'Empire' Season 2, Episode 7 Recap

After watching this week's episode of Empire, it's sad to say the show is slowly losing its edge. From predictable scenes to tawdry script writing, the primetime hit that feared no evil with record-breaking viewership is in need of an immediate comeback. Just to be clear, the fall in interest and viewers has nothing to do with the music, so Tim, keep rocking that "Boom Boom Boom!" But in the meantime, let's recap last night's episode of the hip-hopera.

As usual, Jamal's looking to perfect his sound with a new song. Not getting what he needs from his father, the middle cub turns to Cookie for help. With a little cellular technology and music savvy, Cook -- as Porsche so affectionately calls her -- tells Jamal to flip the script, drop a beat and come in under the music, and voilà, it's the birth of another Jamal-Cookie production.

The two create an unearthly sound that touches the soul, and catches the ear of Huey Jarvis (played by Clarence Williams III), a music mogul and mentor to Lucious. Jarvis hosts a music series called the Living Room Sessions, which has fostered music awards for every artist that's performed on its stage in the past five years.

While Jamal receives an invitation to perform his new track in Huey's Living Room, Lucious is pining for a place in the spotlight. He hopes to use the platform to present "Boom Boom Boom" to the world, but Jarvis tells him the song just isn't there yet because he needs to "dig deeper" and find the emotion he "keeps locked up so tight."

Well, it turns out the emotion Lucious keeps locked up has everything to do with his mother and her bipolar disorder controlling his childhood. During this episode, he has continual flashbacks to his mother, played by Kelly Rowland, tearing up the house looking for her bullets not knowing that he buried them away from her in the backyard. In the middle of a threesome with Springtime (aka some random girl named April) and Mimi, Lucious has an epiphany. He embraces his dark side and wants to use the gun his mom used to play Russian Roulette (she put the gun to her head) and take the sound of the turning cylinder to bring life to his music.

As flashbacks and family drama continue, fans finally learn that Hakeem's girl group is definitely still named Mirage a Trois. Unfortunately, Laura's not cutting it as the group's lead singer, so Hakeem brings Tiana in to show her how to pop her persona so she can be the center of the group's attention. And after she passes all the tests, Hakeem and Cookie use the group to announce "hip-hop's biggest jam," Cookie's Cookout. However, the outcome of that event is still to be determined.

Finally, in other Empire news, Andre announces the importance of Empire starting its own streaming service, but Mimi convinces Lucious to partner with a company called Swift Stream, the second largest streaming company on the market (in the world of make believe). So if any loyal viewers are wondering where that storyline takes us, stay tuned for next week's rendition of family, fame and frauds.

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