Empire: Cast of “Et Tu Brute”

“Et Tu Brute” was the 10th episode of “Empire” Season 2 (12-2-2015), and we don’t have to tell you what Shakespeare play that is from. As Alanis Morissette would say, you oughta know.

There were a bunch of cameos in this episode with Jason DeRulo, Nicole Richie, Joel Madden and Charlamagne Tha God all playing themselves.

After Jamal and Skye Summers performed their new song, “Powerful,” Charlamagne Tha God put Skye on the spot about being black and that was also when she found out that Jamal is gay, after she slept with him.

We got to meet Lady Athena, the warden Pepper talked about in the last episode. She was played by Jacqueline Williams and she gave Cookie permission to talk to Jezzy, who was played by Da Brat. Cookie had previously told Hakeem what a great rapper Jezzy is, but Cookie stayed out of touch with Jezzy for too long. Jezzy is now serving life and ain’t interested in rhyming or in Cookie’s “charity.” Presumably, there will be more on this when the show picks back up next March.

The hostile takeover of Empire got a little more hostile than anticipated when Mimi’s wife turned out to be none other than Camilla (Naomi Campbell), Hakeem’s cougar from Season 1. She was the one Mimi was talking to on the phone and now it’s time for Lucious and Cookie to pay for separating her from Hakeem. Camilla apparently still has power over Hakeem, enough to cause him to vote “Aye” instead of the one “Nay” Lucious needed to hold on to his company. Cookie showed up right after that and spit in Camilla’s face. How do they do that? She must’ve had a mouthful of water. Still nasty.

And speaking of nasty, how did you like that part when Thirsty tried to persuade Edna (Sara Sevigny) to vote Nay on the elevator. Thirsty, that was gross! And everyone else knows you’re supposed to agree on the price before, not after.

More Notes:

• Lucious gloated to Cookie when Freda Gatz got the rap nomination at the American Sound Awards instead of Hakeem. He also denied Cookie’s assistance in finding a new venue for her Cookout.
• Both Lucious and Jamal were nominated for Song of the Year, for “Boom Boom Boom” and “Heavy.” What can we say? We have mentioned before how much we hate “Boom Boom Boom,” right?
• Anika repaid Rhonda for being her friend by breaking into her home and knocking her down the stairs so that her baby, and not Rhonda’s, can be the heir to Empire and that ended with Andre trying to call Rhonda on the phone to inform her of the Song of the Year nominations, unaware that she was lying at the bottom of the staircase, either dead or unconscious.
• Did we miss someone or was Jago Locke the only non-Lyon at the board meeting to vote Nay?
• No more Empire until the very end of March 2016.

The Stars of Empire:
Terrence Howard – Lucious Lyon
Taraji P. Henson – Cookie Lyon
Bryshere Y. Gray – Hakeem Lyon
Jussie Smollett – Jamal Lyon
Trai Byers – Andre Lyon

Also in this episode:
Kaitlin Doubleday – Rhonda Lyon
Grace Gealey – Anika Calhoun
Gabourey Sidibe – Becky
Alicia Keys – Skye Summers
William Fichter – Jameson Henthrop
Marisa Tomei – Mimi Whiteman
Naomi Campbell – Camilla
Andre Royo – Thirsty Rawlings
Serayah – Tiana Brown
Jamila Velazquez – Laura Calleros
AzMarie Livingston – Chicken
Terria Joseph – Judith
Mercedes White – Spider
Shayla Day-Davenport – Inmate
Dan Flanner – Tony “Tricky” Trichter
Patrick Mulvey – Jago Locke
Will Kinnear – Leonard Bernstein
Sara Sevigny – Edna
Reggie Baker – Ralph Anderson
Questlove (voiceover)
Angela Yee (voiceover)