2x18 Past Is Prologue

This episode was pretty rough. All of the balls in the air couldn't possibly be caught gracefully. In this case, though, not a single plot thread was satisfyingly concluded. Lucious's mother at the end of the last episode was a complete red herring that gets explicated away in one line from Lucious. But of course it couldn't have resolved otherwise. Who would have cared if she spilled the beans about being Lucious's mother or not? Freda gets a few seconds of screen time with a gesture toward reconciliation, although it is fairly unclear how that will be followed up. The thematic angle about cycles, the cycle of violence and the cycle of family, draws attention to the narrative cycles Empire can't ever seem to escape. Andre, always the voice of reason, says, "the cycle ends when it's ready to end. Until then we do what we have to do." In this case, the cycle will be ready to end when Empire gets cancelled and not a minute before.

Among all the atrocious, inexplicable, and random plot-twists, the episode's worst turn was the literal cliffhanger with Rhonda and Anika. Which one will be alive next season?! If I were a betting man, I'd say both! But, you can be sure the Empire writers haven't decided yet. The end-of-season cliffhanger is a great contract negotiation tool! I know Empire can be a better show, and I'm confident that the show will find its way again in this upcoming season. Even if the plot is as chaotic, season 2 was able to shine with plenty of good character moments.