, Tiana, Mirage a Trois and Hakeem.
Anika says she wants to hurt Lucious and Cookie laughs. Anika goes to walk out but Cookie calls her back and asks more about the party Lucious is throwing himself. We see Pitbull singing at the party and he introduces Jamal and they sing together. Lucious is hanging with some lovelies. Cookie’s people set off some smoke bombs then take over the sound system. Cookie says welcome home then introduces an artist who used to be one of Empire’s top rappers but now has his own sound.
She introduce Lyon Dynasty and Hakeem. He comes out rapping about Dynasty taking over. Pitbull checks out the sweet rhyme. Lucious watches with a sneer on his face. Jamal is annoyed. A fight breaks out upstairs. Cookie has her deejay steal something from the sound system then Pitbull approaches Cookie and she tells him to put her label on his New Year’s show. He says if she brings it like that, it’s no problem. Cookie heads out of there fast with what she took.
Next day, the phones are ringing off the hook at Lyon Dynasty. Sway calls and then Cookie says they’re bring real hip-hop back. Valentina and the girls argue while Hakeem watches the beef. Andre shows up and says he’s there to see mom. Cookie tells Andre he can come back there to him but he says he belongs at Empire. Then he says he has a vision for Empire that he’d be proud to leave his own child. Cookie says that’s what she’s trying to do here then is thrilled to hear he’s having a baby with Rhonda.
She asks if he told his dad and he says no and asks why he’d do that. She says that’s why Lucious wants Hakeem back because he wants a legacy. She says he will be thrilled with a grandchild. Andre says he can’t leverage his unborn child like that. Cookie says sometimes you have to pull at heartstrings to get paid and says nothing is wrong with that. She asks him to think about it. Later, Andre sits with Lucious who tells him he’s persistent. Lucious asks if he has something better than last time.
He tells Luscious that Rhonda is pregnant and he’s going to be a grandfather. Lucious asks if he’s worried about the child’s mental health. Andre says bipolar doesn’t run in families but Lucious thinks about his own mom’s crazy days. Lucious hugs him and says he always wanted a grandson. But then Lucious tells him that he’s breaking his heart for using this to get what he wants from him. Andre says he’s not. He says he’s just letting him know that there’s more at stake than just him.
Lucious tells him to give Rhonda his love and dismisses him. Andre is devastated and walks out. Lucious sits down at the piano and thinks about begging his mom to eat but they had no food because she spent all their money on gifts for him thinking it was his birthday when it wasn’t. She was clearly coming down off of an up mood for her bipolar. Freda is in a street rhyme battle when Lucious shows up with his lawyer Thirsty. The other guy raps about her dad being beat to death.
Lucious steps up as she starts to pull a gun to shoot the guy. He wrestles her back and tells her to stop then says her dad didn’t want this for her. Thirsty says they have to go. Freda says her dad was crazy and he doesn’t know a thing about her. Lucious says she has a gift and begs her to let him help her. She runs off and Thirsty says they have to go now. Jamal tells Becky the war between his parents is killing everything including his music.
Becky asks what his problem is with the producers he keeps firing. She tells him he’s being too picky – too short, too tall – then asks why he doesn’t just call Cookie and says she’s the only one who can deal with his moody ass. Becky says he needs Cookie and she loves him. Lucious says to get Freda to him. Roxanne Ford is there and Thirsty says this is harassment and Lucious says he thinks she’s sweet on him then asks him to drop by so he can help her relieve this tension.
Roxanne says they Vernon Turner hidden away so he can’t get to him then she says a murder rap is only the beginning of what she has planned for him. Lucious says she’s going to like what he has planned for her too. She leaves scoffing. Cookie works on choreography with Hakeem’s girl group. She works them hard. Valentina stops and says she’s a singer not a soldier. Cookie says just because she slept with Hakeem doesn’t mean she doesn’t have to work for it.
Valentina says she deserves what she’s got and doesn’t need to sleep with someone. Cookie says that’s not what people will think if she blows it with Sway tomorrow. Hakeem shows up and sees the results his mom got. He asks where she learned this and she says prison. Jamal goes to Ghetto Ass but then Lucious pulls up outside. He gets in the car with his dad. He asks how he knew and Lucious says he talked to Becky. Lucious says Cookie tried to take Empire and is building this company to hurt them.
Jamal says the music matters and says he’s way past the producers he sent and he needs a Cookie. Lucious says he’s past Cookie too. He says he’s gone through dark corridors of humanity and says no woman or man can understand that. He says Jamal needs a God to produce him then says he’s going to produce Jamal himself. Jamal says he won’t play second fiddle to Freda or anyone else. Lucious thanks him for pushing him.
Cookie and Hakeem are with Sway but Valentina is late. Lucious shows up instead and says he bought Apex Radio and he now has an interest in every urban station. Lucious says they’re going to have learn the hard way and says their artists will suffer. Valentina shows up and Hakeem says his dad is taking hate to a whole new level then Lucious says he signed Valentina this morning. She tells Hakeem sorry and Lucious tells her to go in there and shine.
Sway introduces her and Lucious says her little label is going to dry up and die. Cookie glares at him and says she can’t keep Cookie down. Cookie tells Hakeem to come on as Valentina starts her number. Lucious smiles as he watches her kill it.
