#Keep it moving empire series

Jamal tends to be the glue that keeps everything at Empire from unraveling, yet despite this, his story lines thus far have never really strayed from the realm of boyfriends, heartbreak, and breaking out into either a melancholy or motivational song. He had aspirations of running his own label, which he started off-screen at the end of season four, but that fell by the wayside once he returned to the United States this season to help with the tanking family business. As an openly gay musician, he brings a unique viewpoint, in addition to being the most musically talented Lyon. Given the open-ended nature of his season-five departure, it seems fair to assume that there will be more mentions of Jamal moving forward, so what happens to Empire if Jamal doesn’t physically return? How many excuses can the writers come up with for keeping him out of sight? Jamal is a beloved character, arguably the most likable on the show.

Given that the scene takes place days after Jamal’s text to his mom about being stranded, we can perhaps assume that Jamal made it back for this big Lyon family moment, but we wouldn’t know it from the scene, which centers Lucious and Thirsty (Andre Royo) on camera while keeping other relatives mostly out of the frame. By this point in the show, Lucious was really trying to mend his relationship with the newest Lyon, so his apparent grief in all those episode teasers of Lucious mourning over a casket wasn’t for naught. Kelsey) killed himself, and his heart ended up going to Andre. Yup, it’s the plot twist we figured would come: Lucious’s long-lost son Kingsley (A.Z. It was an easy way to keep Jamal away without straining credibility - but how long can the writers keep that up?īy now we know the identity of the person inside the casket that Lucious (Terrence Howard) stood over in a flash-forward in Empire’s season-five premiere. Henson), with an update, claiming that he was stranded in Seychelles due to a storm. Writers tackled that odd discrepancy by having Jamal call and later text his mom, Cookie (Taraji P. Yet in last night’s season finale, as Andre (Trai Byers) struggled with his heart issues, Jamal was nowhere to be found. It’s not quite Jamal running off to London, but it still involves Kai, so close enough.īut no honeymoon lasts forever, especially when there’s family drama. Patel asks, “Wasn’t Jamal supposed to be in this meeting? He’s the only one who’s actually on the tour, yes?” and Becky reminds him that Jamal is in Seychelles with his new hubby. That explanation came two episodes ago, during a meeting at Empire between Becky (Gabourey Sidibe), Giselle (Nicole Ari Parker), and exec Kelly Patel (Pej Vahdat).

Now we know that Jamal and Kai (Toby Onwumere) have gotten back together - the writers simply removed Jamal from the last two episodes of the season by giving him a big wedding and having him go on a honeymoon. A Smollett spokesperson confirmed this status, thanking Fox and Empire leadership for their “unwavering support.” So there’s still a possibility that Jamal Lyon will return to the screen next season following his awkward early departure from season five.īack in March, we speculated that Empire would write Jamal out of the final two episodes of season five by having him follow his then ex-fiancé back to London, because it was the easiest way out.

#Keep it moving empire series

Fox recently announced that Empire would be returning for a sixth season, but Smollett’s future on the show is hazy.Ī recent statement released by Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television said that while there are no current plans for Smollett’s character to return to the series in the fall, his contract would be extended to keep Jamal’s future on the show open. The charges against him have been dropped (and Smollett maintains his innocence), but the city of Chicago has filed a lawsuit against him, he was written out of the last two episodes of season five, and he may or may not be back next season. Empire’s fifth season is over, but the unexpected real-life drama surrounding Jussie Smollett, who plays Jamal Lyon on the show, is not.