Unto the Breach

“	You have to understand, when a man in my position says 'please,' it means something. When a man like me says 'hear me out,' you hear me out, 'cause your life could depend on it.	”
—Lucious Lyon to Anika Calhoun

Unto the Breach
Season One, Episode Nine
Air date:	March 4, 2015
Writers:	Lee Daniels Danny Strong
Director:	Anthony Hemingway
previous “The Lyon's Roar”		next “Sins of the Father”

Unto the Breach is the ninth episode of the first season of FOX's TV series, Empire, and the ninth episode overall. The episode aired on March 4, 2015.

It's an all-out war when Cookie uncovers Anika's big backstabbing secret, and Lucious must come face-to-face with his longtime rival, Billy Beretti (guest star Judd Nelson). As the Lyon family rallies to save Empire Entertainment, all three sons take drastic measures: Jamal gets close with famous artist Delphine (guest star Estelle), Hakeem works hand-in-hand with Cookie and Andre is pushed way beyond his limits.

Plot

The episode starts with the wedding planner talking to Lucious and Anika. Cookie comes in yelling for Lucious and tells him that Anika is playing him. Cookie kicks out the wedding planner and tells Lucious that Anika has been with Billy Beretti. Porsha reveals that Anika was paying her to spy on Cookie, but she spied right back on Anika for Cookie. Cookie walks out. Lucious demands to know what Anika has done.

Anika glares at him and walks out. Cookie throws out Anika’s clothes while Lucious calls Malcolm to lock down Empire. Anika is on the phone when Porsha snatches it out of her hand. Lucious asks if Anika was buying time with the wedding plans. Anika says she knows it’s not over with Cookie but he screams that it is. She says he’s stringing her along and she’s tired of it. She says he made her treacherous by twisting her love.

Lucious says he was wrong and is scared about his impending death. He asks what she planned with Beretti so he can fix it. Anika says he’s lying. Cookie calls out to security to let her take the car. Anika says she will walk out with nothing. Lucious says if she tells Beretti about his ALS, he will make sure her father is convicted of fraud. Anika just looks at him then starts to walk down the driveway. She stops at the gate. Two large SUVs pull up at the estate's gate. Anika goes to get in one of the vehicles, but Lucious grabs the door handle before opening the door for Anika. Beretti is in the back seat and Lucious tells him that Beretti started it but he’s going to finish it.

Jamal is recording a video. He watches the playback with Ryan. Ryan tells him that the cover of his dad’s song was brilliant. Jamal kisses Ryan as Porsha comes in and says they’re at war and Cookie needs him at Empire now.

Lucious calls everyone into the conference room. Cookie says he tried to warn him about her. Malcolm says they’re sweeping hard drives and checking cell phones, promising to neutralize this enemy.

Andre is looking at his medicine bottle. He takes some and then thinks about Lucious saying he’d never run Empire, and spits them out. He then dumps the rest of his meds down the toilet. He hides the bottle from Rhonda when she brings him his phone.

Everyone is working to lock down Empire artists. Jamal is on point. Cooke locks down Elle. Hakeem says they’re going to blow Creedmoor to the ground. Lucious tells him to tuck in and learn. Lucious says Beretti is testing their heart and says they all have to put their differences aside to let everyone know that Empire is stronger than ever. He says they have to show they can keep their artists and take who they want. He tells them to draw blood.

Jamal says he’s trying to sign Delphine. Lucious says not to contact Royale-T since he might have an issue with Jamal coming out. Cookie says she’ll take care of him after Lucious says they need someone ghetto to deal with him. Over at Creedmoor, Anika is listening to V with Beretti. Billy tells her he’s going to do more for her in a week than Lucious did for her in a year. She thanks him and goes. Anika says she spoke to Lil Cherry and Industry and they’re coming over.

Anika says Tiana is more of a challenge but Beretti really wants her. Lucious rants when Andre arrives late. He says they have to pay cash incentives. Jamal says they don’t need to use hookers and blow but Lucious says him flying his freak flag didn’t help. Jamal retorts that it was Lucious’ sexual proclivities that landed Empire in this spot, not his.

Beretti tells Anika that he still misses his son, who died of leukemia at age nine. He says Lucious was the first artist he signed after his son's death and when he ran, it threw him off. He asks Anika what will help take Lucious down. He asks if he’s gambling or doing drugs. She asks why they’re talking about this. She says she’s there for the music but Billy says Lucious hurts people all the time and gets away with it and they need to stop it. Anika says they need to keep this professional and he says he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Cookie shows up at Ghetto Ass Studios to talk to Royale-T. She asks why he’s hanging with Creedmoor people. Cookie tells him she’s done federal hard time and agrees to a drink off with the Creedmoor group. Ryan compliments Delphine as Jamal shows up. She says she admires what he did coming out at the White Party, asking Jamal to sing with her.

Lucious meets with Travie who tells him that labels are old and dying and he can release direct on the internet for more money. He says he’s done share cropping. Lucious says they’re going public to help protect assets as Andre interrupts they’re having their own streaming service. Andre is selling hard but Travie says he can’t pay him 30%. Andre replies that they can cut it in half and both make more money. Travie says his people will call him. He finishes his drink and Hakeem shows him out.

Cookie gets drunk with Royale-T and she’s the last one standing. He says if she can walk after that next shot, he’ll stay. He pours them one more shot. Cookie toasts to Empire and they shoot down their purple hooch. Cookie sets her cup down and stands. She tells him she’ll see him at Empire. Hakeem rants to Lucious about letting Andre run all over him. Jamal calls Lucious again and says Delphine’s contract is up and they can get her if he can meet her tonight.

