Titled: “The Unkindest Cut” – Winter Finale.
Andre and Nessa continue their quest for world domination, and Jamal goes toe-to-toe with Lucious.
This week, Andre and Nessa prove they’re serious about combining forces to take over Empire — and neither of them seems to care how many toes they have to step on (or how many kids’ hair they have to cut) to get there. Also: Lucious is still a demon, and Anika debuts a killer new set of lingerie.
We begin at Leviticus — the first episode in quite some time that hasn’t started in Cookie’s apartment — where Tiana is rehearsing for the Helene Von Wyatt fashion show. Apparently, it’s going down like the Victoria’s Secret show, where an artist performs on the runway — which always looks like a recipe for disaster to me, but whatever. Helen Von Wyatt has a horrible haircut that’s clearly supposed to be a combination of two bobs: Anna Wintour’s signature cut and Victoria Beckham’s angled one. Cookie has brought Angelo and his mother, and of course Helene and Mrs. DuBois know each other from the fundraising circuit. Quickly, the conversation turns to an upcoming ball that’s being used as a fundraiser for Angelo’s mayoral campaign, and Mrs. DuBois all but forces Jamal to participate. Cookie tries to get him out of it — remember, he still hasn’t been able to perform live without having a complete panic attack — but Jamal insists. “It’s now or never,” he tells her.
he Tiana performance, though, is becoming an issue. Cookie advises Helene that the performance should have “a little bass, a little Black Girl Magic” in it. But Helene is actually a secret/not-so-secret racist! Tiana’s natural hair doesn’t really go with the “aesthetic of the collection,” Helene says. She wants Tiana to straighten it — oh, and she wants her to wear the final piece from the collection, a tight dress with a long train that would completely inhibit pretty much all of Tiana’s choreography. “I’m sure you can make it work,” Helene tells Cookie. God, I hate this woman and we’ve known her for three minutes! But wait, it gets worse: Andre and Nessa make an appearance, and as Nessa sees Tiana on the stage, she tells Andre that’s what she wants. And he’ll do anything to make it happen.
So Andre goes to Cookie, acting like a soft, sensitive, recently bereaved son. He apologizes for missing Cookie’s dinner to meet Nessa’s family, but explains, “I didn’t think it was possible… I’m starting to imagine myself starting over. Is that wrong?” Cookie offers to give him whatever he needs, and he lights up immediately. “You know what would be great?” he says. “Could Nessa shadow Tiana for this HVW fashion show?” Cookie allows it but tells Nessa to come correct because Tiana’s extremely nervous. Yeah — this isn’t going to end well. Wow, earlier this season, all I wanted was for Andre to catch a break, but now that he has Nessa as his partner/artist/pawn, I’m a little afraid of his power trip. Also, he doesn’t seem to be acting erratic — can we assume he is taking his meds? Maybe Jamal did actually make him a schedule? Or is Andre being scary because he doesn’t have his stuff under control?
In Tiana’s dressing room, Cookie tells her Hakeem is going to re-record all of Graham’s tracks from the album. And they’re going to perform together because their fans apparently worship them like Drake and Rihanna (that’s saying a lot). Lucious makes a stop, but then tells Cookie he’s about to do something “equally unpleasant”: “I’m going to have tea with Leah and Anika.” We know how much those two love each other. “Well, I hope the butter knife is dull!” Cookie says. Still the best…….
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