The second episode of Empire's second season saw Lucious freed on bail via an unexpected ally, while the Lyon family battle raged on the outside.
Entitled "Without a Country," Empire Season 2 Episode 2 found Cookie, Andre and Hakeem feeling like refugees after their failed company takeover.
Not that Jamal wasn't struggling in his own right in the penthouse.
Things should really get interesting now that the top dog is finally out on bail, but that was just the tail end of Lucious' prison storyline last night.
Having brutally dealt with kingpin Frank (Chris Rock) last week, Lucious was faced with an even bigger threat in lockup ... from rapper Ludacris.
He wasn't playing himself, but rather a tough prison guard who had it out for the music mogul, and darned if Luda didn't bring his A game to the role.
Still, we will be referring to him as Ludacris because obviously.
Luda proved an effective adversary in that he let viewers get behind Lucious - not an easy task - yet respect him as well for speaking truth to power.
The confrontation between the two in solitary was one of the best scenes of the night, and dovetailed with the episode's other awesome guest star.
Thirsty the Lawyer from the University of Guam, played by Andre Royo (Bubbles the Vagrant from the Streets of Baltimore on The Wire) was a hoot.
He just happened to be sitting next to Jamal and Lucious during visiting hours, seamlessly their way into their good graces and backing up his talk.
With Luda strong-arming Lucious by withholding his meds, Thirsty found a way around that ... and then he set up a makeshift recording studio.
Lucious was able to lay down a jailhouse track (highly produced, in one take, but we'll suspend reality because Empire) before getting shut down.
Thirsty's greatest hits didn't stop there. Not only did he get Lucious a bail hearing as promised, but he had photos to blackmail the judge at his disposal.
One gets the sense that anyone that resourceful - he also had his goons rough up Luda to get back Lucious' contraband rap - is up to no good.
That's obvious, of course, but we mean in the sense of shifting allegiances. How long until Thirsty becomes a rival for Lucious, and not an ally?
We'll see how that cookie crumbles. As for our favorite Cookie?
If you watch Empire online, you know she never crumbles. No matter the obstacle, she comes out swinging, rolls with the punches and fights on.
Usually in hilarious fashion.
Sure, her takeover failed and she was booted out of Empire, but that was so 40 minutes ago. Now Cookie is gonna start her own LYON DYNASTY!
As head of her fledgling record company, she stole every scene as always, whether she was sweet talking Jamal or shutting down Boo Boo Kitty.
She has her hands full, though, with her second in command (if you can call him that) and lead artist Hakeem, who leaked his new album online.
It's Empire's property.
"I don't know and I don't care," Hakeem said in respond to that bold ass move, which pits him against Jamal once again in potentially epic fashion.
As for his all-girl group, 'Keem seemed equally clueless about what to do with that project as he did regarding his own future, but authentically so.
Also, Tiana was there and wearing a nude outfit. Seriously, that body suit was so nude it took us a triple take to realize she wasn't actually nude.
He is his own man, for better or worse, and what an erratic ride it is to watch. These days, you could argue it's more positive than watching Jamal.
By far our favorite of the Lyon sons last season, Empire CEO Jamal is hardened, tired and kind of a d--k at times ... very out of character for him.
That's the idea, obviously, and perhaps his attitude will change for the better - or worse - with Lucious out of jail. One never knows with Empire!
Andre, meanwhile, is a ship without a port.
There's that murder hanging over his head, for one. Moreover, his heart is not with the new Dynasty and Lucious won't let him back into the Empire.
Is Rhonda actually pregnant, do you think? It feels like that card is being played an awful lot, and 'Dre will be in need of a shocking storyline twist.
Just saying. It's a possibility in our minds.
Finally, we were shown a flashback which we believe was of Lucious' youth with his mother (played by Kelly Rowland). The point was very unclear.
The scene was beautiful, though. Beautiful.
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