Empire Season 5 Episode 17 Review: My Fate Cries Out
Paul Dailly
at
.
Oh damn.
On Empire Season 5 Episode 17, Andre geared up to take his own life, but not before he tried to save the company one last time.
At the same time, the FBI continued its pursuit of the Lyons, and everyone associated with Empire was fair game.
When it got down to it, Lucious was prepared to be with his son throughout his final night, but he felt so helpless in the process.
Andre's back was against the wall. His heart was about to give up on him, and he knew it was only a matter of time before his other organs followed suit.
Of course, this is Empire, and there were some twists along the way. It wouldn't be a soapy drama without some wild moments thrown in for good measure, would it?
In hindsight, Andre will probably be mad about leaving the letters for his family in such an easy place to find, but it looks like there's no way out of this one for him.
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All the pieces of the puzzle fitted together for Cookie. The moment she started reading that letter, she recognized that her son was actually saying his goodbyes to everyone throughout that fateful day.
The mad dash to the suite he spent much of his younger years in was particularly tense. It seemed like the perfect moment to pull the rug from under viewers to reveal that the last supper between Lucious and Andre had occurred before Cookie finding the letters.
It was a pleasant surprise that Cookie got there in time. I don't know what to make of Andre keeling over and passing out as Cookie flipped out at Lucious. Did Andre have a heart attack, or was it another complication from the aftermath of his chemotherapy?
If Andre does pull through to live another day, he's going to be confronted by a lot of angry family members, especially Terri, who is pregnant.
These checks are bouncing harder than Cardi B's butt in her twerking video.
Porsha
When Teri confirmed she would be able to carry the baby to term, it seemed evident that would be a driving force for Andre realizing it was time to fight until the bitter end.
In all honesty, Andre's health woes arc has been handled so delicately. Empire Season 5 has been a shaky season, with some good moments, and some bad.
But everything about this storyline hit me right in the feels. Andre has done some downright horrible things over the years, but he doesn't deserve to go out like this.
We have the big death coming up on Empire Season 5 Episode 18, and there's a good chance Andre will survive. Empire is one of those shows that likes to keep the audience wondering what's going on.
It seems too obvious now to have Andre in that casket. The only other person I can think of being in there is Kingsley.
His arc fizzled out in the middle of the season, and he felt like a distant memory for a while. He's now back at the center of the drama, and offering up $10 million to bring the firm back from the brink.
I'm always going to love you, no matter what.
Andre
It would make sense that he would start to make strides with the Lyons before he takes his final bow. A part of me thinks the person in the casket is going to be killed by Damon Cross or his men.
Early into Empire Season 5, the FBI showed Lucious the pictures of Cookie and Damon in Panama. There has to be some significance to that here.
There's no chance Cookie is dying, so it's likely that Damon has something to do with the upcoming death.
Kingsley being fatally wounded would not surprise me. Hey, this would probably result in a wild moment that would allow Andre to get his heart.
There's so many balls up in the air with this show right now, that it's difficult to understand how all of this is going to play out.
It's possible that Cookie and Lucious will be over forever after all of this.Cookie is not going to be able to return to the way things were with Lucious.
He was about to help their son die without consulting her. There's no way back from that. They do say that time heals all wounds, but there's no way Cookie is going to be able to get over this.
Lucious helping Andre was driven by his own brush with death early into "My Fate Cries Out."
Those scenes with the people who Lucious either murdered or watched being murdered were a perfect way to show how Lucious was feeling about how helpless he was.
Cookie: Can I call you Cookie?
Conway: Can I call you Bitch?
The callbacks to previous episodes were on point. A show that honors its past is a show that's worth watching.
That being said, can we please cancel Hakeem and Tiana? I'll say this until I'm blue in the face, but I'm done caring for them.
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They were both happy moving on in their own lives, and now they're being pushed back together again. This penultimate episode was the best the show's been in years, but we didn't need anything about this couple.
It does, however, present an obstacle. It's clear the creative minds behind the show are struggling to write content for Hakeem and Tiana without having it be about them in a relationship.
If they can't be given solo content or even anything that shows some semblance of them co-parenting, then they should probably be written out.
Then there was Giselle. Nicole Ari Parker appeared is a real scene stealer, but the material for her has been pitiful during this half-season.
I did like her realizing that Kelly was trying to get her into his bed to talk about her future, and the fact that she shut him down was excellent.
She's in a great place in her career, and Kelly is the last man she needs. For a while, Empire was serving all of the characters well, and I hope that Empire Season 6 returns to that line of storytelling.
What did you think of the episode?
Are you on board with the way things are playing out? Who's in the casket?
Remember you can watch Empire online right here via TV Fanatic.
Empire Season 5 conclues Wednesday, May 8.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
