(Spoiler alert: Please do not keep reading if you have not seen Wednesday’s season finale of “Empire”)
“Empire’s” Season 2 finale ended with a wedding — but not the wedding everyone was expecting.
The episode opened three weeks after the events of last week, which saw Jamal (Jussie Smollett) getting shot on the red carpet of the ASA Awards.
Jamal returns home to a warm family reunion, but he is not himself. Hakeem (Bryshere Gray) asks him to sing at his upcoming wedding, but Jamal — who is confined to a wheelchair — says he will never sing again.
Later, Anika (Grace Gealey) arrives at the house and tells Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) that she was picked up by the feds, who wanted to know about Shyne (Xzibit). But Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) storms in and assaults Anika, as she knows Anika pushed her down the stairs.
But no one believes Rhonda’s account of the events that night, not even Andre (Trai Byers). She demands that Andre help her get revenge.
Lucious then admits to Cookie that he and Shyne were paid to kill another musician back when Cookie was locked up, which is why the feds are all over Shyne now. Cookie insists that they must keep the past buried.
Cookie goes to see Shyne and says it would be wise for he and Lucious to team up to outwit the police. Shyne says he will help, but only if Lucious gives a record deal to his nephew. In addition, he demands an invite to Hakeem’s wedding.
Lucious goes to visit Freda (Bre-Z) in prison. He denies any involvement in her father’s death, and asks for her help in restoring Jamal’s ability to sing. He plays her a new beat and gets her to record a song for Jamal. Jamal listens to the song, and it inspires him to start writing a new song of his own.
At the Empire offices, Hakeem bursts into a board meeting and tells Lucious and Cookie that there is an emergency. Anika has climbed out onto the ledge of the balcony of Lucious’ office and is preparing to jump.
Anika says she cannot deal with the thought of being compelled to testify against Lucious. But Cookie tells her that she is a Lyon now, because she is carrying Hakeem’s baby, and she comes back off the ledge.
Later, Lucious professes his love to Cookie in her office. But she rebuffs him, saying that they should focus on getting through Hakeem’s wedding.
As the Lyon brothers prepare for the nuptials, Leah (Leslie Uggams) tells the boys that Lucious saw his father get murdered, something Lucious quickly denies.
At the wedding, a process server posing as a waitress serves Anika with a subpoena. The woman makes a run for it and security gives chase, but Shyne accidentally interferes and she escapes. Laura (Jamila Velazquez), in tears, tells Hakeem that she cannot go through with the wedding.
To prevent Anika from having to testify, Lucious decides he will marry her. Cookie is furious and storms out. Andre, who got ordained for Hakeem’s wedding, officiates the last-minute ceremony between Lucious and Anika. Leah then reveals that Tariq (Morocco Omari) is actually Lucious’ half brother.
As Anika sits looking out at the city, Rhonda attacks her. Andre comes out and we hear one of the women scream as she falls over the edge, but we do not see who it is who fell.
Tune into the Fox hip-hop drama next season to find out who (presumedly) plunged to their death.