The midseason finale of Empire went out with an explosive, emotional bang last fall, and the first trailer for the show’s return promises that the intensity is only going to ramp up from there. As you may recall, when we last left the Lyon family, they were completely ripped apart, thanks in no small part to Mimi and Camilla’s twisted treachery—the two of them pulled Empire completely out from under Lucious, with some help from a bitter Hakeem, who gave the deciding vote to have him thrust from his throne. For the very first time, Lucious finally seemed to be at a loss for what to do, completely broken down. Elsewhere, a mysterious shadowy figure (maybe it was Anika, maybe it wasn’t?) sent a pregnant Rhonda tumbling down her glorious staircase.
Now, it seems, Hakeem has ascended the throne with Camilla alongside him, which means the show is obviously setting him up to be the next Lucious—corrupt, conniving, and unforgiving. (Camilla, meanwhile, is the next “Yoko Ono,” according to Cookie.) Cookie and Lucious, who are never in contention for long, are sticking together again to take them down, and perhaps may rekindle their romantic partnership, too, for the umpteenth time. And if you’re looking for clues as to what happens to Rhonda and the baby, there isn’t much here, except for strategically placed back-to-back clips of Andre getting emotional in a hospital waiting room and two indistinct figures standing at a snowy grave …
Unfortunately, we’ve still got about a month to go before it all goes down—it returns March 30—but it seems like it’ll be more than worth the wait.
