‘Empire’ Recap: Lucious Struggles To Adjust After His Brush With Death

Lucious is alive, but he’s not the same Lucious. On the ‘Empire’ season 4 premiere, Cookie tries to get Lucious to remember his life, Demi Moore stirs up trouble, and Andre fears he’ll be exposed.

Cookie and the family are filming a TV special to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Empire. While they make it seem like everything is fine, everything is NOT fine. With Lucious not around, the Lyons don’t feel normal. Lucious’s absence is hard on Cookie. She’s juggling everything at Empire. She does bring Lucious to the 20th anniversary celebration, and they run into Carlotta from Star! She wants Lucious to help with Star, Simone, and Alex’s careers. If she had run into the Lucious before the accident, he would have dismissed Carlotta immediately. Lucious tells Carlotta that he wants to help. Cookie pulls him away and walks him into the crowd of people waiting for him. Suddenly, he completely freaks out.

The show then flashes back to 24 hours earlier. Cookie is overwhelmed with handling all of Lucious’s priorities at Empire. Andre is helping her out, but he’s preoccupied with the thought of getting exposed. Andre is worried about the Vegas cops arresting Giuliana. She could spill the beans about how Andre wanted to kill Lucious. There’s someone else snitching, too. Shine later kills the snitch. Meanwhile, Diane still has Hakeem under her thumb. He’s been complying with her demands for months, but he’s getting sick of Diane using Bella. Well, Diana’s got proof that Hakeem betrayed his family. He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Claudia accompanies Lucious when he arrives. Lucious lost a leg as a result of the accident. WTF?! He tells Cookie right off the bat that he’s not going to participate in the special. He’s not Lucious Lyon anymore. He’s Dwight. He still doesn’t remember anything about his past.

One thing is for certain: Cookie is not a fan of Claudia. Claudia has Lucious wrapped around her finger. At one point, he asks if he can kiss her! She’s warned the family not to bring up any painful memories to Lucious. Cookie keeps her prison time a secret — for now. Later, Lucious confronts Cookie about what happened the night of the accident. He doesn’t want to hide from it. Cookie explains everything, including how Lucious risked his life to save hers.

At family dinner, Lucious starts asking questions about the boys. He hits a sore spot when he asks Andre if he has a special someone. Trying to change the subject, Cookie asks Lucious if he’s listened to any more of his songs. She so desperately wants him to get his memories back. He says his songs give him a headache.

But there’s one song he likes, one that Cookie wrote. She wrote it in prison and never got credit for it. Lucious doesn’t understand why. Finally, Hakeem gets sick of being so gentle with Lucious. The boys start to fight, and Lucious loses it. He’s totally confused and angry that he can’t remember anything. His boys and Cookie wrap their arms around him. They’re not going to let him go.

At the 20th anniversary celebration, Tiana performs with Hakeem and Jamal. After Lucious freaks out backstage, Claudia calms him down. Lucious goes out in front of the crowd and puts on quite a show. He doesn’t hide the fact that he lost his leg. He also tells the world that Cookie wrote “Love Me.” He finally gives her the credit she deserves. After everyone’s gone, Lucious talks to Cookie about faking it for the crowd. “I wish I could remember,” he tells Cookie. “I just don’t.” He walks away from Cookie with Claudia. Cookie’s not going to give up on Lucious so easily. She knows he’ll remember everything one day. She’s Cookie Lyon. She’s unforgettable.

HollywoodLifers, what did you think of tonight’s episode of Empire? Let us know!