Frank Gathers | |
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General Information | |
Gender: | Male |
Resides in: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (formerly) Brooklyn, New York |
Hair Color: | Black |
Eye Color: | Brown |
Occupation(s): | Drug Lord (formerly) |
Aliases: | Idi Amin (by Cookie) Frankie |
Family and Friends | |
Family: | Freda "Gatz" Gathers (daughter) Unnamed daughter |
Friends: | Teddy McNally (deceased) Lucious Lyon (formerly) Mike (formerly) Bamm-Bamm (formerly) Guy (formerly) |
Employees: | Lucious Lyon (formerly) Cookie Lyon (formerly) Carol Hardaway (formerly) Teddy McNally (formerly; deceased) |
Enemies: | Lucious Lyon Cookie Lyon Carol Hardaway Jermel |
Additional Information | |
Interests: | Human flesh |
Empire Chronology | |
First Appearance: | Dangerous Bonds (flashback) The Devils Are Here |
Last Appearance: | The Devils Are Here |
Portrayer: | Tyrone Ward (Dangerous Bonds) Chris Rock (The Devils Are Here) |
Frank Gathers was a cannibalistic drug lord and gangster from Philadephia, Pennsylvania.
In the 1990s, Lucious and Cookie Lyon worked for him, selling drugs. Cookie's sister Carol and her cousin Jermel also did a few deals on his behalf.
Dangerous Bonds
Cookie is picked up the FBI, specifically Agent Harlow Carter, who notifies her that her plea deal is only complete when she testifies against Frank Gathers. Cookie gives a seal testimony, where we see via flashback that Cookie's drug deal with another man is ambushed by the FBI. Frank Gathers pulls up and does a drive by, killing the man. However, after she finishes her testimony, she is made aware of the fact that the man killed was an undercover agent, and that she has just proven that Frank had killed a fed, thus denying Frank's parole.
When Cookie returns home, she sees a rose on her doorstep and believes that Frank sent it to her via Teddy McNally, his right hand man. Out of fear, she orders a hit on McNally. However, she finds out later that the rose had been left by Lucious, as a reminder of their anniversary.
The Devils Are Here
After Cookie testifies against him in order to be released from jail, he is sent to the same correctional facility where Lucious is being held. Jermel, Cookie's cousin, attempts to seek Lucious' protection, but Lucious dismisses him since he himself has no beef with Frank. Lucious later stumbles on Frank and his daughter Freda, who is an aspiring rapper, and praises her talent.
Frank goes after Jermel, since he's aware Jermel killed Teddy McNally, and Jermel reveals that Cookie was the one who snitched on him. Frank arranges for an inmate's head to be sent to Cookie and Carol as a message. Cookie, fearful for her life, goes to visit Lucious in jail and asks him to take care of it. Lucious attempts to make peace with Frank, but when he tells him that war with Cookie means war with him, Frank orders his goons to kill Lucious quick and quietly. However, his goons are now allied with Lucious, as Lucious is financially supporting their family on the outside, and Lucious tells them to kill Frank long and loud.
The Tameness of a Wolf
He is mentioned in this episode by Lucious, who tells Cookie that when he was nine, a 16 year old Frank got him hooked on drug dealing as a way to survive, mentioning that he practically "saved his life". Freda also mentions her father, revealing that Frank was a bastard but that she loved him, and that even in death she feels like he has chains on her. Freda mentions his name while rapping her verse on Jamal's song ("Shine On Me"), horrifying Cookie, who was unaware Frank had a daughter (Cookie was the one who told Lucious to take Frank out). She's pissed that the police aren't even concerned with finding her dad's killer, and voices she intends to find out who herself.