Empire Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Out, Damned Spot
Whitney Evans
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Another week, another winner. Empire Season 1 Episode 6 was pretty much a slam dunk from start to finish, with Cookie once again proving that she is not to be messed with.
The guest stars popping up have been wide ranging and they keep on coming, as tonight we got Courtney Love, Derek Luke, Sway and Raven Symone dropping by.
Courtney Love's Elle Dallas got the most screen time as a fledging artist Cookie was hoping to redeem. It seemed pretty impossible but this is Cookie we're talking about. She's not taking any crap from anyone.
As usual, Cookie was on fire tonight, whether she was helping Elle find her voice again, helping promote Jamal's music or upstaging Anika at her own engagement dinner.
That opening scene was hilarious, right? Poor Cookie thought Lucious was trying to rekindle their romance after that rose debacle in Empire Season 1 Episode 5, but no he was just gathering the family to tell them about his engagement.
So let me get this straight, last Wednesday you come to my house and give me a rose after you propose to this bitch?
Cookie [to Lucious]
Cookie was hiding quite the racy piece of lingerie under that jacket! I could not stop laughing. Cookie is a goddess.
Courtney Love played Elle beautifully, as a former star who was addicted to drugs and suddenly a shell of her former self. Cookie wanted to fight for her because that's what Cookie does. She fights for herself. She fights for Jamal. And now it was time for her to fight for Elle.
I'm not playing, Elle. Take it off. You need to sing about your pain. That's the real you or it ain't never gonna work. Take it off.
Cookie
Once Elle was able to shed the fakeness she was hiding behind, her sound came back. I hope we see more of Elle down the road because I liked the dynamic between her and Cookie.
When not dealing with Elle, Cookie was trying to promote Jamal's song. Twitter is the biggest thing out there right now, so it was clever of Cookie to enlist the help of an NFL player with millions of followers to help spread the word about the song. Pretty soon it was trending and Jamal's stock was rising.
Unfortunately, this new found success might mean the end of his relationship with Michael. We all kind of saw this coming, didn't we? Jamal and Michael make a nice pair but Cookie was right when she said fame changes people. If Jamal wants to make it big, then he's going to have to forgo those weekend trips and stay out working and promoting.
That interview with Sway was not the time to come out of the closet. When he does come out, which I think he will, it needs to be on his own terms and set up by he and Cookie.
Although, I'm kind of getting the vibe that someone is going to leak his sexuality to the press and that someone may be Hakeem. And it breaks my heart to even type that.
Hakeem is spiraling from the Tiana reveal and he and Jamal are still on very shaky grounds. I understand Jamal's anger after the shooting and he was actually right when he called Hakeem out for always disrespecting Cookie, but come on guys! Can we just hug this out already? I miss my favorite twosome!
They remembered Vernon was a regular cast member this week and gave him a ton to do.
Vernon: Did you do it?
Lucious: Did I do what?
Vernon: Did you kill Bunkie?
Not only did he have to confront Lucious, he had to put Andre in his place and get someone to take the fall for Bunkie's murder. That's a busy few days!
It's pretty clear that Vernon's endgame is to help Andre lead Empire and it looks like he's getting a little sick of doing everything Lucious says. I may watch way too many soap operas, but is it possible that Vernon is Andre's father?!?! I have no basis for this theory whatsoever. Please feel free to tell me I'm crazy in the comments.
Alright, we can't not talk about that shocker of an ending that made me scream out loud! Jamal has a daughter! Jamal has a daughter with Raven Symone! What?!?!
Olivia (Cosby Show reference?) showed up with the most adorable little girl and dropped the bomb on the whole family.
She wanted to meet her daddy.
Olivia [to Jamal]
CAN NOT WAIT TO SEE WHERE THIS GOES!
Random Notes
- Anika is trying to steal Porsha away from Cookie. I hope Porsha doesn't fall for this, but double the pay is always a tempting offer.
- Lucious now has a personal doctor and he bought his way into an experimental drug treatment out of Russia. I'm sure nothing bad is going to happen here.
- Hakeem was looking at pictures of Tiana and her girlfriend on TMi. Ha!
- Derek Luke is gorgeous and I would be 1000% on board for a Cookie/Malcolm hook up.
- I lost count of how many lines Vernon had (there were so many!)
- Song of the week? "I Wanna Love You" by Jamal was great. I was getting a Ne-Yo/Musiq Soulchild vibe with that song and I didn't hate it.
- Most likely to take over the Empire? Everything is still going pretty well for Andre and now that he knows Lucious killed Bunkie, he's got a lot of leverage.
Okay, it's your turn to tell me what you thought about "Out, Damned Spot". Were you liking Elle Dallas? Are you sad Jamal and Michael are on the rocks? Do you think Hakeem would out Jamal?
Let's talk about Empire people and remember to watch Empire online anytime via TVFanatic!
Whitney Evans is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lover of all things TV. Follow her on X.
