By: Kelly Kearney

A Lyon falls. Or maybe two Lyon’s fall. We’re not sure. “Empire” wrapped up their second season with a shocking cliffhanger when Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) and Anika (Grace Gealey) came to blows which resulted in one or both of them tumbling off a 30 story balcony in front of a screaming Andre (Trai Byers).

Boo-Boo Kitty DON’T JUMP!

Last week, Anika was hauled in for questioning by the feds in hopes shed turn on the Lyon family and spill their dirty deeds. This week, Anika feels backed into a corner and attempts to end it all by jumping off the side of a building. Of all people, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) talks her down and convinces her come back off the ledge. Cookie has her mind on that baby Anika is carrying, her grandchild, and convinces Anika suicide is not the way to deal with her problems. I seriously doubt Cookie cares one way or another if Anika jumps, but family is important to her so she does her best to convince her.

The Wedding Switcheroo

The Lyon family is preparing for the wedding of the year between Hakeem (Bryshere “Yazz” Gray) and Laura (Jamila Velazquez) there’s just one problem… the guest list. Cookie and Lucious (Terrence Howard) added their longtime “friend” Shyne Johnson (Xzibit) against Laura’s parents’ wishes. Johnson has quite the reputation for snubbing his nose at the law as well as a few murders in his past that make Laura’s parents (and rightly so) apprehensive. Cookie and Lucious invite Johnson though in hopes of buying his silence about Lucious’ murderous past. The decision proved to be a giant mistake when Johnson punches someone (who is attempting to catch a woman who has served Anika papers forcing her to testify for the government), halting the wedding and devastating the bride and her family. Laura tells Hakeem this is not the life she wants, filled with violence and secrets. Let’s be honest, she’s far too innocent to survive the Lyon family so she leaves Hakeem at the altar, most likely for good.

The drama doesn’t stop there. With Annika being served to testify against Lucious, feeling like he has no other option, Lucious tells Anika she has to marry him so she can’t testify. Cookie is livid because all season long Lucius and Cookie have been fanning those old romantic flames and now Anika is coming in between them. After Cookie saved her life no less! Cookie blasts Anika and Lucious when she says, “I did not save this bitch’s life so she could ruin mine!” No matter how much damage Cookie and Lucious do to each other, they have deep rooted feelings that are tied to their history, family and company. Lucious and Anika go forward with the marriage and after the I do’s, Lucious drops a bomb…he’s known all along that Anika was the one who pushed Rhonda.

Another Secret Family Member?

That’s right, Leah Walker (Leslie Uggams) isn’t the only long lost family surprise. It seems Lucious has a half-brother and I don’t think either men will be jumping for joy over the news. During all the wedding drama, Tariq (Morocco Omari) the FBI agent that was cuddling up to Carol (Tasha Smith), interrupts the family event and gets in Lucious’ face. When Leah asks Lucious why his half-brother is there, Lucious is forced to admit that as a child he witnessed his father’s murder and that Tariq was his brother from another mother. The man who shot Lucius’s father raised Tariq and somehow, through all of her knife wielding crazy, Leah recognized him. It’s more than likely that Tariq’s plans to bust Lucious for murdering Cookie’s cousin Bunky are tied up in his anger and jealousy for his famous half-brother.

Jamal Lives but Can He Live Through More of Lucious’ Lies?

Jamal (Jussie Smollett) survived the shooting from last week and decides to step away from his music until his family can get their lives together and chill on the violence and shady deals. Jamal feels guilty for what went down with Freda (Bre-Z) after she found out his father was responsible for killing her father. Lucious convinces Jamal to get back to work with D-Major (Tobias Truvillion) after he visits Freda in jail. Freda, who accidently shot Jamal while aiming at Lucious, might be the most gullible, streetwise bad ass on the planet. Somehow Lucious convinces her that he never killed her father Frank (Chris Rock) and he promises her that he’ll do all he can to get her out of jail. He even offers to pay for her legal counsel and Freda seems to buy into all of his lies. Lucious even gets Freda to let him record her spitting some freestyle rap onto his phone, which he later uses to convince Jamal he’s made peace with her.

Red Heeled Shoes and Balcony Brawls…

After Lucious told Anika he knew she was responsible for Rhonda’s fall, she fled to the roof top balcony to find some peace and plan her next move. Rhonda finds her and the two women have it out. Rhonda says she knows Anika pushed her down the steps and she’s the reason Rhonda lost her and Andre’s baby. The two start pushing, pulling and downright brawling next to the edge of the balcony. As they’re are duking it out thirty some odd stories above the street, Andre shows up. Before he can break up the fight, the women scream, the camera cuts to Andre who looks like he just witnessed Anika or Rhonda (or both) go hurling over the side of the railing to their presumable deaths and the screen cuts to black. It’s going to be one long hiatus, filled with questions like… Who went over the railing? Are Hakeem and Laura over for good? Will Tariq and Leah get their revenge on Lucious? Will Jamal ever finish his Black and White album? If Anika survives the balcony incident, how long before Cookie kills her for marrying her man and killing her grandchild? Find out all these answers and more when “Empire” comes back in the fall for Season 3.