Empire completed its six-season run on Tuesday, April 21, with a very disappointing series finale. The musical drama series abruptly ended with no proper conclusion for any of the characters, including Cookie and Lucious. And Showrunner Brett Mahoney recently shared details about the team's initial plans to end the show.
The last season of this FOX drama was initially planned for 20 episodes, but the production team was unable to complete the filming and post-production works of last two episodes due to coronavirus-related work shutdown. So, the network had to cut out the last episodes and make episode 18 the series finale. And, the production team had to re-work on that episode to give a proper conclusion to the story.
Unfortunately, many of the series' followers were not really happy with the way the show ended and they shared their disappointments online. "We wasted five years of our lives just to watch it end like this," tweeted an Empire fan. While another viewer wrote, "No shade but they should wait after this coronavirus lockdown to give us a proper two-hour finale."
A quick recap of episode 18 'Home IS On The Way'
The series finale featured a fresh start for Cookie with a new name. The former wife of Lucious introduced herself to the world as Loretha Cookie as she decided to live with the best traits of her two personas. The last episode of this television drama also featured a happy reunion for Cookie and Lucious.
Meanwhile, Yana and Damon Cross met their demises and the show ended by featuring a family reunion at the premiere of Empire movie, in which Hakeem showcased his acting skills. But the two burning questions of Empire season 6 were about Cookie's car explosion and Lucious gunshots. The viewers did not get a proper conclusion for those sequences.
Showrunner reveals real ending
Mahoney recently revealed the fact that production team cannot give a proper conclusion to Cookie and Lucious' story in the last episode was really breaking his heart. The big revelation was included in episode 20 and that storyline was a victim of victim of COVID-19, he added.
"Whenever we get to shoot 20, it will start with the episode 19 cliffhanger. The original idea for 19 had us coming to this place where everything was good and then, that all gets turned upside down and they go on a journey in episode 10 before ultimately coming back to that happy place. I promise you that if we don't get to film that episode we will get the resolution out there one way or another," the Showrunner said during an interview with TV Line.
