Spoilers ahead for the midseason premiere of Empire Season 6 on Fox, called "Can't Truss 'Em."
Empire returned to Fox with its last-ever midseason premiere to pay off on the fall finale cliffhanger, and the resolution was deadly. In fact, in resolving the ending that left Lucious and Cookie at the mercy of Tracy, Empire killed off its first character of Season 6B, and now the question is: who is next?
"Can't Truss 'Em" got off to an intense start with Tracy trying to shoot Cookie, only to be blocked by Lucious. The conflict was finally resolved when Andre entered, taking Tracy by surprise and reminding her that Andre has Kingsley's heart. In the resulting scuffle, Tracy got off a shot that grazed Andre and Cookie went for Lucious' gun, shooting and killing Tracy.
Given that less than half a season remains before Empire's grand finale now, it's probably safe to say that more bodies will drop in the weeks leading up to the final credits. At this point, the flash-forwards indicate that Lucious at least will be dead, and it's looking like Cookie will meet her end short of a miraculous escape.
If Empire could unceremoniously kill off Tracy just minutes into the midseason premiere, however, is anybody really safe?
At this point, Andre seems the most logical main character to bite the dust in the second half of Season 6, aside from his parents. He gave into the Kingsley hallucinations in "Can't Truss 'Em" when he came so close to committing himself for treatment, and imaginary Kingsley seems to have the upper hand, which can't be good.
Is there any coming back for Andre as long as Kingsley is in control, short of death? Can Andre seize control of himself before anything worse happens? Based on some comments from Empire showrunner Brett Mahoney back following the fall finale, I have a theory that I actually kind of hope is wrong.
Speaking with TVLine in December, Brett Mahoney said this:
But I will tell you that in our midseason premiere you will see who shoots Lucious [in the flash-forward] and you will also see who is responsible for the car bombing of Cookie.
Brett Mahoney obviously didn't name the character in the midseason premiere destined to shoot Lucious and maybe kill Cookie in the car explosion, and the Lyons aren't short on enemies. Damon Cross undoubtedly still has a bone to pick with both of them, and he may not feel any better once he finds out that Lucious is in business with his daughter. After the midseason premiere, though, I have somebody else in mind for the flash-forward violence: Andre.
That is, Andre being controlled by his Kingsley hallucinations. The midseason premiere featured Andre, hallucination Kingsley, and Andre being controlled by his Kingsley side after giving in. I would say that qualifies as the episode showing who shoots Lucious, if Andre really is the culprit!
It would be a shame if Andre went through everything he went through in the first five seasons only to survive to kill at least one parent, but we can't rule anything out at this point. In fact, little is known for sure other than Lucious getting shot.
If five and a half seasons of Empire so far have taught me anything, it's that viewers shouldn't count on something until it's absolutely clear what happened. Find out who else lives and dies in the final season of Empire when new episodes air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox in the 2020 midseason lineup.
