Things were not looking good for the Lyons when "Empire" closed the first half of season 2. But will things get better when the series returns next year?
In the shocking twist of events in "Empire" season 2 episode 10, Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) was suddenly kicked out as CEO of Empire Entertainment as a result of the betrayal done by his youngest son Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray). In the end, Mimi (Marisa Tomei) handed over Empire's leadership to her new wife Camilla (Naomi Campbell), who also happens to be Hakeem's former lover.
Lucious also found himself at odds with his other son Jamal (Jussie Smollett), when they both found themselves nominated in the Song of the Year category of the American Sound Award. How will the Lyon patriarch accept defeat in case he gets beaten by his own son in the prestigious award-giving body?
But perhaps the biggest shocker of the episode involves the wife of Lucious and Cookie's (Taraji P. Henson) eldest son Andre (Trai Byers). In the final moments of the midseason finale, Andre's pregnant wife Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) was pushed down the stairs by an unidentified person. This threatened her life as well as the life of the child in her womb.
"Empire" showrunner Ilene Chaiken talked about the fate of the Lyons in her interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
According to Chaiken, Lucious and Jamal's blossoming relationship as father and son will be strained after they learned that are pitted against each other in the Song of the Year award. "Lucious is not ready to be surpassed by any of his children, not the least his gay son. That's going to create problems," the executive producer explained.
Chaiken also said that she is hoping that Rhoda and her baby survive the deadly fall.
"Depending on the outcome of both those things, how will Rhonda and Andre repair themselves — that's going to be a big part of the story for the second half of the season," Chaiken explained. "Rhonda and Andre figuring out whether this was an accident, a cruel twist of fate, whether it was something that God meant to happen or that somebody did to them for some other nefarious reason is going to be a very big story for us."
"Empire" season 2 returns on March 30, 2016.
