‘Empire’ Season 6, Episode 12 ‘Talk Less’ Review: Guilt, Blackouts, Bossy Woes

It’s all downhill from where the Lyon Empire stands. With Tracy out of the way, it would kind of make sense for this family to take things easy. But it looks like misfortune is still after them as Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) reels from the effects of Tracy’s death. Andre (Trai Byers) is haunted doubly by Kingsley’s (A.Z. Kelsey) mental ghost, now blaming him for the death of his mother. Among all the Lyons, though, Lucious appears to be the only one experiencing a glorious high. Sure, his relationship with Cookie is over—at least, that’s what they’re trying to show us—but his career continues to flourish thanks to Yana (Kiandra Richardson).

In this week’s episode of Empire, titled “Talk Less,” Lucious hunts for a record deal for Yana but is met with surprising feedback from the label execs. Meanwhile, Cookie struggles with her inability to shake memories of the secret she’s kept for so many years. Also, Lala (Diamond White), feeling neglected by her team at Bossy Media, pulls a dangerous stunt to take promotion into her own hands, and Andre suffers from brownouts and lapses of judgment as Kingsley pushes for more control (via FOX official episode logline).

“Talk Less” is less impressive than the previous episodes in the first half of season 6, but it’s significantly better than the midseason premiere last week. That being said, let’s jump into what went down on tonight’s episode of Empire.

Cookie Couldn’t Deal With Her Past Crimes

“Talk Less” opens with an intimate dinner turned shouting match. Andre and Teri got their own place to bring themselves out of the Lyon Mansion drama. But once a Lyon, always a dramatic son of a bitch. Wherever they go, you’re bound to get caught up in their drama. The shouting comes to a head when Teri arrives with the food but gets accidentally knocked by Lucious. Chaos ensues, and Cookie gets triggered by the sound of Teri’s plates falling. She’s taken back to the time when she shot Carol’s (Tasha Smith) former husband, Durrell (Bernard Gilbert).

It’s a secret that Cookie’s been keeping from Carol for a long time, and only resurfaced following the death of Tracy. This guilt kept on hounding Cookie throughout the episode. Her sisters Carol and Candace (Vivica A. Fox) were quick to offer their support, thinking that Cookie is suffering from PTSD after shooting Tracy. Little do they know that she is keeping something more sinister—one that could destroy their relationship as sisters. In the end, Cookie was left with no choice but to reveal the truth about Durrell’s death to Lucious. He used to beat Carol and their kids, and Cookie took it upon herself to threaten him. But when he advanced towards her, Cookie accidentally pulled the trigger on Durrell. Now that Lucious is in on the secret, will this bring a bit of clarity for Cookie, or will Lucious use this information against her?

Lucious Scores With Yana

As mentioned, Lucious seems to be the only one enjoying the current course of life. After Yana’s material gave enough reason for him to work with her, Lucious decides to take it up a notch. He’s now pitting record labels against each other in a bidding war for Yana to sign with them. A bunch of executives came to Yana’s showcase and each offered staggering amounts just so they could have Yana on their camp. But there’s one big caveat—they all want Yana, but Lucious has to step away (something Yana isn’t happy with either). They’re well aware of his conniving antics and want none of it. Andre also tried to map out what Empire is willing to do for Yana, but Lucious only wanted to gloat over how Empire cannot win the bid to take her. Cookie and Becky (Gabourey Sidibe) of Bossy Media swoops in for the rescue. They offered something that the other record labels couldn’t—the artist’s absolute creative control. Cookie promised Yana to be the boss of her own music and split the earnings 50/50. And not only that, Bossy’s bringing in Lucious as her exclusive producer too. A win-win situation, indeed.

Andre Submits to His Kingsley Alter Ego

The failed family dinner at Andre and Teri’s new flat was a disappointment, but Andre was quick to appease his wife through hot, steamy sex. This is a side of Andre that Teri’s not used to, but welcomes with open arms *wink wink*. However, we’re only seeing what Kingsley wants us to see. The next day, Teri comes running back to Andre in his office to have more of it, but he’s taken by surprise at his wife’s sudden hunger for him. That’s strike one for normal Andre. Strike two comes almost at Quincy’s (Skylar Brooks) expense. Andre tasks him with escorting an AMA voter’s daughter to the showcase party featuring Treasure and Devon—an effort to influence the AMA vote to their favor. But the plan goes sideways when Quincy offers cocaine to the girl, causing her to OD. Andre fumes at Quincy’s decision, but is again taken by surprise. Quincy reveals that it was Andre who told him to bring cocaine with them for “extra fun.” That’s when Andre realizes that Kingsley has been in control this whole time, including the great sex with Teri. Andre tries to confront him but had to face the fact that Kingsley is out for blood for the death of his mother. In truth, though, this is Andre’s dissociative disorder at play.

Bossy Loses, Bossy Wins

Bossy Media continues to struggle with finding their own sound. Luckily, Damon Cross (Wood Harris) offers a forced solution to Giselle (Nicole Ari Parker)—sign Yana because he wants to keep an eye on his daughter while Lucious works his magic. Giselle and Becky then try to have Cookie sign off on having Yana with them, something that Cookie agrees to quickly as she is busy trying to find the Bossy sound. In the end, they got what they came for.

On top of that, LaLa (Diamond White) is being an ungrateful, entitled asshole on the sides. The single featuring her, Tiana (Serayah McNeill), and Melody (Alexandra Gray) took off on the charts, but LaLa wanted the spotlight all to herself. She blames Bossy for not stepping up her marketing and promo, so she decides to do it herself. Lala enlists the help of Giselle’s little brother, Julian (Robert Richard), to film her while doing a version of the moving car challenge via Instagram Live. Things go sideways when Julian accidentally falls on his head and is sent to the hospital, causing Giselle a fit and LaLa’s career to be put on the line. There’s also an off-hand revelation here—Julian is actually Giselle’s son (how or why, we have no idea, but we might have answers next week). An angry Becky then decides to give what LaLa wants. Bossy is giving LaLa a touring spot and will do it for two weeks non-stop. The problem? LaLa only has one single and she’ll be forced to perform the same damn song in all legs of the tour. If she bows out, Bossy is suing her ass. Now THAT is what you call a clap back right there!

‘Empire: Talk Less’ Overall Verdict

“Talk Less” seems rather overdramatic, similar to last week’s episode. There’s still a touch of tightness to the narrative, but I just can’t with the cheesiness and drama of it all. How did Empire even reach this new kind of low? It used to be a gripping musical drama that had twists and turns along the way partnered with believable drama, but the second half of season 6 seems to be struggling with its identity now. Is this a Bossy Media situation and should we be worried? But I guess it’s all do or die since this is the show’s final season. Still, though, it would be better to go off with a bang than adopting the corny daytime soap opera drama.

Empire continues Tuesday, March 17th, with “Come Undone” at 9/8c on FOX.