Season 3 of the very popular American musical drama TV series “Empire” premiered with a bang on Fox on September 21 through a death of a fan-favorite character.
It could be recalled that the Season 2 of “Empire” left with a cliffhanger as Anika Calhoun, played by Grace Gealy, and Rhonda Lyon, played by Kaitlyn Doubleday, got into a brawl after Anika admitted pushing the latter down the stairs.
As they gotten more fierce and aggressive during their catfight, one seems to have fallen off a 30-story balcony and it is unclear who it was during the Season 2 finale.
Apparently, it was Rhoda who took the fatal tumble and it was shown during the Season 3 premiere episode of “Empire.” As a result, fans mourned on social media the demise of the character on the show “Empire,” reports CNN.
Tough choice for the showrunner
“Empire” showrunner Ilene Chaiken, in a recent interview, said that it was a tough choice for her to make since both actresses and their respective characters in the show are beloved.
She said that choosing who would die was tough as it was also inconceivable for them that either one would no longer be in the show after.
Actress Grace Gealy is also sorry for the loss of Rhonda in the TV series. She said in an interview that ultimately if she had a word to describe it, she would pick t bittersweet. She also said that she misses Kaitlyn being there in the show.
Her husband Andre witnessed the fall right before Anika’s water broke and he rushed her to the hospital. There, he denounced his faith and went completely dark by saying that he is done with God and His plans especially when Cookie suggested that he pray about the loss of his wife.
For her part, Leah, the mother of Luscious, believes that they are being punished in explaining the ongoing series of unfortunate family events.
Later on in the episode, Andre’s mental health issues beset him as he hallucinates and talks to his dead wife in a dark room. Rhonda’s ghost told him that without her, he is just some Philly thug with mental problems.
Off to a hot start
Amid the lingering trouble from Season 2, Season 3 of “Empire” went off to a hot start with Jamal accidentally being shot by Freda Gatz, Lucious marrying his son Hakeem’s baby mother Anika to keep her from testifying against him, and ex-gangster buddy Shine making a play to work for Empire.
Episode 1 entitled “Light in Darkness,” found the Lyons banding together to keep Lucious’ half-brother/federal agent Tariq’s big badge, as Jamal calls it, from taking down their empire.
As the Lyons prepared for a spectacular launch of Empire Xstream, Tariq was keeping a close eye on Lucious’s sham marriage, Andre’s mental health issues were also peaking and Shine works his way to becoming a partner of the empire.
Though the major music players weren’t gung-ho for the deal, Lucious still plots on making Times Square his bitch during the Empire Xstream launch.
It was a grand old musical mess, to say the least, but the storyline foreshadows a winning season yet again for “Empire,” notes Billboard.
One other thing to look forward to in Season 3 of “Empire” is the appearance of music diva Mariah Carey.
Mariah Carey has been confirmed to become the next music diva who shall be guesting on “Empire” in Season 3
At the time of the announcement of Mariah Carey’s guesting stint on “Empire” Season 3, the only detail that was mentioned is that she is going to take on the role of a performer named Kitty.
Over the past few days before the Season 3 premiere, however, actress Taraji P. Henson, who plays the Lyon matriarch Cookie, revealed that Mariah Carey’s Kitty is a music superstar who is friend with the former’s character.
She said that Kitty is a performer who is supporting Jamal Lyon, played by Jussie Smollett, the middle son of Lucious Lyon, played by Terrence Howard, and Cookie, and help him get through his difficulties.