Tonight on FOX Empire airs with an all new Wednesday May 11, season 2 episode 17 called, “Rise by Sin.” we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode, Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) feels under pressure as he struggles to find a place for his fiancé, Laura, in both his family and his career.
On the last episode, the discovery of a dark secret by Andre threatened to sabotage Lucious’ deeply personal music video about his mother. 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, “Hakeem feels under pressure as he struggles to find a place for his fiancé, Laura, in both his family and his career; Cookie finally lets Jamal in on the truth about what happened to Freda’s father, prompting him to warn Freda about his family’s ulterior motives; and a sacrifice is made on behalf of Lucious.”
Don’t forget to join us for our live recap tonight at 9:00 pm when Empire airs on Fox.
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#Empire starts with Luciosu rehearsing with the band for the ASA performance. He is hypercritical and exhausting the band. He’s nitpicking. He keeps pushing them. Cookie shows up and says it sounds great and asks about his mama. He says still crazy.
She says he needs to get some rest and give the band a break. Cookie says he’s avoiding his mother and he tells her to stay in her lane. Cookie says he’s avoiding instead of dealing. She says she knows he slept in his office. He says Leah is dangerous and he doesn’t trust her.
He goes back to work with the band and Cookie leaves. Leah gets breakfast served while she watches TV and sees the news about the ASAs. Leah refuses all the food and asks for coffee. She tells Juanita she thought she fired him. She sees the Boom Boom Boom Boom video on TV.
Leah is stunned by the reenactment and thinks back to it herself. She says he’s always been a liar, a bald faced liar. Carol shows Cookie a dress for the ACAs and she says she looks like a hooker. Cookie says she just wants her boys to be on stage.
Cookie is surprised when Carol says she saw Tariq. Cookie calls him Tariq the Freak. Carol says he’s not a Philly cop anymore and says he texted her to have dinner at Leviticus. Cookie sighs. D-Major listens to Jamal working with Freda.
Jamal asks Derek what he thinks and he says they have magic. Freda heads out to her shift at the barber shop and hugs them both. She goes and Derek tells Jamal he has to let his mom go. Jamal says no. Jamal says he loves working with her and Derek says he’s bigger than his moms and pops.
He says he needs to be more than a musical mama’s boy and let him produce his next album. Derek asks if he’s big enough for him. They step closer. Andre visits with Leah and asks how she is and if she’s taking her medications. She says so many pills make her choke.
Leah says there’s so many people working in the house, it makes her feel like Gone with the Wind. Leah brings up the ASAs and says no one invited her and says she’s never seen her son on the stage. Andre says he’ll try and see if she can come but she’ll need a dress.
Leah says Lucious wishes she was dead and that’s what he showed in that video. Leah says he won’t tell anyone he lied and says she just wants to see her grandbabies on stage. Leah says no one will look twice at her with so many pretty girls there.
Anika comes to see Rhonda who is busy with ASA fittings. Rhonda asks what’s up and Anika says she hasn’t responded to her texts but Rhonda says it’s just been crazy busy. Anika asks if it’s her fault since her pregnancy is showing.
Rhonda asks her about the cute shoes she was wearing. Rhonda says they look like great day to night shoes then asks if she was wearing them on a specific night. Anika asks if they saw each other that night. Anika looks confused but Rhonda is flat out asking if she was at her place the night she fell.
Laura and Hakeem talk about wedding plans. She wants to let US Weekly to the wedding to help her career. Hakeem says her career is not going to take off the way they thought it would. He says they worked hard and did some dope songs but it hasn’t popped yet.
Hakeem says they can still do the US Weekly thing. Laura says her dream is marrying him and that’s enough for her right now. Lucious tells Cookie that Tariq did quit the force in 2010 and Cookie says she bets he’s a Fed now. Lucious wonders why the Feds want him.
