‘Empire’ aired its series finale episode and it only elicited mixed reactions from its fans. Will the family saga ever get its proper ending?
Fans took to social media their reaction to the series ending and many of them had something common to say: “That was it?”
Apparently, fans are not happy with how the ending turned out. Many were unsatisfied despite the show’s efforts to salvage it with the scenes from episode 18 and unfinished episode 19.
One tweet said: “Covid did the #EmpireFinale a serious injustice. I’m strongly hoping they get a chance to finish that story. That is not how it should end.”
Fox had to cut short the production of the series due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So instead of airing the real ending, they put together and ending that sadly had several flaws to it.
Loose thread plots
The most common questions asked from the series are the loose threads in the shooting of Lucious (Terence Howard) and the explosion of Cookie’s (Taraji P. Henson) car.
The finale did not address the previous events leaving fans wondering who shot Lucious and who blew up Cookie’s car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i82hRE7ODPg
According to a source, executive producer Brett Mahoney said that they had to leave out the revelations of those mysteries. There were no deeper details regarding the matter but it seemed like they focused more on closing the series with a happy ending.
The closing featured the Lyon family united together and Lucious and Cookie finally acknowledging their deep love for one another.
Mahoney said it was that spirit they were going for in the series finale.
Leaving out Jussie Smollet
Just like most series endings, Empire also featured a series of flashbacks. The last episode revisited some of the Lyons family legacy throughout the six seasons.
However, fans were quick to notice the absence of Jussie Smollet’s character Jamal. The flashback did not show any of the adult Jamal. Instead, what was shown was the younger actor who played Jamal as a child.
One viewer tweeted that while the ending was happy, she wished that they could have at least included one picture of Jamal. She said that Jamal was a character admired by all and that he deserved better.
Mahoney said that he has an opinion on the exclusion of Smollet from the finale but he declined to make it public.
Smollet was written out of the show last season after being accused of igniting a hate-crime in Chicago, where the series filmed.
Empire may have not ended in the way it should be but all hope is not lost. Producers said that they are still hoping to make the actual series finale.
For now, fans will just have to settle with the finale and cross their fingers the series will get the proper ending.
Featured image courtesy of Music of FOX/YouTube screenshot