Oddly, when watching that scene, it also made me think about how if the trial was happening now, Marcia Clark could order her tampons from Amazon and have them shipped directly to her door and not have to deal with jerks like that.

My guess was that she was afraid if she let her ex-husband basically have full custody while the trial was going on that she wouldn't be able to get the kids back full-time once it was over. But yeah, it's too bad that Marcia and her ex weren't on good terms, because it seems like it would be easier/better/cheaper for…

No kidding! I felt like they ran through an entire season's worth of storylines last night. Finding out that Lucious doesn't have ALS should've been a major reveal, but instead it just felt like one of many in this jam-packed two-parter. Cookie finding out that Lucious killed Bunkie was a major reveal but again, only…

I think Jamal is probably at least five years older than Hakeem. I think Hakeem just turned 18, right? Or we assume he's 18ish based on him being a baby when Cookie went to prison, and her being in there for 17 years. I could be way off, but I thought Andre is in his late twenties, and Jamal is in his mid-twenties.

I guess so, but I always got the impression that he's under the delusion that he's doing all this for his sons/family, even if he's doing it to feed his own ego.

Part of me wants Malcolm to actually be the good guy that they've portrayed him to be thus far, but I'm thinking he's got some sort of agenda. I don't know if he's working with Vernon, Anika, Beretti, the Feds, or some combination thereof, but I'm wondering if there's going to be some sort of reveal with him in the…

Yeah, I didn't even understand it (still don't). Is Lucious actually Lola's father or did he just say he was to try to diffuse the situation? If Lola is actually his daughter, why didn't we see some scene with the two of them saying goodbye? That was before he knew that Cookie was going to turn him down - shouldn't…

Yeah, I still don't get that, either. Especially because they have money - seems like at least one of the guys would've had some kind of paternity scare over the years. I guess it boils down to what someone on here said last week - they probably want Jamal to assume it's his daughter and bond with her, but eventually…

Agreed - I enjoy the family dynamics so much that I wish they were on the same page for a little bit, too. It was fun seeing the four of them (though it did leave Andre out) singing and working together at the beginning of the episode. I knew it wouldn't last, but I wish it would've lasted longer than 15-20 minutes…

Agreed - plus we're only eight episodes into the series. If it's the end of season 2 or something and we still haven't heard anything else about Bunky, or the guy Cookie had killed, then maybe I'll complain, but right now the show has really just begun and they're just now setting stuff up for later.

I loved that scene, too - loved Hakeem saying it was the bravest thing he'd ever seen. I'm glad that Hakeem and Jamal are back on good terms with each other.

I actually wasn't disappointed in the episode overall, but I agree about Lucious and Cookie. I mean, I expected him and Anika to stay together for now, but I thought his scenes where he told Cookie he wasn't leaving Anika would be, I don't know, more emotional. It wasn't even like he was being cold/hateful, he was…

I actually feel like Anika realizes what a threat Cookie is, which is why she was willing to go to such lengths with Elle last night. So you're right - it was quite a plot contrivance for Anika to leave Lucious back in NYC with Cookie. Like you said, if I'm Anika, I'm not letting that dude out of my sight,…

Yeah, they probably could've/should've left Anika a little bit more sympathetic, instead of, like you said, tearing down that barrier in the audience's mind by having her drug Elle. I mean, I don't even know why the show would think it was necessary to make Anika unsympathetic - it still doesn't justify Lucious…

Yeah, you're probably right - it's just really contrived that no one would suggest a DNA test. Especially with a family this rich - surely at least one of them has dealt with a similar situation before.

Also, did anyone else get the feeling that someone (or something, like a camera) might've caught Anika spiking Elle's drink? I think there was something about the look on the new head of security guy's face right around that same time that made me think he saw something. Or, if he didn't see anything, the mention…

Yes! That was awesome.

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit, but then again I could say that about most of the episodes. Cookie is my favorite character on TV right now, so watching her do anything is entertaining.

Yeah, I kept wondering why no one was bringing that up. They just went straight to "Uncle Hakeem" and Lucious and Cookie as doting grandparents, as if it was a given that the little girl was definitely Jamal's. I mean, if Jamal did have sex with Olivia once, then of course it's possible, but at the same time it's…

No kidding! If I'm going to be forced to sit through Barney dating some poorly conceived of love interest, I'd at least like to see that he's growing up, not regressing. The slut-shaming was a new low, even for Barney.