Y’all, it’s time for the Empire finale! The show picks up right where we left off last week. Lucious can’t believe Eddie is sabotaging him. But you see, Eddie thinks he paved the way for Lucious, but Lucious isn’t about to let Eddie take credit for Empire. Lucious denies killing Shine, but he does SLAP the sh*t out of Eddie and grabs a knife at the dinner table. Eddie’s got a gun, though, and he’s not afraid to use it. Eddie tells Lucious that if anything happens to him or his wife, then a statement will be released that reveals all of Lucious’s bad deeds. That shuts Lucious up for now.
Eddie wants Lucious to sign over all of Empire to him and threatens to bring Lucious’s scarf, the one found at Shine’s crime scene, to the police. Cookie is baffled that Eddie has become a snitch. “The joke’s on you because you should have pulled the trigger, b*tch,” Cookie says as Eddie walks out.
The scarf is ruining everything. Lucious will go straight to prison if the police get a hold of the scarf. Even Thirsty can’t fix this. They need leverage. Andre offers to pay Eddie off, but that’s not going to work. They’re going to have to do more than that because Eddie is out for blood. Meanwhile, Hakeem and Blake are working on a sick new track. Jamal’s band has pretty much dissolved now that Anonymous is no longer… anonymous. Tory calls out Jamal for selling out the band when his parents needed his help. Jamal wants to continue making music as Anonymous and with Tory. Unfortunately, the pressure is too much for Tory. She attempts to overdose. Jamal finds her in time to get her to the hospital, but she later dies from complications. Rest in peace, Tory.
Cookie goes to meet with Anika to try and turn things around. Cookie tells Anika that Eddie is just using her. Cookie promises to give Anika her own independent imprint if she gets the scarf. Anika’s not going for that. She tells Cookie to sit back and watch her take the throne. “I’m not afraid of you or your family anymore,” Anika says. “This is my time.”
After a talk with Cookie’s mom, Lucious is ready to go to the police and beat Eddie at his own game. “Let me be the man that’s worthy of your love,” he tells Cookie. Lucious has a talk with Andre about what he wants to happen after he goes to prison. He wants Andre to buy Empire back. Andre admits he’s willing to take the fall since this Shine drama is basically his fault. Lucious needs Andre to stay strong for Cookie. Andre is the only one who can anchor Cookie. “You’re the one that’s most like me,” Lucious says. “That fire in you, I put that there. I did that. That’s the Lyon. That’s me. Promise me you’re going to look after your mother.”
At the bidding war, the Lyons bid zero dollars, thanks to Cookie. She got Lucious’s freedom in exchange for Empire. Lucious is furious she gave the company away. But that doesn’t stop Lucious from proposing to Cookie!
At the end of the episode, Anika takes the podium as the new CEO of Empire after Andre claims he wants a clean slate with her. Suddenly, she starts feeling light-headed and begins seeing RHONDA (RIP)! Anika rushes offstage and right into Andre. “Smile for the cameras,” he says. HE DRUGGED HER CHAMPAGNE! Savage move, Andre. Anika runs off and sees another vision of Rhonda coming up the stairs. How ironic. “Karma’s a b*tch,” Rhonda says. That’s when Anika falls through the glass and down on top of the drinks. There’s blood everywhere. Anika is D-E-A-D.
As Lucious and Cookie are getting married, another shocking scene goes down. As Blake, Hakeem, Tiana, and Bella are walking to their car, Blake’s dad comes out of nowhere and fires THREE SHOTS at them! All of their lives are in serious jeopardy. And now we have to wait months to see what’s next on Empire?! WTF?! In some lighter news, Tiana is pregnant with Hakeem’s baby!