HOLLYWOOD—I will admit I’ve been back and forth on “Empire” for its fourth season. I thought the first half started slow, but ramped up during the mid-season finale. The second half of the season also started slow, but totally hooked my attention once again with such shockers. I mean the death of Shyne at the hands of Lucious, Eddie coming into Empire like a tyrant undermining both Cookie and Lucious, it was fun TV. However, the question rather Boo-Boo Kitty aka Anika would receive her comeuppance that kept my attention.

This fourth season finale was action-packed and dare I say perhaps one of the best of the series of the date. The episode titled, ‘The Empire Unpossess’d’ was so dramatic, it’s an episode that needs to be watched twice to fully taken in all the mayhem that was unleashed on fans. Oh, this episode was juicy; Lucious was ready to kill Eddie, who became greedier by the minute. It became apparent Cookie and Lucious wanted to implement a blindside their enemy would never see, but had trouble finding an opening. Jamal tried to reason with Tori about making their band public, but she did not seem too pleased with the newfound fame, and found herself in a dire situation. As a result, she found herself in rehab to treat her demons that have resurface yet again. Cookie pulled out her ace by reaching out to Anika, but Boo-Boo Kitty was not interested in hearing what her foe had to say. Lucious came face-to-face with Cookie’s daughter, and the audience without a doubt knows where Cookie gets her fire from, just as Lucious decided he was going to turn himself into the police for Shyne’s murder.

Andre found himself in a tough position, taking over the reins of the family empire in the absence of his father. Let the games begin, because there was a big board meeting at Empire, where Eddie and the rest of the members were shocked to see Cookie refuse to bid for Empire. Cookie made a move to protect Lucious from going to jail, but it was apparent that move was causing more fractures in the family. Why? Jamal decided it was time for him to vanish, which shook Cookie to the core; she really was shaken by her son deciding to make such a big move.

Something I’ve been dying to see unveiled for nearly two seasons is Anika’s role in the death of Andre and Rhonda’s unborn child when she pushed Rhonda down the stairs at their home. Andre is indeed making a power move to get inside Anika’s head and I absolutely loved witnessing every moment of it. To be honest, Anika set a ton of things in motion that led to Andre’s downward spiral. Mama Cookie was livid to hear her daughter toss her company away, but she spoke a bit of truth that struck emotions in Cookie. Lucious decided to propose marriage to Cookie yet again, only this time it looks like the couple who while apart for a very long time, may finally get the opportunity to have a happily ever-after.

Tiana pleaded with Hakeem who was none the bit interested in chatting with the woman who sold out his family, but she dropped a bomb on Hakeem by announcing that she is pregnant. Damn, this kid is about to be a father yet again in such a short time period. Anika was rattled to the core with the presence of what she was certain to be Rhonda; I mean Eddie choose this woman to be CEO, but he might be regretting it. This was utter good, cause Anika spiraled and I loved watching every moment of seeing her lose her marbles.

Wow, Andre drugged Anika’s wine, which caused her to spiral. Oh, I love and I mean love to see someone lose their marbles after doing such treacherous things. Now that is what you call a game-changing moment. Anika frightened by Rhonda’s appearance tumbled over the balcony, shattered glass and fell to her death. And this entire time, I was under the impression that Rhonda might have a twin sister, but that was such a twisted moment it nearly had me jump off the couch.

It’s crazy that Lucious and Cookie had no idea what transpired with their foe because they were at the courthouse exchanging their vows. The final moments of the episode saw a shocking moment with Hakeem and Tiana in a dire situation as Blake’s crazed father approached the trio with a shotgun in hand and fired multiple shots. We know someone was shot, but the question of the hour is just who got shot? I’m certain Blake was, and he’s likely a goner, but how about Tiana and Hakeem? So I guess Anika is dead right? She certainly looked like it, which begs the question what happens now to the Empire? What will Cookie and Lucious do to reclaim what they worked years to build? Guess we’ll have to wait until the fall to find out “Empire” fans!