Empire Season 2 Spoilers: Premiere Details!

EMPIRE: Lucious (Terrence Howard, L) and Cookie (Taraji P. Henson, R) have a meeting in the "Sins of the Father" episode of EMPIRE airing Wednesday, March 11 (9:01-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2015 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: FOX Chuck Hodes/FOX

FOX released their Fall 2015-2016 schedule today, and within the press release the network sent out to media were little nuggets of what we can expect from the upcoming fall season.

Read More: FOX Announces Fall Premiere Dates 2015-2016

When Empire premiered on FOX last winter, it was an immediate smash hit, with cast members like Tariji P. Henson (Cookie Lyon), Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon) and Bryshere Y. Gray (Hakeem Lyon) becoming breakout stars.

Empire’s 12 episode first season left fans wanting MORE. The two hour season finale ended with Lucious (Terrence Howard) in JAIL for the murder of his friend (yeah, he did it), “Bunkie” Williams. Jamal was now the head of Empire, with his brothers, Hakeem and Andre (Trai Byers) still scheming to grab power for themselves. Andre and his pregnant wife, Rhonda, were in hot water of their own, having accidentally been responsible for the death of Empire executive, Vernon Turner.

Where does the action pick up for the second season? From the FOX press release:

The series will pick up three months after the shocking arrest and incarceration of Empire Entertainment head LUCIOUS LYON (Terrence Howard). Knowing Lucious won’t be held much longer in prison, COOKIE (Taraji P. Henson) and her allies within the Lyon family make a desperate attempt to seize control of the company. But as the Lyons continue to battle each other, a bigger external threat emerges that could force them to unite.

Ohhhhh. a “bigger external threat.”  What could that possibly be? Perhaps Lucious’ ex-fiance, Anika (Grace Gealey) and arch enemy, Billy Baretti (Judd Nelson) will be cooking up a takeover plot of their own?

As previously reported, the series premiere, titled, “The Devils Are Here,” will introduce a new recurring character, Betty Barz,  a  “moody, outspoken” lesbian teenage rapper.  The character, described as “unapologetically butch,” and a hero in her Brooklyn neighborhood, is a rhyme queen with a troubled home life. Her father, whom she adores, is an incarcerated drug kingpin.  Empire takes the artist into the fold, but the relationship is anything but easy.

Read More: Empire 2 Spoilers: Casting Teen Lesbian Rapper, plus a Time Jump

The actress eventually cast to play Betty will join Empire’s other new guest stars, CSI: Miami‘s Adam Rodriguez, comedian Chris Rock, R&B superstar Alicia Keys and rock singer Lenny Kravitz. Empire producers have promised even more co-stars than were featured in the inaugural season.

American Idol alum, Jennifer Hudson, will likely return as Andre’s music therapist, Michelle White, who now resides on the Empire artists roster.

Empire premieres on FOX September 23 at 9/8c PM.

About mj santilli 34830 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!