The second season of “Empire” ended with a cliffhanger that implied the death of at least one major character. Cliffhangers are familiar territory for the Fox drama, but it didn’t exactly make for a satisfying finale.
“Empire” had a record-breaking first season and has continued to lead Wednesday night ratings in its second. But the show has frustrated some viewers with fast-paced story lines that seem to pop up from nowhere and disappear just as quickly. Wednesday’s finale was a perfect example of the show’s tendency to rush through certain plot points, while needlessly dragging out others.
The finale picked up three weeks after the end of last week’s episode. Jamal had been shot at the fictional American Sound Awards, where the middle Lyon son was up against his father, Lucious, for best song of the year. Jamal was in pretty bad shape after being shot, and the last scene of the episode featured a doctor coming to talk to Lucious and Cookie. Actor Jussie Smollett took the opportunity to make “Empire” fans anxious, tweeting that he has “enjoyed his time” on the show.
Resulting rumors that Smollett planned to leave the show were shot down on Entertainment Weekly’s website, which reported that the actor is still under contract at Fox.
Much of the action happened in the finale’s last 10 minutes. Lucious decided that the best way to avoid his ex-fiancee, Anika, having to testify against him would be to marry her. Cookie was not happy.
Anyone shocked by this unexpected development had a whopping two minutes to recover, as Lucious was then revealed to have a half-brother, who happens to be a longtime associate of the Lyon family — and one of the FBI agents investigating a murder that Lucious committed while Cookie was in prison. It’s a plot point that expanded Lucious’ backstory, but it would have been more interesting had it not developed in the span of less than two episodes.
Roughly three minutes after that, Anika was precariously near the edge of another tall building (this time, the balcony of the wedding venue), and a shadowy figure came rushing out to attack her. It was Rhonda, who — in one of the show’s simmering story lines — had finally figured out that it was Anika who pushed her down the stairs, causing her to miscarry in the show’s mid-season finale. Anika admitted to as much, as she fought back, which led to both women dangling off the edge of a balcony.
Enter Rhonda’s husband, Dre, who stepped onto the balcony just in time to see one (or both?) of them fall off.
It’s become a bit of a formula for dramas to go full-steam in the head-spinning final moments of an episode.
But “Empire” might consider taking a long, deep breath before it returns for its third season. In yet another cliffhanger, Fox has not released an official start date for Season 3, but “Empire” is confirmed to resume its usual Wednesday time slot next season.
