But hold that thought, folks, as we have yet another ASA nominee event, with Skye taking the stage to perform another little ditty. She also spots Jamal getting a little cozy with a guy in the audience as a "What's up with that?" look crosses her face. Lucious is on the stage soon after to announce the SwiftStream acquisition and he brings Mimi up to help him do the honors. Little does he know, however, that Mimi has a special guest she wants to celebrate with as well: her wife. As an immaculately dressed and bewigged woman walks through the crowd, the camera pans and we realize it's none other than Camilla Marks (Naomi Campbell), who — if you'll remember — was at one time the cougar who had Hakeem on a tight leash that Lucious tried to pay off to get out of his son's life for good. Watching the horror dawn on Lucious' face is priceless as he realizes that something is indeed amiss.
Mimi wastes no time in setting her plan in motion, calling out Lucious at a board meeting and proposing a vote to remove him as the company's head. She replays the damning video she recorded with that nifty camera pen she was using suspiciously earlier in the episode and sets the ball in motion. However, he's not down for the count. He hatches a plan with Andre to lure as many members to their side as possible by any means necessary — and we do mean any means.
Jamal, meanwhile, is basking in the glow of two more nominations when Skye gives him the "what are we doing" talk. Jamal explains that, while he thinks she's a great girl, the pull of the D just be callin' him too much for him to make their thing a permanent arrangement. Like any good judy, she understands and all seems resolved for now. What isn't resolved, however, is Hakeem and Camilla. She, however, makes a stop by Hakeem's to handle their unfinished business. They rehash old business, but Camilla reveals her plans soon enough. She lets him know that everything she's done has been for them and that she wants to take him to the next level, reassuring him by making sure to give a nice rub in the crotch area.
After what we can only assume was a thorough rub down, Hakeem shows up to the correctional facility just in the nick of time to go on stage for Cookie's special performance. Cookie gives a heartfelt speech to the women, letting them know that she seems them as more than just inmates, followed by Keem petulantly telling the women that his father didn't ever bring him to see his mom during the 17 years she was locked up. After that awkward moment, he and Laura launch into lukewarm pop song "Miracles" again. This moment allows the producers to show us a montage of Lucious, Andre and crew doing strange things to get board votes, with Thirsty doing the absolute most by going downtown on a female exec (it was all for naught though, as the board member remarked that Thirsty's head game was good, but not worth $10 milli). As a last resort, Andre comes to the jail to meet with Cookie and Hakeem to get their votes. Cookie can't make it, as she still has to meet with Jezzy (who we finally learn is played by none other than female rap phenom Da Brat), but she agrees to allow Hakeem to vote for her by proxy after lecturing about the legacy that is Empire Enterprises, proving once again that she is Down Ass Chick numero uno.
At vote time, things are tense and very, very close, with the deciding vote hinging on Hakeem. After a series of flashbacks that demonstrate just how much of a sh*tbag Lucious has been to him over the last season and this one, as well as a kiss blown from Camilla, Hakeem drops the hammer and votes "aye," ousting Lucious as chairman and allowing Mimi to give her proxy to Camilla. Cookie arrives just in time to scream "NO!" and then spit what seemed to be hours worth of saliva into Camilla's face. Yuck. The family, minus Hakeem of course, regroups back at Lucious' mansion to commiserate and lick their wounds. But no one is more hurt than snake-ass Lucious, who decides to use a few family photos for target practice as he throws a tantrum, calling his sons, whom he treated like sh*t and pitted against each other, ingrates. But Cookie acts as the voice of reason and calms him down long enough for them to gather around the TV and watch the day's last ASA nomination announcement, which is for Song of the Year. And, wouldn't you know it, the biggest award of the ceremony will pit Jamal's "Heavy" against Lucious' "Boom Boom Boom Boom."
Meanwhile, at Chateau D'Andre, the faulty alarm is going off again and driving Rhonda mad. Little does she know that this time it isn't a false alarm. A character dressed in all black (who is more than likely Anika) is on the premises and pushes Rhonda from behind as she stands at the top of the mansion's steep marble stairs. Rhonda and the bundle of joy she's carrying inside her go tumbling down the staircase rapidly, with the mother-t0-be landing face down and still at the bottom of the stairs. The last sound we hear as the fall finale comes to a close is Rhonda's phone buzzing beside her motionless body as Andre calls to tell her the good news.
- Advertisement -And with that, the first half of Empire's second season is officially a wrap. Will Rhonda (and her baby!) survive the treacherous fall? Was Anika really the culprit? Will Camilla's reign at Empire spell trouble for Lucious? Who will win in the Song of the Year category at the ASAs? How in the hell did "Boom Boom Boom Boom" get nominated for a damn thing? These are all good questions. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until March 3oth for their answers to be revealed. While we don't know how we'll survive the nearly four-month wait, we do know that, as always, we at SBHQ will be here to continue to recap the Lyons family's goings-on once again when the soapy drama returns in the spring.
