In Boo Boo Kitty land, she's talking with Beretti about continuing to poach Empire's stars. But what Beretti really wants to know is what Lucious' Achilles heel is. Is he gambling again? On that stuff? Still switching up hairstyles from week to week with no explanation? While Anika seems to want to reveal Lucious' ALS diagnosis, she knows doing so will open up her dear old dad to a fraud investigation. Instead, they decide that Anika should set her sights on Tianna (remember her?). Not because she's a big draw, though — she hasn't even released an album yet — but because she's Hakeem's girlfriend. Umm, did they not get the memo?
At Empire, Jamal and Hakeem are on an elevator up to the offices and wondering, once again, where Andre is? They soon have their answer as Dre gets on at the next floor. Unfortunately for them, he's talking in third person and is in full-on manic mode. After announcing that he bought a Lamborghini with the slush fund money (say what?) he proceeds to do what many a viewer has wanted to do all season when he hems Hakeem up in a corner. Somehow, this shuts the elevator down, though it's not exactly clear why. Luckily, Jamal, ever the middle child, remembers a song their mother used to sing to calm them when they were children. And that song is..."Lean on Me"?! Really?! Anywho, it does the trick and the fellas share a brotherly hug in one of the episode's more tender moments.
There's nothing tender about Lucious' moment with Beretti after Lucious discovers that Travie ain't loyal and has crossed over to Creedmoor. They have a stand off, complete with guns, in broad daylight in the middle of Chicago New York. But, while, being ready to have a gunfight in the middle of the afternoon, Lucious decides that Travie and Beretti deserve each other and cuts his losses. However, upon getting back to Empire, he learns that Anika has Tianna in her sites. Cookie and Hakeem go to handle that situation while Jamal finally talks some business sense into Lucious and they head to Leviticus to seal the deal with Delphine. Andre, however, stays behind as he's become too unstable, eventually forcing Malcolm and crew to choke slam him against the boardroom table. [Sidenote: I'm almost positive that this isn't how bipolar disorder works, but we have to give it to Trai Byers for going full crazy in this episode.]
Next, we see Anika on her way to meet with Tianna, but she's deal-blocked by Hakeem, he lays it on thick before Anika discovers the ruse and once again ends up with her face cracked. We also discover that Tianna wants to stay at Empire, but only if she and Hakeem can be "Takeem" again. Why she would want to go back to that "Drip Drop" mess, we don't know, but Hakeem deads that as he's still in luh with cougar lady Camilla. But that doesn't matter, because Cookie convinces Tianna that, in her hands, she can make Tianna more than the Rihanna knock-off that she is. At Leviticus, Lucious and Jamal barely have to convince Delphine to sign, as she's already anxious to work with the legendary Lucious Lyon (really, girl?), and they decided to commemorate the occasion by singing yet another rendition of "You're So Beautiful." While the audience wonders why Empire hates us so, in strolls Cookie, Hakeem and Tianna to join in on the fun like this is an episode of Glee. We'll forgive them this trespass, though. But just this once.
While the crisis has been averted, there is still one more loose end to tie up: Andre. He's back at the office effing ish up while Rhonda watches helplessly. Lucious tries to talk to him, but Dre ain't having that, leaving his father with a brilliant piece of business advice: When picking your successor in a musical empire, it's probably best to go with the one who knows for a fact that you're a murder and can put you away. But Lucious has other plans as he's called the boys from the local psych ward to commit Andre on a 48-hour hold and gets Rhonda to sign off on it. Damn, Dre!
With only one episode left before the two-hour season finale, things can only get more interesting from here. And next episode promises to be interesting with a cameo from Jennifer Hudson as a musical therapist that might end up making sweet music with Andre. Will JHud be able to fix Andre's broken psyche or will Rhonda have to dig deep into her bib stash? We'll find out next week and 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. And, as always, check back next Thursday for the SoulBounce recap.
