Empire – Cupid Painted Blind

By: Gladys Luna

Thirsty (Andre Royo) lists a number of crimes that Jamal (Jussie Smollett) committed against Warren (Terrell Carter) when he found out that the man was just lying to him in order to help Diana (Phylicia Rashad) to get her revenge on the Lyon family. Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) is also in the room and tries to defend her son, but she knows there´s not much to do about it. Thirsty tells them that he agreed that Jamal will turn himself in that same night and the next thing in his plan is to find Warren and ask him to confess that he was the one that started the fight so he at least can make one of the charges to disappear. Thirsty leaves the place and then Andre (Trai Byers) and Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) make an entrance. Jamal gets upset when he believes he´s been ambushed by his own family and they are planning an intervention, but then Lucious (Terrence Howard), who has been there the whole time, tells them that they are actually reunited because of Andre. They have seemed to find a pattern in Diana´s ways and he believes that after she came for Hakeem and then Jamal, they believe Andre is next. So, they question about him finding someone new recently that might be working for the Dubois’, but he denies everything. After a while, he decides to leave followed by Hakeem and also Cookie and Lucious who have been asked by Jamal to leave him alone.

Warren wakes up from his slumber and is surprised to see Angelo (Taye Diggs) sitting across the room. His older brother doesn’t let go of the chance to make fun of him for not defending himself when Jamal punched him. He reminds his younger brother that he warned him about how he might end up if he fell in love with a Lyon, but he refused to believe it. Warren confesses that Diana has ruined his life, but Angelo corrects him and tells him that he is the only one who ruined himself then he leaves the room.

Before Cookie leaves Jamal she remembers a time when she was in prison and Poundcake (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) had her baby and how protective she became of her little girl saying that she would kill to protect her. Cookie gets back to the present and leaves the place. Once she and Lucious leave the building she scolds him for not being supportive with her, but he says that he is trying his best to help his family and he believes firmly that Andre is hiding something from them so he suggests Cookie to divide. He tries to figure out what his oldest son is hiding while she takes care of Jamal and Diana so she agrees.

Cookie intercepts Diana on the street and tells her that she wants to give her something and shows her the ring that Angelo gave her. He told her it belonged to his grandmother so she wants to give it back because she knows how important family is for her. When Diana is about to take the ring out of her hands, Cookie throws it away to the middle of the street and runs away. Diana orders her body guards to pick up the box and they stop the traffic. In the meantime, Thirsty takes some pictures of the men in question.

Tiana (Serayah) is working with Shine (Alvin ‘Xzibit’ Joiner) on a new song when Hakeem walks in. He interrupts the song and offends Tiana who slaps him on the face and walks away from him. Shine realizes that the man may need some guidance so he asks him to join him on a walk and Hakeem agrees.

Thirsty goes to Lucious and tells him about his findings on the Jamal case. He realized that Diana had hired five bodyguards, but one of them has been recently MIA so he believes that he might be taking care of Warren. He also had found the address where the other Duboises may be hiding and has given it to Cookie.

Andre meets with Pamela (Teyonah Parris) at a restaurant and before he even takes a seat he starts yelling questions at her like if she works for Diana and about her intentions towards him. The woman notices everyone around has started to stare and askes him to sit down. She makes clear that she has been hurt by his words and tells him she thought they actually had something. Andre explains his reasons to accuse her and apologizes, but she just leaves him there. Thirsty has been watching the whole scene so he calls Lucious and tells him about it. Sometime later, he shows up and asks Andre about Pamela. He ends up confessing the truth about her, but tells him he doesn’t have to worry since he believes that whatever they had is over now.

Jamal is listening to a song and then he starts to hear Warren´s voice through it. So, he closes his laptop and goes straight to the kitchen counter from where he gets a bottle of whiskey and some pills.

Shine takes Hakeem to a neighborhood where a couple of women are chatting happily and a bunch of kids are playing in the front yard. He introduces them to Hakeem and tells him that they are his kids and two of their mothers. He explains that one of the reasons the women get along pretty well with him is because they don’t work in the same industry as he does. He also advises him to never let anyone mess with his family since his kids come first and then the family.

Cookie breaks into the apartment where Warren is, pointing a gun at him. She orders him to go and confess he was the one who started the fight and Warren agrees. She seems surprised at having done it so easily and still doesn’t trust in him. He confesses to her that Jamal is the love of his life and asks her to tell him he is sorry. Cookie tells him that she wants him to tell her everything about his mother´s plan and he does.

Later that day, Cookie and Lucious go talk to Andre and tells him that his therapist has been working for Diana all along. Andre says that the only thing he has said was how he couldn’t perform sexually speaking and he believes this is because of his medication. When Cookie finds the pill bottle, she realizes that he´s been given the wrong pills so she makes her son promise her that he would find a new doctor that would give him the proper medication.

Hakeem pays a visit to Anika and starts to yell for her from the street. Then, another woman comes out and tells him that neither Anika or Bella are there since they have moved to Angelo´s.

Cookie recalls her time in prison and how Poundcake´s baby was taken away from her. She promised her friend that she would help her to get her revenge on what they did to her.

Hakeem goes to Jamal´s apartment and sees he has been drinking. He hands him a bunch of candies and takes the bottle away from him. He confesses what he just found out about Anika. Hakeem starts to hear the song that Jamal and Warren made and makes fun of it. So, he decides to make a move and help Jamal to change the whole song.

Andre calls Pamela and apologizes to her for what he said. When he hangs up, he hears the doorbell ring and when he opens it he sees her standing right there. He lets her in and apologizes to her again, but the woman doesn’t accept his apologies. Instead, she confesses to him how wound she is that even though she opened up to him, he still accused her of playing him. She takes her gun and puts it on the table and tells him that was the gun she used to kill Marlon Jones. She tells him to give the gun to the police and turn her in. Andre seems to be confused at the woman´s request, but she keeps telling him how she can’t bear the burden of having killed a man. Meanwhile, at the Lyon´s mansion, Thirsty informs Cookie and Lucious that Pamela Rose does not exist and they believe the woman has played Andre. They go straight to his house where the man has confessed Pamela about been responsible for what happened to Lucious and that is when Pamela comes clean and says that she doesn’t belong to NYPD, that she knows everything about what he did and she´s been following him since a while ago. She also tells him that she is from Vegas Metro and suddenly tells him that he is under arrest. They start to fight each other and after a while, Andre chokes her to death. Then, Cookie and Lucious arrive and Andre is totally out of his mind telling them he didn’t mean to kill her and how the girl was important to him. He shows them where the girl is but there is nobody there. All of a sudden, Andre starts to recall of all of the times he spent with Pamela and realizes that the woman never existed and apparently, he created her out of his guilt and the medication he was under of which happens to be a play from Diana. He cries on the floor while Cookie comforts him and Lucious watches them.

Make sure to keep watching Empire, next Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox. ¡Hasta la próxima!