Rhyon Nicole Brown

When Alan and Judith argue during a rehearsal of a play that Jake and his classmates are rehearsing, Charlie is forced to handle a roomful of fourth graders alone. The kids think Charlie is a loser until they realize he wrote the "Maple Loops" cereal jingle. When Charlie discovers the children know every jingle he's ever written, he decides to use his commercial expertise to craft the play--with some interesting results.

The Barones are mortified when, at open school night, Michael reads aloud a story he wrote about an angry family whose members are always yelling at one another.

The issue of telling the whole truth to each other comes up when Michael suspects his family is being less than forthcoming in various matters.

Lucious and Thirsty try to squash Eddie’s (guest star Forest Whitaker) takeover by confronting him with legal papers. Cookie recalls her complex relationship with her mother (guest star Alfre Woodard), while she continues her search for her friend’s orphaned daughter. Meanwhile, Andre flounders, Hakeem anxiously prepares a release strategy for his 20 for 20 single and Jamal and Tory try to find a new team to make their own first non-Empire single.

As Eddie fights for his place at Empire Entertainment and gets the board on his side, Lucious and Shine must find a permanent solution to keep him out. Meanwhile, Cookie is desperate to fulfill a promise to a friend before it’s too late. Then, when tensions rise in Jamal and Tory’s new band, Preacher Azal inspires Jamal with an idea to get everyone in sync.