The second season of the American television drama series ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' premiered on September 23, 2015, in the United States on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

. The season was ordered on January 17, 2015. The show is produced by

20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Co ...

, in association with

Imagine Entertainment Imagine Entertainment (formerly Imagine Films Entertainment), also known simply as Imagine, is an American film and television production company founded in November 1985 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard. Background Brian Graz ...

, Lee Daniels Entertainment, Danny Strong Productions and Little Chicken Inc. The showrunners for this season are

Ilene Chaiken Ilene Chaiken (born June 30, 1957) is an American television producer, director, writer, and founder of Little Chicken Productions. Chaiken is best known as being a co-creator, writer and executive producer on the television series '' The L Word ...

Danny Strong Daniel William Strong (born June 6, 1974) is an American actor, film and television writer, director, and producer. As an actor, Strong is best known for his roles as Jonathan Levinson in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and Doyle McMaster in ''Gilmo ...

and

Lee Daniels Lee Daniels (born December 24, 1959) is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter. His first producer credit was ''Monster's Ball'' (2001), for which Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making Daniels ...

. The season aired on Wednesday at 9:00 pm, the same slot as the previous season. The season concluded on May 18, 2016, and consisted of 18 episodes.

Premise

The show centers on a hip hop

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

and

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

company, Empire Entertainment, and the drama among the members of the founders' family as they fight for control of the company.

Cast and characters

Main cast

* Taraji P. Henson as

Cookie Lyon Loretha "Cookie" Lyon ( née Holloway) is a fictional character from the American musical drama ''Empire'' on Fox. Portrayed by Taraji P. Henson, Cookie is one of the main characters within the series, the queen bee and the wife of former dru ...

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films ''Dead Presidents'' and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'', Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles ...

as Lucious Lyon *

Bryshere Y. Gray Bryshere Yazuan Gray (born November 28, 1993), also known by the stage name Yazz the Greatest or simply Yazz, is an American actor and rapper, best known for his role as Hakeem Lyon in the Fox primetime musical drama television series ''Empire'' ...

Hakeem Lyon Hakeem Lyon is a fictional character from the original FOX musical drama ''Empire'' played by Bryshere Y. Gray. Hakeem, one of the main characters within the series, is the youngest and once-favorite son of hip-hop mogul Lucious (Terrence Howar ...

Jussie Smollett Jussie Smollett (, born June 21, 1982) is an American actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 debuting in '' The Mighty Ducks'' (1992). In 2015, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series ''Empire'', a ...

as Jamal Lyon *

Trai Byers Trai Byers (born July 19, 1983) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Andre Lyon in the Fox television series ''Empire'' (2015–2020). Early life Trai Byers was born in Kansas City, Kansas. After a year of high school in Kansas ...

as Andre Lyon *

Grace Gealey Grace Byers (née Gealey; born July 26, 1984) Note: While some sources give her birthplace as the Cayman Island, Gealey says she was born in Butler, Pennsylvania. See interview in LumiereMagazine.com, below. is a Caymanian actress, known for her r ...

as Anika Calhoun *

Kaitlin Doubleday Kaitlin Janette Doubleday (born July 19, 1984) is an American actress. She played a number of supporting film roles in her early career, including in '' Waiting...'' (2005) and ''Accepted'' (2006). From 2015 to 2016, she starred as Rhonda Lyon in ...

as Rhonda Lyon *

Gabourey Sidibe Gabourey Sidibe ( ; born May 6, 1983) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the 2009 film '' Precious'', a role that earned her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, in addition to nominations for the Golden Globe an ...

as Becky Williams *

Ta'Rhonda Jones Ta'Rhonda Jones (born July 12, 1988)"a life less ordinary." ''Soap Opera Digest''. September 28, 2015. pg. 55. is an American actress and rapper who is best known for her recurring role as Porsha Taylor on the FOX television series ''Empire'' ...

as Porsha Taylor * Serayah as Tiana Brown

Recurring cast

Special guest stars

Production

''Empire'' was renewed for a second season on January 17, 2015, by

after only two episodes had aired. It was announced to contain 18 episodes, split into two parts, with ten episodes in the fall, and the remaining eight episodes after the Christmas break, beginning in January. Filming began on June 23, 2015, as confirmed by Fox, in addition to Chris Rock being spotted on set.

Casting

The second season had ten roles receiving star billing, with seven of them returning from the previous season, in addition to three characters upgraded from the first season.

will portray Lucious Lyon, a former drug dealer turned hip hop mogul and the CEO of Empire Entertainment who now is imprisoned. Taraji P. Henson will play

, Lucious' outspoken ex-wife and mother of his three sons, who served 17 years in prison, and have now made a

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to t ...

for Empire Entertainment with Anika, Andre and Hakeem. Lucious and Cookie have three sons: Andre Lyon, the eldest son of the Lyon family and CFO of Empire Entertainment who will be played by

, and will deal with his wife killing Uncle Vernon in the previous season finale.

will play Jamal Lyon, the middle son and "black sheep" of the Lyon family, a talented, gay singer-songwriter who has been given control over Empire from his father, Lucious.

will portray

, the fame-obsessed youngest son and Lucious' favorite child, who is a hip hop star on the rise and has been included in the hostile takeover with his mother, Anika and Andre. Other series regulars returning are

