‘Empire’ season 2, episode 10 (fall finale) review: Lucious’ betrayal; a shocking death

If “Empire” wanted to drop a few shockers on you Wednesday night, they certainly did that. For the past season and a half, the show has sold us on the premise that there is a power struggle at Empire Entertainment … but only between members of the Lyon family. What happened on the fall finale was something different, something more.

It was bad enough that Lucious lost control of Empire Entertainment to Mimi Whiteman, who tricked him with the help of her wife Camilla Marks-Whiteman (Naomi Campbell), who made a bold return after getting close to Hakeem earlier this season. She manipulated Lucious’ own son into turning on him, and his vote to discuss him as CEO and Chairman was the one that really changed everything. (Granted, Lucious has to blame himself and his treatment of Hakeem a lot for this.)

In the aftermath of losing his company Lucious was devastated, and we saw some of the best work we’ve ever seen on the show as he questioned his future. With the help of Cookie, he did remember for a minute what does matter most to him: His work, and producing music he can be proud of.

Unfortunately for the Lyon family, this moment was not the end of their story; right after it seemed as though everything was settling down, Rhonda was shoved down the stairs. While she is not confirmed dead at the moment, the story is certainly leaning in that direction. The big mystery at the center of all of this is of course who is the responsible party. There are many candidates, but we now have to wait three-plus months for an answer. What a shame, since this was pound-for-pound the best hour of the season. Grade: A-.

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