Cookie and Anika secretly work together behind Lucious' back to pull off a surprise performance. Lucious tracks down Frank Gathers' daughter, Young Ma, to try and convince her to sign with him at Empire. Hakeem is hard at work on his girl group. Andre and Rhonda hope their baby-on-the-way will be the key that unlocks Lucious' cold heart and opens the door for Andre to return to the Empire fold.
The war between Empire Entertainment and Lyon Dynasty has officially begun. Lucious is out of jail. The family has the opportunity to be a family again. And yet, the animosity between each other runs too thick. The tension is only escalating between the two factions. The emotions are complicated. Lucious and Cookie are going up against each other while Andre, Jamal and Hakeen struggle picking sides. Both sides of this war make their presence know. Cookie is able to wonderfully upstage Lucious' welcome home party to himself at Leviticus. Even though Lucious can't take one step into Empire headquarters, he still proves himself to be a cutthroat and vicious businessman when he steals Valentina and takes radio play away from the Dynasty. Things are starting to get ugly between the two sides as they both do whatever it takes to secure their legacies. That makes for very compelling drama.Lucious is free once again. He was able to maintain some of his power in prison. He ran the place and was able to record a new hit track there. And yet, now that he is free to roam around as the god he believes himself to be in the music industry, he is much more powerful and controlling. He walks around with the confidence that the prosecution's case against him is falling apart. He thinks it's silly that he can't step into the business that he started from the ground up. Those embarrassing photos were only able to get him so far with the judge. But Lucious is still able to do basically anything. The threat of him facing serious jail time is no longer as apparent now that he's back living in his high-end world. Jail did connect him back to his time on the streets. That makes him even more ruthless as a businessman. He's not afraid to go down to the rough neighborhoods in order to sign an artist. He's also not afraid to flex his money and power to completely dominate the music business right now. He's well on his way to making his name synonymous with the music business like he dreams.
However, Lucious is doing horrible things to all of his children right now. He's making sure that Lyon Dynasty and Hakeem's album fail just so Hakeen has to come back to Empire in order to stay relevant in the industry. He keeps Jamal from reaching out to Cookie to produce his album. He's furious with Jamal for not executing his vision as the head of Empire but is able to keep that bond alive by keeping things about the music. And lastly, he repeatedly refuses to bring Andre back into the fold even though he has pleaded desperately many times. That's the fundamental difference between Lucious and Cookie. Everything that Cookie does is for her sons. She's trying her best to build something that the three of them can be proud of later on. Lucious only really cares about himself. He is self-motivated with everything that he does. Everything is for his legacy. He is the god in this scenario. That power is able to allure a great number of people towards him. It's exciting to be so close to this man who has changed the music business. But that's also a potentially devastating quality as well because anyone who gets close to him gets hurt.
Cookie may not have all of the experience and expertise in order to run a business that can compete with Empire. And yet, she's sure having a lot of fun with it. She knows what it takes in order to make it in this business. She knows that people need a work effort in order to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Hakeem made the promise that Menage a Trois would be ready in just a few days. The group is in a very rough place, with the girls bickering and the hook in the song not being quite right. She needs them to work harder than they ever have before because the company is unfortunately relying on them. She doesn't want to put her entire business model behind this group. And yet, Hakeem forces them into that position by promising too much too soon. He is way too overconfident with this venture. This is a harsh war being waged by his parents. He is firmly on Lyon Dynasty's side. He exudes confidence which helps the label be taken more seriously. However, that doesn't leave him well equipped to handle the situation when Lucious basically walks into the radio station and destroys all of his dreams. Cookie worked a lot of her magic. Hakeem was confident with the group. But at the end of the day, Lucious could still promise more and make things happen in an instant. That's a type of fame that more people will crave.
"Fires of Heaven" firmly draws the battle lines between Empire and Lyon Dynasty. It's such a delight to behold too. It all started with Cookie wonderfully walking out of the peace dinner Lucious had arranged by dragged the entire tablecloth with all the food with her. Only she could get away with a moment like. It was over-the-top and ridiculous but so fantastic to watch happen. That quality continued throughout this episode. Cookie and Hakeem interrupting Jamal and Pitbull's big performance was awesome. Both sides of the battle performed entertaining songs. Hakeem's work may have also earned Lyon Dynasty a spot on Pitbull's infamous New Year's Eve show. That's an accomplishment even if they are thrown out of the party. Plus, the label may be over with before it ever starts. Lyon Dynasty continues to live in Empire's shadow. Lucious' influence is huge and crippling. Cookie and Hakeem will need to find a way to rebound from this massive setback. Otherwise, they may have no other choice than to embrace what Lucious is offering.
Some more thoughts:
- "Fires of Heaven" was written by Attica Locke and directed by Craig Brewer.
- It's looking increasingly more likely that Andre sharing the truth about Vernon with his dad is the only thing that will get him back to Empire. He is so desperate to be with the company that's a part of who he is. If the baby news wasn't enough, the reveal that Vernon is dead is all he realistically has left.
- The fact that Lucious is distant from Andre because his own mother demonstrated mental health problems is a nice new layer of meaning in their relationship this season.
- As smart as Lucious is as a businessman, he doesn't know everything. He thought Anika was still working at Lyon Dynasty. In fact, that gave her the information she needed to help Cookie hurt him. Cookie and Anika working together will never last long but they at least have the same goal right now.
- Jamal is really starting to be naive in his thinking about his father. He knows just how horrible this man can be. Now that Lucious is giving him the attention he has always wanted though, he's willing to do just about anything in order to keep their dynamic happy and healthy.
- Jamal is also getting really picky about people he can work with on his new music. He wasn't always like that. But finding success in the business and approval from his father has changed him. At least Becky is willing to still tell him like it is.
- Frank Gathers' daughter seems like a lot more trouble than she's worth. And yet, that makes her almost perfect for a new artist for Lucious to mentor.
- Anika to Cookie: "You are badder than all the animals whose prints occupy your wardrobe."
