BWW Preview: EMPIRE, Back Into the Lyons' Den for Season Two

FOX and its smash hit EMPIRE is about to return for Season Two. Were you like me and hopelessly drawn into the Lyons' family drama? A delicious primetime soap opera taking us into the world of hip hop, EMPIRE is back this week!

Let's take a quick look back at Season One. Based loosely on KING LEAR and THE LION IN WINTER, the dynamic team of Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, who also collaborated on LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER brings us into the hip hop music world with the tale of the Lyons Family.

Meet Lucious Lyons (Terrence Howard), head of EMPIRE Records. He is a hip hop mogul running the biggest record company in the world. When Lucious gets a dire diagnosis at the hospital with a limited amount of time left, it is time for him to look to his three sons to decide who to hand his company over to. Eldest son, Andre (Trai Byers) who is the current CFO of the company and has been at his father's side as the business has grown along with his wife, Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) have their sights on running Empire. Rhonda, a bit of Lady MacBeth (#mixedShakespearemetaphors) drives Andre to do literally whatever it takes to make that happen. Middle child, Jamal (Jussie Smollett), the so-called black sheep, is a fantastic musician, but also happens to be gay which Lucious has dismissed his entire life. And youngest child, Hakeem (Bryshere "Yazz" Gray), the apple of his father's eye (Cordelia) seemingly can do no wrong as he tries to launch his hip hop career. Lucious is currently involved with Anika (Grace Gealey) who is head of EMPIRE Entertainment A&R. Enter Cookie (Taraji P. Henson), Lucious' ex-wife, recently released from prison where she had served time covering for Lucious back in their drug selling days. Cookie is back and wants her share of the EMPIRE as well as encouraging Lucious to give all three sons a fair shot. Becky and Tiana (Gabourey Sidibe and Tiana Brown) who play Lucious and Cookie's assistants, respectively complete the main cast. The family dynamic is tumultuous, to say the least, especially when Jamal decides to publicly come out of the closet, however he and Lucious are able to mend fences and Lucious hands him Empire. Lucious and Cookie rekindle their flame essentially tossing Anika into an alliance with Dre and Hakeem to take down Jamal, Lucious and Empire. Cookie eventually joins them, after she and Anika have an epic physical battle, naturally. The season ended with Lucious being arrested for killing Cookie's cousin and personal security, Bunkie in the series premiere.

The music on the show is part of its huge success with Timbaland on hand as its producer. It is incorporated into the episode as part of the hip hop industry with many guest stars as well as Jamal and Hakeem recording and performing original songs. One of the most important scenes includes Jamal performing and revealing to an industry crowd and media that he is gay. Lucious was thrilled! My personal favorite was a duet with Delphine (guest star, Estelle) and Jamal entitled, "Conqueror."

EMPIRE's immediate hit status attracted some impressive guest stars in season one including Gladys Knight, Anthony Hamilton, Sway Calloway, Snoop Dogg, Rita Ora, Juicy J, Patti LaBelle, Charles Hamilton, Raven-Symone, Estelle, and Cuba Gooding, jr. Season Two isn't slowing down with guests scheduled to appear including Alicia Keys, Chris Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Common, Becky G, Petey Pablo, Ludacris, Pitbull, Mariah Carey and Oprah Winfrey. We can't forget to mention the recurring cast members which include Judd Nelson as Lucious rival, Billy Baretti, Courtney Love as Elle Dallas a rockstar trying for a comeback, Naomi Campbell as Camilla, Hakeem's ex-lover, Derek Luke as Malcolm, Lucious head of security and Cookie's love interest and Jennifer Hudson as a music therapist and gospel singer. In Season Two, Marisa Tomei will join the star-studded cast as a venture capitalist as well as Kelly Rowland as Lucious' mother and Vivica A. Fox as Cookie's eldest sister.

It looks like we have a lot to look forward to as Lucious is now in prison and Jamal is in charge of Empire. But with Cookie now in alliance with Anika, Dre and Hakeem, Jamal's reign will be short-lived at best.

Photo Credits: FOX

Here's a preview for Season 2 of EMPIRE premiering Wednesday, September 23rd at 9:00PM on FOX:

Follow me on Twitter @eponineq all season long for recaps of EMPIRE, SCANDAL, SHAMELESS and THE WALKING DEAD and follow @BWWTVWorld for all the latest update, scoops and recaps.

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