He says Tariq and Carol is strange and Cookie says everyone knows Carol is a crackhead with three illegitimate children. Lucious asks why she’s taking Carol to the ASAs. He says he’s taking a supermodel and she says no one wants his fat ass.
Cookie shows up to the table and greets Tariq. She sits and says she’s not as gullible as her sister. She says Carol doesn’t know she’s there and says her sister is always late. Tariq asks if Carol hooked up with Lucious before she did.
Cookie says she knows he’s a Fed and he better not be putting the squeeze on Carol. Tariq asks if she’s got something to hide then says it’s just a casual date. Cookie says he was always a good one and never forgot the G code.
Tariq says it means more to him than his badge. Then he says Lucious violate the G code when he killed her cousin Bunky. She also says her sister has herpes and tells him she hopes it’s not too late. ASA news is all over the TV.
Tons of baskets arrive at Empire. Carol shows up and Cookie sits down with her and asks about Tariq. Carol says back off Cookie and says Tariq wants her. Cookie asks what she told him and Carol says he’s not investigating them. Cookie calls her stupid.
Carol says he’s a good man who likes her and she won’t let her steal him. Cookie asks if she drank last night and threatens to throw her out. Carol says she stole Lucious from her and Cookie says he never would have ended up with her.
Cookie says she blames her whenever she falls off the wagon and says she thinks she deserves her life. Carols says Candace was right and Cookie only has what Lucious lets her have. Cookie says if you think I don’t care about you, bounce out of my house and office and you’re not coming to the ASAs.
She blows up at her and Carol goes when she starts throwing things at her. Jamal is in the studio with Derek. He tells Jamal he loves that song and says his voice resonates. Jamal says the tempo is too slow. Derek says he’ll work on it then asks if he’ll be upset when he sees him on the red carpet with Chanel.
Derek says it’s just one night. Lucious comes in and Derek shoves him back and says don’t ever come at me like that and Lucious says that’s not cool.
Lucious tells Jamal that Derek must still be on the down low. Lucious says a real dog can tell a fake bitch. Jamal asks how he knew and Lucious says everyone knows how D-Major likes to make rich boys his little bitch. Lucious tells Jamal he bets he’s on top and Jamal says he’s disgusting.
Lucious says he doesn’t need to crap where he eats and says his lifestyle is intolerant and he throws his unnatural way of life into his face. He calls Jamal a little girl. Jamal says Lucious can’t even look his mother in the eye and calls his dad a sissy bitch.
Lucious grabs him by the neck and calls him a disappointment and says the day Jamal dies of AIDS, he’ll celebrate. Jamal smiles snarkily and walks out. But it’s Lucious with tears in his eyes, not Jamal.
Jamal tells Cookie about Lucious but she’s all hung up on him working with Freda and D-Major asks him to produce him. Jamal says his dad said things you can’t come back from. Cookie tells Jamal the Feds are still coming for them and they need to lay low.
He says he doesn’t care about the Feds coming for Lucious. Cookie asks if he knows how she got out early and he says he thought she snitched. She says she snitched on Frank Gathers. Jamal says that’s Freda’s dad. She says it was the only time she did.
Jamal says then Frank was in lockup with Lucious and asks if his dad killed Frank. Cookie says Frank would have killed all of them and says he’s dangerous and Freda is an apple that didn’t fall far from the tree. She says he needs to let Freda go. Jamal is shaken.
Andre comes to see Leah to go to the show and says they have to leave now before his dad gets home. But then Thirsty is there and tells Andre to hand over his phone and his thugs block the door. Lucious comes to see Cookie all dressed for the ASAs and asks her to walk the red carpet with him.
He says he heard she needed a date. She says Carol is back to drinking and he says he has something for her and holds out a velvet box. She asks if it’s a trick and screams when she sees a huge diamond bracelet. Lucious says it’s their night and all they dreamed about.
He says he knew they’d get there but didn’t know it would take that long. Lucious thinks about them back in their broke ass house. Cookie talks about them duck taping their car door and says they were so raggedy back then.
