The fourth episode of Empire’s second season, Poor Yorick, is probably my favourite of the season so far. It’s a thoroughly entertaining hour that sees plenty of exciting conflict as well as Taraji P. Henson at her best.
With Lucious having bought the radio station and signed Hakeem’s girl group at the end of last week’s episode, Poor Yorick sees a continuation of the divide between Emprie and Lyon Dynasty. However, both parties run into trouble before the title card (including an opening two minutes that is excellently put together) and Cookie and Lucious agree a deal. Part of that deal includes Jamal, who is really trying to get back onto the music side of things, and Hakeem coming together to shoot a collaborative music video, in the hopes that both sides will benefit. The relationship between the brothers really changes throughout the episode and by the end… well, I don’t want to spoil it for you. But things will probably never be the same between them.
Taraji P. Henson is truly excellent during this episode. So far this season, she’s been great to watch, but nothing quite like her first season performance. Poor Yorick sees her get closer to that as she’s given huge amounts to do. It’s exhilarating to watch as Cookie goes through the highs and the lows throughout this episode.
Andre’s story has been better this year, but it has dragged slightly with his desperation to rejoin Empire and his failure to do anything in order to facilitate it. That changes in this episode, as Andre looks to give his father what he needs that no one else can give him. Again, I won’t spoil it, but I’m much happier with how his story plays out this week than I have been for quite some time.
Poor Yorick airs this Wednesday, 14th October, at 9pm on FOX.
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