Shyne is ready to cause a heck of a lot of drama. “Let’s go kill some Lyons,” he says to his minions. He’s got guns and lots of them. Lucious is prepped for whatever Shyne’s going to throw at him. He even takes little Bella and Anika to a doctor’s appointment in a military vehicle. You can’t fault the guy for trying to be safe.
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Cookie and Enzo’s relationship is flowing along nicely. They both seem genuinely into each other. Their sweet stroll through the park is interrupted by armed guards and she’s whisked away, courtesy of Lucious. Considering what’s going on with Shyne, Lucious isn’t taking any chances. Especially when it comes to Cookie.
Shyne goes to Jamal’s place and finds Andre shirtless. He points the gun at Andre and pulls the trigger. Thankfully, it’s not loaded. He pulls another gun, but a barely dressed Nessa steps in to stop him from killing Andre. She begs Shyne not to do something he’ll regret. Instead of treating her like a decent human being, Shyne has his minions take her away. He threatens Andre and says he’ll be back.
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Andre breathes a sigh of relief after Shyne leaves. Lucious gets the family together explains the situation. Cookie fears that Shyne will snitch to Tarik and take the Lyons down. Lucious doesn’t think that’ll happen. Don’t be so confident, Lucious.
Snitches Get Stitches
Hakeem’s Empire X Stream show is set to go on as planned. Jamal tempts Hakeem with a new track, but Hakeem can only use it if he agrees to do the concert as a double billing. Jamal wants to perform in the comfort of his own living room, once again shying away from a public performance. After Hakeem agrees, Gram shows up and taunts the sh*t out of Hakeem. He wants to have a rap duel with Hakeem streamed online. Funny thing is, Lucious planned the whole thing to work Hakeem up.
Nessa is mega pissed at Andre for what just when down with Shyne. She tells him that Lucious better not screw Shyne over. He’s all she’s got. “I respect that he’s all you got. But you could have more,” he tells her.
Jamal pays Lucious a little visit and tells his dad about his plans with Hakeem. Jamal is sick of Lucious pulling Hakeem’s strings all the time. “Let him be the man he wants to be rather than the man you want him to be,” Jamal advises. Because he’s a child, Lucious deflects and calls Jamal corny.
Meanwhile, Cookie pays a visit to her parole officer and gets in major trouble for being late. Tarik is getting to everybody. While Cookie’s gone, Becky goes behind Cookie’s back and tells Tiana that she can record “Starlight” instead of her clapback song. Cookie’s going to go all Lemonade on Becky when she finds out. Xavier agrees with Becky that Tiana’s “Starlight” is pretty damn incredible, but Becky disobeyed Cookie. Xavier ends up snitching and Cookie forces Tiana to push her album back. Tiana demands to have Becky off her team.
Unresolved Issues
Lucious gets under Hakeem’s skin and uses Bella to do so. When Hakeem goes to practice with Jamal, his performance is harsh rough around the edges, like Lucious would want. Jamal realizes something’s up. This concert needs to happen more for Jamal’s sake than Hakeem’s. Jamal is the one who can’t perform. Hakeem, speaking like the true son of Lucious, wants to use his part to clap back at Gram. And he’s not going to take no for an answer.
Shyne shows up at Lucious’ house for their highly-anticipated meeting. Lucious brings Andre, while Shyne brings Nessa. Anika swoops in and takes over. She offers Shyne his own imprint, and Lucious takes her bait and runs with it. Shyne also wants Freda. Nessa urges Shyne to take the deal and he does.
Cookie thinks Enzo is the one who got to her parole officer. Come on, Cookie! Don’t be stupid! He denies being involved and calls Cookie out for her “unresolved issues” with Lucious. Unresolved is an understatement. Enzo wants to get closer to her, but she keeps on putting a wall up in front of him. They both get frustrated and he leaves before things go too far.
Brotherly (Un)Love
To let off some steam and get her boys into formation, Cookie b*tches out Hakeem and Jamal for fighting over the performance. While they may be scared of Lucious, they don’t want to get on Cookie’s bad side. The live stream concert starts out well. Jamal kills it. During Jamal’s performance, Lucious starts talking to Hakeem. Lucious lets it slip that Andre is with Nessa and that sets Hakeem OFF.
During Hakeem’s performance, he gets in Andre’s face. The live stream numbers skyrocket, much to Lucious’ delight. Hakeem has a meltdown and fights with Jamal and Andre. Jamal loses it over Hakeem’s immature behavior. Everything that goes down is caught on the live stream. The Lyons are crumbling.
The episode ends with Enzo getting the parole officer off of Cookie’s back. He admits that he’s serious about her. He’s willing to fight for her against Lucious. Shyne meets up with Tarik and tips him off that Lucious killed Frank Gathers. Tarik is getting all the information he needs to take down Lucious for good.
HollywoodLifers, what did you think of tonight’s Empire? Let us know!