Who Died on 'Empire's' Season Finale?
Someone appeared to fall to their death -- but who?
— -- On the season finale of "Empire," drama unfolded -- as usual -- but this go-round, the Lyon family encountered a bounty full of surprises.
Jamal is alive. And he’s in a wheelchair and a thick wool overcoat for his big sepia-toned welcome home party. As the family tries to cheer him up and Hakeem asks him to sing at his wedding, he startles everyone by announcing he’s not singing anymore -- until the vicious family cycle ends. Cookie and Lucious try to quell Jamal's tear-filled diatribe but it doesn’t help matters when Leah Walker warns her son that he and his kids are paying for the crimes of his father. That’s when Lucious escorts his back-to-life mother to take her afternoon nap.
As Anika warns Lucious the feds are questioning her about his past, Rhonda busts into the home office and starts choking Boo Boo Kitty. She makes known her beliefs about Anika pushing her down the steps and causing her to miscarry. No one believes her allegations.
It hurts her more that Andre didn’t back her up. He apologized profusely to everyone and walks her out, where she tells him that they mean nothing to Lucious now that she’s not carrying the heir. She also tells him she needs him to do what she did for him -- commit a murder. Andre rebuffs the notion, realizing that she is unhinged.
Clad in vintage monogrammed Dior, Cookie shows up at the Philly slums to meet up with an old family cohort, Shyne, and negotiates a deal to keep him in line with the feds. A natural-born killing thug -- who loves Twizzlers -- Shyne feels cut out of Lucious’ success and wants a piece of the action for his nephew rapper Joey. He also wants Hakeem to record the song with his nephew and an invite to the big wedding.
Lucious visits Freda in jail and tries to appeal to her sensibilities -- lying to her that he didn’t kill her father while in jail. He tries to guilt her about “the real bad place” Jamal is in. He asks her to listen to a new track he wrote and wants her to rap on it, and Freda rises to the occasion. But the rap hits home about Lucious and his betrayals. Later, Lucious convinces Jamal to make some music again. He listens to Freda’s jailhouse rap and is inspired.
At a family dinner with Laura’s family, her parents object to Shyne attending the wedding. Cookie, Lucious and Hakeem stand by the decision.
Feeling squeezed by the feds, Anika tries to jump off the Empire headquarters balcony -- saying she’d rather do that instead of snitching. Cookie literally talks her off the ledge.
The big wedding is off to a great start but when Shyne shows up, things go south real fast. After Anika is served her subpoena by someone dressed up like a waitress, a fracas ensues when Lucious’ henchmen go after her and someone bumps into the loud and short-tempered Shyne -- who brought hookers to the wedding. Laura, looking beautiful in her wedding gown, starts crying and walks out on Hakeem -- leaving him at the altar.
Lucious comes up with a scheme to not get Anika to testify against him to the feds -- he proposes marriage to her. Cookie is beside herself with the offer. Her sons are against it as they look on. She storms off -- even after Lucious tells her it’s just in paper.
After a quickie wedding, Tariq shows up to congratulate Lucious on his “unholy matrimony.” Leah reveals that the federal agent is his half-brother.
Meanwhile, the final scene shows Anika getting some air on the rooftop and then Rhonda showing up. A catfight ensues as each woman tries to throw the other off.
Andre walks in just as someone appears to be falling to her death. But who?
Related Stories
ABC News Live