It’s officially Empire week! The spring premiere of the hip hop drama is March 30 and showrunner Ilene Chaiken gave us some insight on what to expect.
We spoke with Empire‘s executive producer, Ilene Chaiken, on what’s to come in the back half of season 2. The mid-season 2 finale aired just before the 2015 holiday season and left us all highly anticipating Empire‘s return.
Lucious’ most precious child, Empire, was taken right from under his nose by none other than his youngest son, Hakeem. Where will Lucious go from here? How is Rhonda after that nasty fall she took on the stairs? These are just a few of the topics that were touched up on.
It’s Lucious’ turn
Ilene Chaiken was asked what storyline she’s most excited for in the back half of this season and she seemed pretty enthusiastic about everyone’s favorite, or not-so-favorite, Lucious Lyon. “He goes through such extraordinary things in such a deep and intense way and Terrence Howard’s performance in those episodes is just remarkable. I’m really, really excited for people to see where we go with this character.”
She continued, “Lucious’ back story is a very big party of the second half of season 2. A lot will be revealed, it will have repercussions and huge consequences for everyone in the family. Lucious’ start of Empire, his story, where he comes from and why he is who he is is what the show is all about in so many ways. In the way that children are in part a result of their parent’s experiences.”
Rhonda’s fall
We all knew that the stairs in Rhonda and Andre’s new house weren’t going to be good for our pregnant mommy-to-be. We catch a glimpse of someone dressed in black who pushed Rhonda down the stairs causing the horrific fall. How will Andre handle the repercussions? Chaiken says, “it necessitates [Andre’s] grappling with issues of faith. ‘Why would such a thing happen to me?’ ‘What does it mean to my faith?’ and ‘Will I be able to continue down that path in light of what’s happened?'”
The big question is: Who pushed Rhonda? When will we find out? “The story arc plays a large role at times, and it ebbs and slows in terms of how prominent it is in the relationships among the characters. Ultimately in the end it plays a large, significant and I would hope a very surprising role.”
Surprising? Hmmm, so does that mean Anika didn’t do it?
Anika’s character is almost completely different now than she was in season 1. What went behind the decision to bring her storyline where it’s at?
Chaiken tells us, “We were talking about how Anika would continue to stay in this story and our fundamental belief about Anika is the thing that she wants most of all is to be a Lyon. That’s what she’s wanted from the moment we met her and when she lost Lucious she clung to that hope and pursued it in ways that ultimately were not healthy for her. She may have become slightly unhinged for a little while but we see her as a grounded character who struggles to regain her footing in this crazy and abusive family… that she so much wants to be a part of.”
‘Empire’s’ LGBT and political stances
When asked about sexual fluidity on Empire and whether any characters may go that route, Chaiken said, “I think that you never know where people are going to go in terms of their sexuality until they go there, and people often don’t know themselves.”
The season 2 premiere of Empire tackled the #BlackLivesMatter movement, when we asked Chaiken if there will be more politics involved in the back half of the season, she told us, “I would say it’s safe to anticipate that you’ll always hear political discussions on Empire because it’s the fabric of this world and in the lives and minds of the characters we’re talking about. I don’t know that we’re telling a story that’s about a political subject, I think that the show by definition lives in that world of culture politics.”
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