Lucious Lyon is a man of many layers.

His past was explored on Empire Season 2 Episode 13, and it made for some vintage TV. 

For so long, I've pegged him as the villain, but seeing his struggle play out on screen has made me see him in a whole new light. I'm not discounting every single one of his actions. The dude is as treacherous as you can get, but at least we know that there's a reason he became who he is. 

The flashbacks with Kelly Rowland throughout Empire Season 2 have been pretty good, but knowing that she's deceased leaves me with little hope of seeing her again. It seems like this whole episode was about him finally coming to terms with his mother's death. 

Oh, I didn't know vampires have shadows.

Cookie

• Permalink: Oh, I didn't know vampires have shadows.

People deal with death in a lot of different ways, and it's evident that Lucious has taken a very long time to deal with her death. He should think himself lucky that Cookie is still standing by his side. She was his rock, and it probably made him realize just how much she means to him. 

There was once a time that I prayed these two would never become an item again, but after this episode, I'm totally hoping they do. If it happens, hopefully the writers can manage a plausible way to keep them together this time. There's nothing that sucks more than when the two main characters are constantly ripped apart. 

Seeing Freda in the flesh and finding out she's Frank's daughter will probably change things considerably for Cookie. Will she really force Lucious to come clean about it, or will she try and pretend like she's none the wiser?

That's one of the more pressing questions as we approach the end of the season. Freda was way more likeable tonight.  I think it was when the penny dropped for her that Lucious isn't as great as he likes people to believe that helped me come to that conclusion. 

Her interactions with Jamal were very intriguing. It looks the two of them are going to strike up quite the friendship, but how will they both react when they find out what Lucious has done? Freda will most likely go after the family. It's not going to be pretty. 

Elsewhere, we got confirmation that both Mimi and Camilla were dead. Somehow I don't think that this will ring true. Empire is a primetime soap, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for a character to return from the dead. 

That said, it also ruins the credibility of shows when characters return from apparent deaths. If Empire Season 2 Episode 12 really was the end of the line for Naomi Campbell's Camilla, then it was a poor effort by the writers. I was so sure she would pop back up at some point. 

Aside from that, Rhonda decided she'd had enough of the Lyon family for good and moved in with Anika. This could be an interesting plot, but expect to be fooled into thinking Anika is a villain when she's probably not. A lot of people seem to think Anika was the one who sent Rhonda flying, but that would be too easy to figure out. 

"The Tameness Of A Wolf" was another solid episode of this sophomore hit. The show is moving along at a great pace, and it seems like the writers are managing to feature more characters. It was frustrating earlier in the season when people disappeared for episodes at a time!

Other tidbits from the episode:

• Does Hakeem love Lauren, or does he love the notion of having a family? Also, will Tiana really let him go? It seems like she's still into him.
• Everything to do with the tour was great. It served as a good breather from all the developments going on with the Lyon family.
• The chick who played Lucious' mother in the music video was very well cast. 
• Andre is about to spiral way out of control, but who will be around to save him if Rhonda is in cahoots with Anika?
• The birthday party was a dream come true for Cookie, right up until Andre realized his grandmother had a similar condition to him.

What did you think of the episode? What's coming next? Hit the comments below!

Remember you can watch Empire online right here on TV Fanatic. Get caught up on all the drama now!

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Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.