After the mess that was last week’s episode, things on Empire returned more or less to normal. Hakeem—suddenly free of his post-traumatic stress disorder—is still trying to make his girl group happen, Jamal’s still working on his music, and Lucious is growing increasingly haunted by memories of his sad childhood. We also see a softer side of Cookie, whose dalliances with the duplicitous Laz (Adam Rodriguez) seem likely to blow up in her face at any moment. On this week’s Slate Plus–exclusive TV Club podcast, Aisha Harris and Jeffrey Bloomer discuss all of this and more from Episode 7, “True Love Never.”

And for more, read Aisha on how Empire plays into Terrence Howard’s public persona for cheap dramatic effect.