Empire came back this week, and I was disappointed to see Rhonda fall on the top of the car! Yep, Anika is still alive, though she might not had survived Andre choking her if her water didn't break. At the hospital she gave birth to a girl, Bella. Hakeem had run off from the wedding, had some drinks, and ended up at Tiana's. So he missed Bella's birth, and Lucious took his place in the labor and delivery room. He told Anika to lie and say Rhonda jumped, called Anika out for lying about the sex of the baby, and put his name on Bella's birth certificate (since he and Anika are married). And being Lucious, you know he takes many opportunities to make Hakeem feel like Lucious is Bella's real daddy. SMH.
Andre is of course having a hard time with the loss of his wife, no longer wanting anything to do with God or His plans. Jamal convinces him to come stay with him so he won't be alone. Which turns out to be a good thing when Jamal walks in on Andre talking to a hallucination of Rhonda who is agreeing with Andre's realization that he should have believed Rhonda.
Having to prove their marriage isn't fake after Anika discharges herself and Bella from the hospital unbeknownst to Lucious, Lucious has to have his security intercept Anika before she goes home from the hospital to move her into his house. There, Anika encounters Lucious' mother, who doesn't hold back when she tells Anika she doesn't know why Lucious would marry someone like Anika. She even threw in that she knew Anika was trying to poison her! And this is all while walking closer and closer to Anika with a knife pointing towards her! Hmmm...these two may have it out by the end of the season. My bet is on Leah!
Meanwhile, Hakeem is working on a new song with Shyne, who kinda bulldozed/blackmailed himself and his artist, Nessa, into Empire. He produced the beat for Hakeem's new song and got Lucious to agree to have Nessa sing background and the bridge for Jamal's performance at the concert launching Empire's streaming service (which Baby and French Montana declined to give exclusive rights to their catalogues to...that whole attempt to win them over over a game of poker made me of course think of Jay and Tidal and the millions of dollars it's losing...will Empire's streaming company have the same fate??).
Jamal practiced a song Lucious didn't approve, opting for the ask for forgiveness instead of permission route. Why? Well because in addition to the song being about gun violence and Black lives that have been taken (even naming some by name!), it was also about "Free Freda!" And it was that "Free Freda" part that Jamal didn't want his father to find out about before the show. Freda's trial was stalled, and her attorneys weren't doing anything about it. And though Freda shot Jamal, he felt his father was ultimately to blame for the entire thing.
The thing is, Jamal is still not fully recuperated from being shot and is in some pain and on pain meds. And the night of the show, as the music starts up, Jamal is overcome by flashbacks to the night of the shooting and likely physical pain, as well. He's escorted off the stage by Hakeem as he has a panic attack, with Hakeem telling the band to keep playing. They keep playing for a minute, but Jamal is still not able to regain his composure. And before you know it, as the music continues to play to a confused audience who only sees a band and Nessa, Nessa eventually steps up to the main mic and begins to sing the song. And it was great!! So great Shyne tells Lucious they have some business to handle as partners. So great Lucious is upset with Jamal, because now Nessa is the face of their streaming company, and he let his anger be known. So great I think I spied Tiana giving Nessa some side eye from the balcony during the performance!
At home, Cookie found herself having to deal with her two sisters trying to get her to talk with Tariq, which she of course doesn't, and feeling hurt by Lucious marrying Anika. She tells Lucious he's ruined it and anything they had is now dead. But it looks like Lucious hasn't completely given up on them. And Tariq hasn't completely given up on taking down Lucious either. Lucious ultimately invites Tariq to a family dinner, he is after all Lucious' half-brother. The whole family was there, and Tariq took stabs at each and every one of them pointing out how Lucious has wronged them. The family stood strong though, with Cookie eventually asking Tariq to leave after he went in on her and Lucious' relationship causing the boys to stand up for their mother. But I suspect at some point during their family dinner Tariq got up to the nursery, perhaps to see his niece/great-neice. Either that or he had someone planted when they set up that nursery, because he has a nanny cam in the nursery!!