Jamal is in the studio recording and doing an interview for his cover on Rolling Stone, when the FBI begins to raid Empire. Back at Lyons Den, Anika is once again pleading with Cookie to let her work with them. Cookie moves on to talk to Hakeem about getting in the studio to make some songs for them to leak online (since they can't get on urban radio), but Hakeem asks for one more week to find a lead singer for his Latina girl group. Then Anika tells them that Empire is being raided by the Feds. And just when Cookie starts ordering Anika and Hakeem to reach out to Empire artists to get them to come to Lyons Den in the wake of the raid, the FBI comes and raids them! And at Lucious' home, Thirsty (who spent the night there with a set of twins) wakes Lucious (and the woman in his bed) up to inform him the Feds raided Empire and were likely on their way to his house. And before he left the room the Feds and Prosecutor Roxanne Ford arrive. Thirsty tells Lucious to get up and get ready, and Lucious decides him being ready is standing butt naked waiting for Roxanne Ford to come in.
Back at Empire, Mimi Whiteman informs the other board members that Empire will be halting future endeavors in support of Lucious while the investigation continues, and Jamal adds that that includes his Rolling Stone cover. But...in walks Lucious (and no, he's still not supposed to be in Empire, as Jamal reminded him). But Lucious tells the board this is no time to hide, rather it's time to expand to take advantage of the street cred Empire will receive after being raided by the Feds. So Jamal's Rolling Stone cover is back on.
There's definitely something interesting and awkward about the dynamics between the photographer/painter for the Rolling Stone cover, Chase One, and Jamal's boyfriend. There's almost a hint of the photographer wanting Jamal, and Jamal's boyfriend being fully aware of it. But then on the other hand, the photographer is really weird (in a Tom Green kind of way, or maybe he just kind of looks like Tom Green), and I just don't see Jamal going for it anyway. But the demeanor of his boyfriend makes it seem like something may happen later in the season.
After the raids, Lucious calls the family together to meet with Thirsty, who informs them that they need to come together as one big happy family to counter the Feds. He also adds that the raids mean the Feds don't have anything. He then says that if they can find Vernon (who's dead, but the only one in the room who knows this is Andre), they can convince him not to testify and the case will be dismissed. This leads to a later scene where Andre meets with Lucious and asks him if he would let him back in at Empire if he got the case dismissed. Lucious told him if he got the case dismissed he could have anything he wanted, but he soon realizes by the look on Andre's face that Andre actually has some type of plan in mind. There's also a flashback to a social worker interviewing Lucious with his mom about whether he felt safe, because some neighbors reached out to CPS. Young Lucious, Dwight, proclaimed he wanted to stay with his mother.
Later, Cookie approaches Lucious about Hakeem and Jamal doing a music video (Hakeem's idea for the whole big happy family image) in exchange for letting them back on the radio and Lucious promising to stop going after their artists and Cookie's masters. Lucious agrees to the video and not going after their artists, but he says he's trying to make Hakeem a man by making him figure out a way to get back on the radio. He also tells Cookie he never went after her masters. She told him Anika told her he did, to which Lucious said Anika was lying. In a much later scene, after calling Anika to meet her at the video shoot (after having been in jail, more on that later), Cookie told Anika Lucious said she was lying about him trying to take her masters. And when Anika said he was lying, Cookie just said she knew he was but she doesn't trust Anika. So once again, she said Anika can't work with Lyons Den. And I just looked at Anika standing there thinking...why doesn't she just go find another label to work for?? Why is she insisting on working with Cookie? Cookie does not want to work with her!! But anyway...
They begin shooting Jamal and Hakeem's video, and the theme is supposed to be Black Panthers in a post-apocalyptic world (the set reminds me of the "California Love" video). Before the shoot, Lucious goes to see Hakeem in his trailer to tell him he's glad he's doing the video, but Hakeem said he's only doing it because he can't get on the radio. To which Lucious says keeping him off the radio was payback for Hakeem leaking his album. He then notes he's impressed with how Hakeem is facing the adversity, but Hakeem shoots back a comment about Lucious breaking up his girl group. Then Lucious offers to make it up to him by giving him headphones to listen to beats he made for him. Hakeem declined, noting he's on to his father's ways. He changes his mind while Lucious is walking out, but Lucious doesn't let him hear the beats.
