The case against Lucious has been dismissed, and Vernon's death has been ruled a suicide (apparently as a way to avoid admitting his decomposing body was put in Prosecutor Ford's car). So Lucious is back inside Empire, as is Andre who has been put in charge of Gutter Music. Thirsty has been hired to take on Vernon's role at Empire, not to be confused with replacing Vernon as Andre pointed out to him. And Jamal is in the studio recording with Ne-Yo, who gives him some relationship advice: 1) don't take relationship advice from Lucious and 2) if your significant other is your serenity take him on the road with you if that will help you get through a tour (which goes against Lucious' advice not to take your significant other on tour). Generally speaking, Lucious may have been wrong, but in regards to Jamal's current situation, he may have been right...and here's why....
While out for drinks, Chase One (the Rolling Stone photographer/painter) tells Jamal and Michael he agrees with Lucious about not taking Michael on tour. He goes on to say he thinks it's better to be in love with someone different every day. Jamal and Michael of course disagree. And later, when Jamal is walking with Chase One alone, Chase One drops to his knees and unzips Jamal's pants! Jamal steps back and tells him even if he was attracted to him, which he's not, he wouldn't do that to Michael. Then Michael comes up and sees Jamal zipping up his pants and Chase One on his knees. Luckily, Michael could see what was going on and didn't assume the worst. Unfortunately, Jamal still invited Chase One to his party at his home later in the episode. And when he goes out onto the patio to speak with Michael, he finds Michael getting head from Chase One! SMH!!!!
Hakeem has found a girl that's different than the rest, according to him. Laura decided to come on as the lead singer for his Latina girl group. When she comes to the studio and he introduces her to Tiana she sees him embrace Tiana in a way that made her ask Tiana if something was going on between the two of them. Tiana tells her he's just that way with all of the girls. So later, when they are watching a music video and he dances with the other two girls in the group and then dances with her and pushes up on her, she tells him she's not like the other girls and leaves. Later in the episode he finds her and convinces her to give the group another chance by promising not to push up on her like that again and having his car take her home while he catches a cab.
Andre has decided to get baptized, and his pastor gives some questionable requirements for baptism at his church: 1) confess his sins against his family members to them directly, and 2) invite them to the baptism. Confess to the Lord and repent, I know...confess to family and invite them to your baptism...not sure I'd get baptized at a church that said those are the requirements for baptism...especially without mentioning confessing to the Lord and repenting. But I digress...So Andre goes about confessing to his family members. He tells Rhonda about his plans first, and of course she's worried he means confessing what they did with Vernon, but he assures her that's not what he's talking about. And is it just me, or did it look like Rhonda wanted to confess something herself, like maybe she isn't actually pregnant?? #IJS
So Andre tells Jamal and Hakeem that he's the one that setup Jamal getting robbed (and almost shot), not Hakeem. Then they accept his invitation to attend the baptism, though Jamal initially requested he ask the church if he was welcomed. He confessed to Lucious that he told Cookie to blackmail Lucious and produce Jamal when she got out of prison. He also told Lucious that he tried to commit suicide in Lucious' studio. He said it was God that kept him from dying after pulling the trigger. And you know Lucious...he told Andre he just needs to man up instead of thinking baptism would help...or more specifically he said dipped in tap water. He also said there's no God, and I instantly wanted the mama from "A Raisin in the Sun" to slap him like she did Beneatha (where's Claudia McNeil or Phylicia Rashad when you need them). #InMyMothersHouseTheresStillGod Ok...I digress again!
So anyway, at the church Andre is preparing to confess to Cookie, but she stops him. I wonder what he would have confessed to her. Rhonda, Cookie, Hakeem, and Jamal are there for the baptism. And later, Lucious ends up showing up after working with Freda Gatz on a song about her relationship with her father made him realize his son's needed his presence...or so he says to Jamal, Hakeem, and Cookie who continue to make cracks at him stepping foot in the church just as they were doing when they didn't think he was coming. He even threw in how he provided for them while Cookie was locked up, and Cookie had to remind him he's the one robbing and beating up his family (more on that later). Now when he first came in, all late, Lucious walked all the way down the aisle to the pastor and Andre. Shook the pastor's hand and introduced himself as Andre's father. He hugged Andre, and his response to Andre telling him he loves him..."I know you do." SMH! So while Andre is being dipped in the water, Lucious begins to have flashbacks to his mother forcing him to be "baptized" by her in water in their tub. It proves to be too much for him, and he ends up getting up and walking out of the church, which Andre notices after he's brought up from the water the final time. SMH. Andre wasn't the only one to see something disheartening. Having moved a pew behind Cookie and Jamal to give Lucious the seat, Hakeem seems a bit bothered by seeing Cookie and Jamal holding hands while everyone stood up in celebration of Andre's baptism.
Now throughout the episode, Lyons Den has been under attack. Starting with Tiana being mugged by two girls who pretended to be fans wanting a picture right in front of Lyons Den! They took her purse and then began posting some of the contents on youtube in a potential attempt to try to blackmail Lyons Den.
Meanwhile, Vernon was cremated, and Lucious refuses to take the ashes.Cookie tells Lucious that Vernon told her Bunkie was going to shake Lucious down and probably thought it was a matter of time before Lucious turned on him. Then she asked him if he killed Vernon or had him killed. Which he of course denied (and we all know he didn't kill Vernon). Cookie then points out that the two people who had their backs are now in boxes (boxes she notes Lucious doesn't even want to claim). She asks how they will keep their family safe, and he says he feels safe and suggests she doesn't feel safe because she doesn't have him looking after her. Seeming to imply, as Cookie points out, that he may be behind Tiana's purse being snatched. He of course denied knowing anything about it. And despite Cookie telling him to act half-human as if he has any morals and take Vernon ashes, he just walks out while her back is turned. SMH. So she takes the ashes.
Later, Cookie hires a promoter named Laz Delgado (played by Adam Rodriguez...yum! And based on the preview for the next episode, he and Taraji will be rekindling that "I Can Do Bad All By Myself" flame...Cookie's always getting the cuties). While other promoters would see Tiana's mugging as reason to avoid Lyons Den, Delgado said getting dirty is what he does. And indeed he does, because when Woopty Woo (Porsha's grandmother's mutt that Porsha brought to Cookie for protection, after Tiana's purse being snatched, in a successful attempt to get her job back after being the reason Cookie got arrested in the last episode) starts barking while Cookie and Delgado are meeting, the pair go out into the main area where they find and take down two guys attempting to steal Cookie's masters for Lucious (something Thirsty asked Andre to do on behalf of Lucious earlier in the episode, to which Andre said he wouldn't do that to his mother and that anything Lucious has to tell him about family affairs needs to come directly from him).
And worse yet, at the end of the episode a group of guys kidnap Hakeem!!!!