‘Empire’ Recap: Anika Gets Out Of Prison — Plus, Lucious & Claudia Grow Closer

Anika is out and ready to get her baby back! The Oct. 4 episode of ‘Empire’ also featured Lucious running into an old friend, and Andre meeting a beautiful and mysterious new woman.

As if Lucious’s life couldn’t get any worse, his mom tries to drown him again. When will someone lock Leah up for good? The woman is dangerous with a capital D! Thank goodness Cookie is moving in. She can keep an eye on everyone. Cookie’s determined to get the old Lucious back. She’s not giving up. “You hurry up and fix my man or we are going to have a problem,” Cookie tells Claudia.

Andre crosses paths with a beautiful woman at the bar. They hit it off right away. They head to the bathroom to have sex, but Andre can’t get it up because of new medication he’s on. He’s more than a little embarrassed, especially when the woman says he just missed out on the “best piece of ass you would have ever had.” Andre is intrigued, to say the least.

Anika has spent the last 5 months in jail, and the girl is ready to get out. When the judge wants her to remain in jail for killing Tariq (which she didn’t do), she rushes to Hakeem and urges him to get Cookie. She says to tell Cookie that she remembers the day January 7, 2015, the day Bunkie was killed. Hakeem relays the message, and Cookie and Thirsty pay Anika a visit. Anika’s got leverage. Thirsty has a plan, and Anika follows along just like she’s supposed to.

Becky is hard at work trying to get new music out of Hakeem and Jamal. She doesn’t have to worry about Hakeem, but Jamal is a different story. When he refuses to make changes to a song, Becky gives his vocals to Tori. The producer loves Tori’s version. Jamal thinks Becky stabbed him in the back, but Cookie compliments Becky for doing what she had to do. She promotes her to head of A&R and gives her a raise.

Lucious and Claudia head to a restaurant to try and jog his memory. When one of the waiters brings up the name Eddie Barker, Lucious sneaks out to go find him. He wants answers. Lucious finds Eddie, played by Forest Whitaker, at a wedding. When Claudia realizes Lucious is missing, she freaks out and runs to Cookie. Cookie soon realizes that Lucious is with Eddie so he’s safe. When Eddie starts telling Lucious a story about his past, Lucious begins to have terrifying flashbacks.

Eddie brings Lucious home. Once Lucious has walked away, Cookie spills her guts. Eddie lifts her spirits and urges her not to give up. Eddie leaves and Cookie soon finds Leah going through her drawers looking for a gun. She openly admits she killed Tariq. Cookie doesn’t waste any time having Leah committed. She fills in Lucious and Claudia on what’s happening. Leah tries to attack Claudia before she’s taken away, but she doesn’t do any damage.

Andre and Thirsty meet with some detectives looking into Giuliana, and one of them is none other than the girl from the bar! The girl’s name is Pamela. She swears to Andre that she didn’t know who he was at the bar. The chemistry is real between these two!

At a press conference, Cookie announces that Empire will release 20 albums before the end of the year. Andre thought that Cookie was going to announce the sale of Empire Xstream, so this definitely took Andre by surprised. Andre is pissed. He knows he’s the one who’s going to have to find the money to fund all of this.

Anika is released from prison and goes directly to Hakeem’s place to see Bella. She finds Tiana holding her daughter. Anika is left shocked and confused. You know she’s not going to stand for this!

Lucious wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Claudia leaving. Claudia doesn’t think Lucious trusts her, so she has to leave. Shockingly, Lucious says that Claudia is the only person he does trust. Poor Cookie! Lucious begs Claudia not to leave. She caves and comforts the sad man in her arms.

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