Spoilers ahead for Episode 3 of Empire Season 6, called "You Broke Love."
The third episode of Empire Season 6 was tasked with resolving the insane cliffhanger that saw Cookie held at gunpoint by Damon Cross, and "You Broke Love" certainly delivered. Fans who thought that Damon went after Cookie as a way of getting back just at Lucious weren't entirely on the money, as Damon also had video footage of Cookie taking the picture of the incriminating email on his phone. Throw in the laptop Lucious stole from Damon, and it's not altogether shocking that Damon snapped. After how "You Broke Love" ended his story, is he gone for good?
Well, Damon seemed unstoppable for most of the episode, restraining Cookie and then shooting her in the leg when she tried to make a run for it. Cookie spitting in his face didn't exactly endear her to him, and he ultimately gave orders for his men to go after her grandchildren. Although Lucious originally refused to help Cookie, he eventually caved and agreed to return Damon's laptop in exchange for Cookie's safety.
Everything didn't go according to plan for Damon after he arranged to meeting with Lucious in a public place. In the middle of a street, Lucious went to hand over the laptop to Damon, who had been dragging a wounded Cookie. Then Lucious flung the laptop into the street, grabbed Cookie, and ran to catch a cab. The laptop was destroyed, but Cookie had saved the SIM card that contained the incriminating photo, and she and Lucious were able to use it to get the federal charges against Lucious dropped and set Damon back in some big ways.
With Lucious and Cookie back on top, it stands to reason that Damon might be defeated for good. Or at least for the rest of Empire, which will wrap in the not-too-distant future. According to new episode photos, however, the battle against Damon probably isn't done. Take a look:
That right there is Damon Cross facing off against Lucious Lyon in a parking garage, and both men have guns drawn. It's not clear right now where exactly they are beyond a parking garage with a bike rack, but I'm guessing they don't have an audience. It also looks like Lucious went after Damon, as Damon seems to be getting into or out of a car. Alternately, this was Lucious interrupting Damon as he did something in somebody else's car.
Interestingly, the trunk of the car is open. If this is Damon's vehicle, then it's probably holding something that he wouldn't want to be caught with. A body? Illegal goods? A statue of Cookie that he finally decided to get rid of? We can only speculate at this point. Neither man looks like they're messing around, and it's hard to imagine how they'll both leave the parking garage unharmed.
I wouldn't want to count on Damon biting the dust so early, though, and Lucious won't be dying -- if indeed he does die -- until the present in the show catches up with the flash-forwards. This was the only image featuring Damon Cross that has been released from next week's episode, called "Tell the Truth," but another photo shows that Lucious is probably missing something significant for the showdown with Damon:
This photo shows Cookie with Hakeem, Teri, Andre, and their newborn baby, with Lucious as the obvious missing person. After all, Jamal certainly isn't expected to come back, and the vacant spot next to Cookie (who is endearingly wearing comfortable slippers) can only belong to Lucious. Is he absent because his confrontation with Damon is taking too long, or did Damon do something to him?
Next week's episode will feature Keesha Sharp of Lethal Weapon fame and see the Lyon family disagreeing despite a happy occasion that should have brought them back together. Lucious isn't happy with how Empire and the Empire movie are being handled after his long absence, Cookie considers seeking help (which is probably where Keesha Sharp's character comes in), and Andre talks to Tiana about the controversy she caused with her pro-life stance on social media.
The "Tell the Truth" episode of Empire airs Tuesday, October 15 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
