(some spoilers ahead)
The second season of Fox’s hit drama Empire was split into two halves over the past year, and interestingly enough each of them had separate tones. Whereas the first half over the fall of 2015 revolved around the Lyon clan’s artistic differences, as shown with the feud between Lucious’s Empire and Cookie’s Lyon Dynasty, the second half seriously amps up the more traditional soap opera aspects of the show, providing a series of twists that forces the family to put their egos aside and work together more often to solve their dilemmas.
In the wake of Camilla’s return and her muscling Lucious off of Empire’s board, Hakeem emerges as arguably the central character of this arc when he takes central command of Empire over his father (even getting his own gold record logo to open the show, in a cute touch). Needless to say, his attempt at being the next hot young music mogul proves even more difficult and stressful than anything he did at Lyon Dynasty. He may have managed to survive a kidnapping and assault from the Longhorn boys last year, but when you have parents like Lucious and Cookie, every day is just a party, doncha know.
His father is apparently willing to fight his own son to the death over control of the family business, and his mother- with the help of a returning Mr. Broom – eventually convinces Hakeem that Camilla is too much trouble in the long run. And that’s not even mentioning the tension that flares up between Tiana and Laura, the latter who Hakeem eventually courts to his former lover/protégé’s chagrin.
Meanwhile, Anika is a far bigger threat in the second half than she was before, when she didn’t do much aside from stand around and get on Cookie’s nerves. As she milks the Lyons for sympathy due to her carrying her and Hakeem’s future offspring, Rhonda- who survived being shoved down the steps in last year’s cliffhanger -understandably suspects her as the primary culprit, as sadly her child didn’t fare as well. All of this is a jolt to Andre’s already fragile mental state, which makes his willingness to be the company’s public face for mental illness awareness all the bolder.
After coming off rather naive and foolhardy during much of the Lyon Dynasty arc, Cookie gradually becomes the family’s main uniter and voice of reason. She aims to not only remove Camilla from power, but also diffuse the tensions between Lucious, the shareholders and Hakeem over helming Empire- as well as his rivalry with Jamal as the American Sound Awards approaches. And Jamal, after some brief flashes of Lucious-esque darkness earlier this season, becomes more of a victim of his family’s insanity even to the point where he even becomes disillusioned as a songwriter. His sensitivity is more pronounced this half, and watching the tension between him and the other Lyons almost makes him seem like a Michael Jackson analogy.
In fact, Jamal’s various relationships lead to all sorts of problems, including one funny scene when a flash mob of disgruntled fans, to the tune of “Drip Drop”, chastize him over his public flirting with Skye Summers, allegedly betraying his image as a proud gay man. Becky: “That’s not even his song, stupid!”
At one point he tries to put together a musical collaboration with Freda Gatz, one he hopes will blow him away. It… sorta does, but let’s just say it wasn’t in the way he intended, and Cookie’s fears and knowledge of what happened to Freda’s father are realized. Still, he does manage to finally make amends with his old flame Michael after that whole shady Chase One business.
Oh Carol, you truly are hopeless, aren’t you? After starring in one of the show’s most heartfelt episodes last year, Tasha Smith’s boozy troubled sibling of Cookie is arguably one of the keys to the Lyon clan’s crisis that closes Season Two and is set to carry over to Season Three. A relationship sparks between her and Tariq, a determined federal detective who is eventually revealed as a major figure from Lucious’s past, and a vendetta against the family as a whole.
Lucious’s mother Leah Walker, played very ominously by Leslie Uggams, confirms the unfolding revelations, still resenting her son Lucious for sending her away years ago. After Andre brings her home upon discovering she’s alive, she definitely casts an ominous cloud over the family mansion, and she may turn out to be a fountain of shocking secrets going forward.
All of this insanity comes to a head in the finale, with Hakeem and Laura finally ready to tie the knot, Anika hoping against hope she won’t have to testify against Lucious, and an old friend of Cookie who was paid off to stay mum about some of Lucious’s many murders just chilling in the aisle. Laura decides she can’t handle it and bails on poor Hakeem at the alter.
And if this show had special effects, I swear you’d be able to see cartoon devil horns pop up over Lucious’s head. His scheme to get the feds off their butts after Anika is inevitably served with the subpoena? Do like the Nature Boy, and walk that aisle!… with Boo Boo Kitty. Cookie is all like “Nope noooope, can’t do it, I’m out”, and given how much closer she’s been with Lucious as of late, it’ll be interesting how she tries to counter this situation in Season Three.
There’s not much of a wedding reception, as the family is understandably emotionally exhausted after everything that happened…. except for Anika and Rhonda, who put on the five star match equivalent of a cat fight in expensive dresses on the rooftop. We close with Andre’s horrified reaction as it’s audibly implied that at least one woman may have gone over the edge. This show is pure telenova, and here’s to a hopefully strong third season as the Lyons appear more aligned, despite the fact that the castle seems to be crumbling…