, who will reprise her character Anika Calhoun, former head of Empire Entertainment A&R and Lucious' ex fiancée who has worked together with Cookie replace the acting board of directors at Empire.

will play Rhonda Lyon, Andre's power-hungry and money-obsessed wife who must deal with killing Uncle Vernon in order to protect Andre and her pregnancy, as revealed in the season one finale. In addition,

and

Serayah McNeill Serayah Ranee McNeill (born June 20, 1995) also known mononymously as Serayah, is an American actress, model and singer, best known for her role as singer Tiana Brown on the television show ''Empire''. Early life Serayah Ranee McNeill was bor ...

were upgraded to series regulars after being billed as recurring characters during season one. They will be playing their respective roles as Porsha Taylor, personal assistant to Cookie, Becky Williams, executive assistant to Lucious at Empire Entertainment and Tiana Brown, a R&B-pop artist signed to Empire Entertainment, respectively. Chris Rock, Lenny Kravitz and

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

were originally slated to guest star as themselves, but it was later revealed that Rock would play Frank Gathers. Adam Rodriguez will recur as Laz Delgado, a smooth promoter and a potential love interest for Cookie. On June 11, 2015, it was announced that the producers were casting the new breakout role of Betty Barz, a "moody, outspoken" teenage rapper who will first appear in the season premiere. Description of the character was that she was an African-American, "unapologetically butch," and something of a hometown hero in her "Brownsville-Never-Ran-Never-Will, Brooklyn" neighborhood. On June 26, 2015, it was announced that Tyra Ferrell was cast as a lawyer who will be in contact with the Lyon family. It was announced on July 2, 2015, that

Marisa Tomei Marisa Tomei ( , ; born December 4, 1964) is an American actress. She came to prominence as a cast member on '' The Cosby Show'' spin-off '' A Different World'' in 1987. After having minor roles in a few films, she came to international attentio ...

was cast as Mimi Whiteman, a demanding venture capitalist who becomes embroiled in Lyon family drama.

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the gr ...

was reported on July 6, 2015, to have joined the cast as Lucious Lyon's mother in flashbacks. On July 17, 2015,

TVLine ''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs. History In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving ''EW'' after nearly two years in their employ to est ...

reported that

Andre Royo Andre Royo (born July 18, 1968) is an American actor, producer, and writer. He is best known for his role as Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins on the HBO crime drama series ''The Wire'', and his appearances on ''Fringe'', ''Party Down'', ''How to Make I ...

will join the cast as Thirsty Rawlings, a sharp lawyer who will defend Lucious.

was the one to announce that

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. She first gained recognition in 2011 when she began posting videos of herself covering popular songs online. One of her videos caught t ...

will join the cast in a guest-starring role in the second season as Valentina. It was announced on July 14, 2015, that Hakeem will have a new love interest whose name is Laura, a serious talented vocalist. On August 3, 2015, it was revealed that Adam Busch has signed on for a multi-episode recurring arc, playing Chase One, a sexy, gifted, avant-garde gay artist who's doing a photo shoot, and is infatuated with his male star, while Jamila Velazquez,

Raquel Castro Raquel Castro is an American actress and singer. She is known for starring in the 2004 film '' Jersey Girl'' as Gertie Trinké, the daughter of Ollie Trinké (Ben Affleck) and Gertrude Steiney (Jennifer Lopez), for which Castro won the Young Art ...

and newcomer Yani Marin will play unconfirmed recurring roles. It was announced on August 5, 2015, that Mariah Carey will guest star in one of the upcoming episodes in a top-secret role. One day later, on August 6, 2015, it was also confirmed that

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

would appear as himself.

Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, talk show host and politician. Sharpton is the founder of the National Action Network. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democrati ...

and Andre Leon Talley will appear as themselves, and will appear in the season premiere as they will show their support for the embattled music CEO at an epic, outdoor "Free Lucious" concert. On August 21, it was announced that Mo McRae was cast as J-Poppa, a love interest for

's character Becky, which will appear in three episodes. On September 14, 2015, it was announced

Rafael de la Fuente Rafael de la Fuente (born November 11, 1986) is a Venezuelan actor and singer. He is known for his roles in the fantasy television series ''Grachi'' (2011–2013) and the soap opera reboot ''Dynasty'' (2017–present) as Sam "Sammy Jo" Jones. Hi ...

would return portraying the role of Michael in at least four episodes of the season. On November 5, ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' reported that

Annie Ilonzeh Annette Ngozi Ilonzeh (born August 23, 1983) is a Nigerian-American actress. From 2010 to 2011, she played Maya Ward on the ABC daytime soap opera '' General Hospital'', and later starred as Kate Prince in the short-lived ABC reboot of '' Charl ...

had been cast in the role of TV reporter Harper Scott and would appear in the second half of the season.

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

Early reviews for the second season of ''Empire'' indicate positive reviews. On the aggregator,

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the season earned a 95% rating based on 39 reviews. It received a 77 out of 100 on the review aggregate website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Live + SD ratings

Live + 7 Day (DVR) ratings

References

{{Empire 2015 American television seasons 2016 American television seasons Empire (2015 TV series) seasons