After a little back an forth between Cookie and Mimi, the shoot is underway. At some point Cookie steps outside and is arrested because of warrants for missing court (turns out her assistant tried to get on a subway train without paying and told authorities her name was Cookie Lyon). As she's being put into the police car she asks if anyone is recording and also yells out if she dies while in police custody she did not commit suicide (seems like a reference to the Sandra Bland incident, but it seemed forced and/or unnecessary...or maybe just out of place...I don't know, but I really wasn't feeling the way they threw in the reference). While she is MIA, and no one knows she's in jail, Hakeem listens to the beats Lucious made for him. He tells Lucious they are good, and Lucious tells him they're his if he comes back to Empire. Hakeem once again declines the offer (affirming his loyalty to Cookie), and when they walk back to the set they see the painting of Jamal for Rolling Stone. As the artist is talking to Jamal about him being a genius, and Lucious walks up to the painting admiring it, Hakeem goes off about getting the painting off the set. He even calls it tacky and ugly. Lucious asked him why he couldn't be happy for his brother, and Hakeem says Cookie would have had the painting off the set. This of course led to Lucious calling Hakeem a mama's boy and telling him he made Jamal the head of Empire, because he doesn't need his mama to do work (interesting, since just last episode both Becky and Jamal at one point concluded Jamal needed his mama to be his producer to record his music). After having already threatened Lucious for calling him a mama's boy, Hakeem gets a knife (from where I don't know) and stabbs Jamal right in the neck (well not Jamal, the painting of Jamal). I see stabbing Jamal's throat as a representation of anger over Jamal's musical talent (though the artist later tells Jamal and his boyfriend that it makes the painting better by symbolizing the violence and anger of a racist and homophobic society). But anywho...they go on with the video shoot. Well, until Hakeem and Jamal begin to physically fight. Hakeem even lifts up a bat towards Jamal who is sprawled on the floor. But Hakeem ends up just walking out. He then asks everyone why they looked shocked, and adds they've never been a real family and that he's leaving and never coming back.
This whole time, Cookie is being questioned, or more like threatened, by Roxanne Ford at the police station. She threatens Cookie about being on parole and about her sons (including releasing Andre's medical record to disclose his mental health records). Cookie has flashbacks to a time in prison when she was close to giving up, because she hated it so much. So Cookie decides to give Roxanne what she wants, well kinda. She tells Roxanne she doesn't know if Lucious killed Bunkie or not, but that before he died the two were arguing over whether Lucious should buy the satellite radio company. Roxanne said that was perfect, but it was a lie that was actually perfect for Cookie. Roxanne said she would start an investigation into Lucious' deal with the radio company, stalling the deal for years!
Now, after having revealed to Rhonda that God has been speaking to him in a way he couldn't explain and telling him not to give up on returning to Empire, Andre tells Rhonda he has to dig up Vernon's body to get the case against Lucioius dismissed and get Andre back at Empire. Proclaiming herself to be "ride or die", Rhonda goes with Andre to dig up Vernon's body (interesting choice of labor for a pregnant woman). After digging and finding nothing by the tree Andre identified by a hole in its trunk, Rhonda realizes ALL of the trees have the same hole! And then a car comes! But...it turns out to be Lucious and Thirsty! Lucious had Thirsty put a tracking device on Andre's car after Andre had Lucious agree to let him back in Empire if he got Lucious' case dismissed. And I guess suspecting Andre would be digging for a body, Thirsty had a contraption that could detect buried corpses. So the four of them dug up Vernon's body (yes the four of them, because three grown men felt it unnecessary to excuse the pregnant woman from having to help dig up a dead body). They placed Vernon's body in the trunk, and Andre asked for a moment to share some last words about how much he loved his Uncle Vernon. Then Lucious asked to say some last words in private, being Lucious, his final words to Vernon's body were, "rot in hell you snitch." SMH. Just evil.
Meanwhile, Hakeem is out drinking alone at a bar and discovers a potential new lead for his girl group named Laura.
And later, Roxanne Ford gets in her car, while telling someone to put out a press release that says the FCC has blocked the APEX Radio deal. Score Cookie. Then Roxanne lets out a scream when she finds a decomposed body, I'm guessing Vernon's body, in her passenger seat. Score Lucious. SMH. Poor Vernon. Those Lyons do him so wrong, even after death.