'Empire' Season 2 News, Spoilers: Kaitlin Doubleday, Showrunner On Midseason Premiere's Big Mystery, What's Ahead For Rhonda
Fox's "Empire" returned with multiple shockers on Wednesday night, ushering in the back half of its second season with a major Lyon family loss, an intense father-son confrontation, and a baffling mystery.
In the midseason premiere, titled "Death Will Have His Day," Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) made a terrifying promise and a tragedy marred the lives of his son Andre (Trai Byers) and Andre's wife Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday).
After Rhonda was pushed down the stairs by an unknown assailant in the show's winter finale, "Empire" audiences found out that Rhonda survived her fall, but her unborn child did not.
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Doubleday recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how Rhonda's child's death will impact the character, as well as her marriage to Andre.
"It hardens her," the actress said. "At first, [Andre] thinks somebody pushes her and she doesn't believe it, and then she thinks somebody pushed her and he doesn't believe it."
In an interview with TVGuide, Doubleday talked about what's ahead for the character, saying, "I think there's a lot more to learn about Rhonda."
"At the beginning, she and Andre were this sexually deviant, manipulative power couple out to get everybody," she explained. "I like playing that, and in Season 3 I hope we get more to that idea."
"Empire" showrunner Ilene Chaiken also opened up to THR about the midseason premiere and about the mystery suspect behind Rhonda's fall.
According to Chaiken, "Empire" viewers will soon find out who pushed Rhonda, though the mystery will be played out over the rest of season 2. "And the answer might not be quite so obvious and simple as some people seem to expect it to be," she teased.
The next episode of "Empire," titled "A Rose by Any Other Name," finds the Lyons trying to get Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) back on their side as Rhonda and Andre deal with the aftereffects of their baby's death, Jamal (Jussie Smollett) receives backlash from fans, and Camilla (Naomi Campbell) sinks her claws into the acting Empire CEO.
"Empire" airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
