Hakeem and Jamal debut Born to Lose (featuring Sean Cross, Swizz Beatz and Yazz) an uplifting new jam that I make no apologies for downloading later. Cookie keeps it moving until they are stopped by Lemon and Porsha quips: “I’m not feeling what you did out in Peterson …” The fourth wall breaks, perhaps inviting Black Twitter to reminisce over its widespread public criticism (and jokes) targeted at CNN’s coverage of the protests in Ferguson. Cookie and her assistant Porsha maneuver through the crowd searching for Andre Lyon, the eldest and most business-minded of the three sons.

Daniels tethers his audience with this conspiratorial wink, bridging audiences with real-life personalties, a kind of doubling that makes the show as relevant as it is entertaining. ‘I’m not feeling what you did out in Peterson …’Īs the concert continues, we get more cameos from Al Sharpton, Don Lemon and André Leon Talley. Henson channels something guttural and this spectacle becomes an actual protest. When the gorilla rips off its mask, Cookie Lyon emerges asking: “How much longer are they gonna treat us like animals?” I legit get chills. Things get interesting when the universe of Empire bleeds together with reality: quick cuts between the crowd, a caged gorilla and police in riot gear. We see fissures in Cookie and Jamal’s relationship that will widen as they discuss Lucious. Hakeem is already wary of Cookie’s plan to score investor Mimi Whiteman (Marisa Tomei) and a chunk of her millions to recapture Empire from Jamal, who is now proxy for Lucious.

Empire season 2 episode 1 cameos