Cookie is very drunk as she leaves the studio. Some guy tries to grab her purse but Malcolm stops him and helps Cookie to her car. She flirts hard with Malcolm, but he rebuffs her explaining that Lucious is his boss and is still in love with her. He says that makes her off limits. He shoves her into the SUV while she begs him to take her. He gets her in the SUV and slams the door. Becky says she has a source that says that Travie is headed to meet Beretti.

Hakeem is with Jamal and they’re all looking for Andre. They see Andre who says he took all the cash and bought a Lamborghini. Hakeem says their dad is going to be mad. Andre goes nuts and they argue as the elevator shuts down. Andre has a break down and then starts talking to himself about giving the car to someone so their dad doesn’t have to know. Hakeem and Jamal try to calm him down and agree to help.

Lucious rolls up to confront Beretti who says he’s too late. Lucious says he bought another punk ass rock star and Beretti says Anika talks in her sleep and mumbles his name. Each of their guards pulls weapons and Lucious says he got what he needed from Anika and got rid of her just like he did with Beretti. Billy pulls his gun and Lucious says he used to pity him when he lost his son but says he has no more pity for him. He says he and Travie deserve each other. They roll out.

Malcolm says someone on the 18th floor is hacking them and shut down the elevator and systems. They’re trying to get control of it. Andre continues to panic in the elevator and calls his brothers babies. He says he works harder and made Empire. He starts screaming 8 to 10 every day then says he goes home and works. Jamal tries to comfort him and says he always calmed them down when they were babies by singing. He asks what song it was.

Jamal sings Lean on Me to Andre to calm him. He tells Andre that’s his part. He sings the hook and Jamal sings with him. Andre is all sweaty and looks scary. The two of them start to sing then Hakeem join in. They all hug each other and Andre starts to come down a little. Becky laments that Creedmoor is beating them. Lucious comes in asking why his sons got stuck in an elevator and Jamal asks again about Delphine.

Cookie comes in saying Tiana is on the way to meet Anika. Lucious says he’ll handle it. Cookie says Delphine is bigger than Tiana. Cookie says she’ll get Tiana and tells Hakeem to come with her while Jamal and Lucious go meet Delphine. Lucious says he doesn’t want her while Jamal says this is a heart check and says he needs to step up and take some heads off. He says Delphine idolizes Lucious and wants to work with Jamal. Jamal tells Lucious to put aside his played out homophobia unless he thinks it’s more important than Empire.

Lucious tells them to lock Andre in the building while they find Rhonda. Andre says he has to go find Travie. Malcolm tries to calm him down and it gets physical. Anika gets out of a taxi when Hakeem runs up to her and asks why she’s doing this. He says his dad hurts them all and they forgive him. She says that’s the problem with their family. Hakeem says she’s family and belongs with them. She says she loves Lucious but can’t keep doing this with him. She says she has to make the best of this.

Anika sees Cookie inside with Tiana. Hakeem says he knows his dad has done her wrong. Porsha and Hakeem's friends block Anika from going inside. They tell her that Anika was lying when she said Lucious wanted him fired. Tiana says she wants to get back with Hakeem if she comes back to Empire. Hakeem says he’s still in love with Camilla. He says he’s not going to lie to him. Cookie says she’s family and says Beretti doesn’t care about her and it’s just a war for him.

Cookie says she should make the right decision for her career. Delphine tells Lucious that he must be so proud of Jamal. Lucious says he’s a beast. Her manager says that he tried to get Empire to sign her but Anika turned her away. Lucious says he would handle her personally. Lucious offers to sing with her and Jamal and they take the stage at Leviticus to sing "You’re So Beautiful". He sits at the piano and plays. He sings and then Delphine joins in. Jamal joins in and they do the hook together. Then Tiana shows up and Jamal introduces her, Hakeem and Cookie. Hakeem takes over and sings then Tiana comes up and sings with them. Cookie sits at the piano with Lucious and they all sing as a family. The crowd eats it up and Tiana is thrilled.

Rhonda is with Andre in the conference room and he’s still not coping. He curses and throws stuff around. He says he can’t get it right and he tells her not to tell him to clam down. Lucious shows up and Andre screams out that Lucious has never been on his side. He tells Andre he loves him. Andre says you should pick the son to run your business that knows you’re a murderer. Andre starts talking about himself in the third person and then threatens to kill Malcolm. The EMTs arrive and they sedate Andre. They ask Lucious to sign the papers for a 48 hour hold. Lucious points them over to Rhonda, who is freaking out. She signs the papers as Andre is taken out.

Cast

Main Cast

• Terrence Howard as Lucious Lyon
• Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon
• Trai Byers as Andre Lyon
• Jussie Smollett as Jamal Lyon
• Bryshere Gray as Hakeem Lyon
• Grace Gealey as Anika Calhoun
• Malik Yoba as Vernon Turner
• Kaitlin Doubleday as Rhonda Lyon

Recurring Cast

• Derek Luke as Malcolm DeVeaux
• Gabourey Sidibe as Becky Williams
• Serayah as Tiana Brown
• Eka Darville as Ryan Morgan
• Judd Nelson as Billy Beretti
• Ta'Rhonda Jones as Porsha Taylor
• Leah Jeffries as Lola Lyon

Guest Cast

• Estelle as Delphine

Songs

Song Title	Performer(s)
All of the Above	Jamal Lyon
Black & Blue	Veronica
Conqueror	Delphine and Jamal Lyon
You're So Beautiful (Full Cast Version)	Delphine, Lucious, Jamal, Hakeem and Tiana