Empire returned in big way on Wednesday, setting up the back half
of its whirlwind second season with almost too many shocking twists to
count.
The episode kicked off right after last fall’s
finale, in which a very pregnant Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) was pushed
down the stairs by an unseen mystery assailant. While Andre’s wife was
unable to identify her attacker, she was able to save her own life by
throwing her phone to break a window and alert the alarm company.
Unfortunately, the couple was faced with more
tragedy at the hospital, where Andre (Trai Byers) and Rhonda learned
that they lost their baby. Strangely, in recounting what happened,
Rhonda left out the important details of her attack, telling everyone,
including her husband, that she “slipped” down the stairs.
The tension between Empire and Lyon Dynasty
continued to grow as newly appointed CEO Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) and
“Yoko” Camilla (Naomi Campbell) began their reign after dethroning
Lucious (Terrence Howard) as the head of the family’s company. While
tensions were running high between Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) and her
youngest son --especially after another epic broom beating -- Hakeem
still agreed to make Cookie head of Empire A&R in exchange for
allowing the label to release Jamal’s (Jussie Smollett) latest album.
Things didn’t go as smoothly between Hakeem and
his father, however. Lucious pulled a twisted move, even by his own
standards, asking his son to meet him by the train tracks, where the
former mogul shot and killed his best friend, Bunkie, last season.
“Kill your father and sit on his throne,” Lucious
instructed Hakeem, handing him a gun. “It’s life or death, so if you
don’t shoot me right here, I promise you next time I see you, I will do
my best to take your life. Shoot me so I don’t have to do it to you.”
Ultimately, Hakeem didn’t pull the trigger, telling his father, “I ain't gotta do what you want.”
“Watch your back, baby boy,” Lucious called as he walked away. “I keep my promises.”
The drama-packed episode, along with the teaser scenes for the rest of the season, left us with plenty of questions about how Empire’s sophomore run will wrap up all the drama. Here are just a few:
-Is Lucious going to make good on his promise to take out Hakeem? Or Camilla? Or both?
-Will Rhonda remember who pushed her down the
stairs? The red sole of the shoe she spotted sure looked like
Louboutins, but the figure seemed to be a man in profile. Whodunnit?
-How will the family handle the major upcoming
revelation that Anika, a.k.a. Boo Boo Kitty (Grace Gealey), is pregnant
with Hakeem’s child?
-Speaking of Hakeem, did he REALLY remake the Empire logo with his own face? Kid’s got guts.
-Will Rhonda and Andre recover from their heartbreak and Rhonda’s crisis of faith?
-Are Jamal and Michael getting back together? Are
Lucious and Cookie getting back together? Will anyone on this show get a
happy ending?
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