Cookie says he was always staying stupid stuff back then and nothing has changed. Lucious says he missed her booty and she walks away laughing so he can see it. Andre and Leah are locked into a safe room by Thirsty and his crew and told they can watch the ASAs on TV.
The ASA red carpet is popping. Hakeem is with Laura. Freda is there too. Jamal is solo. Lucious is with Cookie who says they’ll see a real family tonight. She says they are the Lyons. The press asks for photos of Hakeem alone and they ask Laura to step back. She does and isn’t happy.
Cookie says Lucious drives them crazy but he’s the king and a genius and why they’re the first family of music. He stands silent letting her work her magic. A reporter asks if Jamal brought a date and he sees D-Major with a supermodel.
Jamal says he’s shelving his album and says they’ll never see him onstage with his family after tonight so enjoy it. Freda catches up with Jamal and he says she looks like a star. He says they need to talk about her leaving Empire and he wants to set her up at a new label.
He says trust me, get away from Empire. She’s confused and hurt. Lucious talks about his life story inspiring others after he lost his mother to mental illness. Leah says he looks fat. Leah says he promised he wouldn’t lock her up again and calls him a liar and promise breaker.
Lucious says he’s dedicating tonight to his mother. Carol shows up drink screaming for Cookie and talking trash. She calls Cookie “Loretha.” Cookie tells her to get her drunk ass out before she rips out her weave. They tell their security people to get her out.
Carol staggers over to Freda and asks her to escort her. Freda steps back from her and Carol calls her a hood rat and says Lucious wouldn’t be there if he didn’t feel guilty for what he did to her daddy. Freda thinks back to the last time she talked to her dad and Lucious walking by in jail.
Cookie asks about Andre and Lucious makes excuses. Freda thinks about all the interactions and Jamal warning her about his dad and Frank too. Freda goes running at him and grabs a gun from security and heads for Lucious. She takes a shot and Jamal says stop. She shoots.
They tackle her. Lucious is fine but Hakeem screams – Jamal was shot. Cookie screams at them to call an ambulance. Freda is hauled off and Cookie screams. She begs him to stay with her.
Andre flips out when he sees his brother shot on TV. He bangs on the door and tells Thirsty to let him out. He pounds on the door. Leah looks horrified. Thirsty is passed out cold. Thirsty wakes and sees the news. The news talks about her being Lucious’ prodigy.
Thirsty sees texts from Rhonda on Andre’s phone with updates that Jamal lost a ton of blood. Lucious begs them to save his boy. Jamal is in bad shape. Cookie rages that this is all Lucious’ fault and screams at people in the hospital that are filming her.
Thirsty lets Leah and Andre out to take them to the hospital. Cookie asks for an update but the nurse knows nothing. Hakeem tries to comfort her and Cookie says that evil bitch shot my baby Andre and Leah show up and he asks how’s Jamal.
Cookie says he’s in surgery and they won’t tell them anything. Rhonda asks where Andre was. The ASAs are on the TV and it’s song of the year and it goes to neither Lucious or Jamal. Hakeem says all their fighting split the votes.
Cookie glares at Lucious. Tariq tells his boss that he’s been building a case on Lucious for years. He says he’s going to persuade Lucious’ ex-fiancée. He has Anika in an interrogation room. Andre offers to get coffee and Cookie says she’ll take one. Hakeem and Laura go too.
Lucious tries to talk to Cookie and asks if he can sit by her. He says if you had heard the things I said to Jamal and says maybe his mama should have drowned him. She says he can’t help what he was born into and says she knows he wants to do right by his family.
Leah creeps away when no one is looking. The doctor comes to tell them the news. There’s a fan vigil outside the hospital. Reporters outside talk about hip hop violence. Leah comes out to the press and she says she’s part of the family. They ask what her relationship is to Lucious.
THE END!
