Top 10 Moments from Empire

In a dark house, all alone… what could possibly go wrong? Violently shoved down the stairs by a figure audiences can’t see, watching Rhonda smash into the stairs and hit the floor was tough to do. The fact that this moment came out of the blue at the end of an episode, and that the identity of who pushed her remained a mystery for an extended period, had fans of the show buzzing with theories all over the internet. The knowledge that she was pregnant made the entire situation even worse, and watching her crawl towards her phone and beg for help dragged the whole scene on in a long, painful way.

Lucious is no stranger to backstabbing in this show, but having it come from his own family was unexpected. The tension between the youngest Lyon and his father has been obvious in the show from the get go, but this moment came as a shock all the same. After being encouraged by Camilla to go behind his father’s back, Hakeem’s decision to vote Lucious out of the CEO’s chair sent audiences, along with Lucious himself, reeling. The tension between the father and son and the looks they exchanged after Hakeem voiced his choice was brilliant acting by both actors, and set the scene for some future furious scheming on Lucious’s part.

This played out like a high-stakes episode of Maury. During a surprise visit from Olivia and her boyfriend, it’s revealed that Olivia’s boyfriend has been abusing Lola this whole time. When Jamal goes to confront him, he pulls out a gun and threatens to kill him. In a plot twist that nobody, including the Lyons, saw coming, Lucious confesses to being the real father of Olivia’s baby. Though Jamal was originally on the hook as being little Lola’s daddy, the knowledge that his father had also had an affair with Olivia was shocking to everyone both on screen and in the audience. We know that Lucious likes to get around, but jeez...

If you look up “dysfunctional” in the dictionary, there’s a good chance you’ll find this couple nestled between the pages. With a squabble breaking out nearly every episode and threats as common as compliments, seeing this fight break out between the Lyon patriarch and his wife wasn’t a surprise - but the extent of Cookie’s rage was. Taking a baseball bat to both Lucious’s prized records and then to his head, the Empire tycoon showed she meant business by completely trashing Lucious’s office, screaming insults at him the whole time. The scene has been called the couple’s biggest fight in the series, and the gash on Lucious’s head is inclined to agree.

Notorious for his brazen style and constantly butting heads with Lucious, everyone expected something to happen to Hakeem eventually. But getting snatched out of a public park in broad daylight was pretty bold, even for this show. Grabbed and stuffed into a car before being interrogated by a gang, Hakeem stayed true to his nature and continued taunting his captors even while bound. Following his release after the kidnappers receive the $40 k ransom, Cookie and Hakeem meet with the kindappers to set up a negotiation and we see get to see the fierce mama bear Cookie truly is.

After the cliffhanger finale of season 2, viewers were left hanging in suspense after someone was pushed off the balcony. The victim didn’t stay a mystery for long, as shortly into the first episode of season 3, Rhonda came crashing down to earth, landing on a car and dying instantly. The sheer abruptness of this scene and the sudden reveal of just who had fallen caught everyone by surprise, including the characters who witnessed her death and the audiences watching. And while the actual death was traumatic enough, watching how Andre handled his grief in following episodes was pretty painful in itself.

After Hakeem’s failed wedding, it’d be a shame to waste all those decorations, right? Setting aside the fact that Lucious is only marrying Anika to prevent her testifying against him, what made this scene extra difficult to watch was the fact that he was marrying the woman carrying his grandchild. Cookie’s heartbreak is hard to watch as she is once again pushed to the side by Lucious. Seeing Lucious kiss Anika on the cheek at the alter in such a hostile environment made for one awkward family affair. Nobody is happy as even Jamal refuses to sing.

Again and again, Jamal steps up for his family. Even after receiving some blistering insults from Lucious regarding his sexuality, Jamal still makes the ultimate sacrifice for his father when it comes down to the wire. During a company event, a shooter makes her way through the crowd in an attempt to assassinate Lucious. Jamal first begs her to stop before pushing his father out of the way and taking the bullet himself. A testament to Jamal’s character, this moment ironically brought the family closer together and added some heart-pounding suspense into the episode.

Just when you conquer one medical emergency, you get hit with another. After Andre plants a car bomb only to find out that Lucious and Cookie were planning on handing Empire over to him, audiences can only watch as he desperately races to warn his parents before they enter the car. Lucious manages to push Cookie out of range before the blast goes off, but he’s hit and knocked into a coma for 3 months. In a shocking twist, when he eventually awakens, he doesn’t recognize any of his family - leaving the future of Empire Records, and the Lyon family, up in the air.
Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions.
Jamal is a Daddy
“Out, Damned Spot”

Jamal's Piano Kiss
“Sinned Against”

Bunkie’s Murder
“Pilot”

The topic of Jamal’s sexuality was a pretty big deal in the storyline of the show. After being told by his father that if he came out he would be “on [his] own”, Jamal’s internal struggle with coming out to the public finally came to a breaking point in his White Party performance. In a remix of his father’s song “You’re So Beautiful”, Jamal sang his heart out as he changed the lyrics to “this the kinda song that makes a man love a man”. Met with screaming applause and support by his brothers and mother, seeing the talented singer finally share his secret with the world was refreshing and inspiring to watch.