Jussie Smollett, Bryshere Gray (Photo : Getty Images/Kevin Winter)
"Empire" Season 3 will return to FOX with new episodes starting this year, but there are also some rumors suggesting that the series will be cancelled before season 4.
In November 2016, TV Line reported that the ratings for "Empire" Season 3 have gone down tremendously. Even though the show still garnered a total of 8.1 million viewers and a 2.9 rating, these figures were still down by 13 and 17 percent compared to the last time a new episode was released by the network.
When the series aired its midseason finale on Dec. 14, 2016, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) attempted to help Angelo appeal to the masses with his mayoral bid by hosting a free concert at the park. Elsewhere in "A Furnace For Your Foe," the FBI investigated Lucious (Terrence P. Howard) and froze all of his and Empire's assets.
Meanwhile, Andre (Trai Byers) also had a very emotional scene in the episode. Following his wife Rhonda's (Kaitlin Doubleday) death, Andre struggled to move on. Finally, he gathered up the courage to do so when he met Nessa. Following the episode, executive producer Sanaa Hamri, who directed it, told The Hollywood Reporter, that she felt it was time for Andre to say goodbye to his wife.
"When I was directing it, I wanted it to feel epic and movie-like. We are saying goodbye to a character that is a fragment of his mind, and with that being said, we will see what happens with him and Nessa, and what Andre's emotional state will be without Rhonda's ghost haunting him," she explained.
When asked if Doubleday will still be featured in upcoming episodes of "Empire," Hamri said that it all depends on Andre's mind. After all, he is the one who has been imagining that Rhonda is still around.
In other news, Jamal (Jussie Smollett) also went to rehab in the final scenes from the midseason finale. When the series returns in March, viewers will see what life is like for Jamal in the rehab. The premiere episode will also include a bit of a time-jump.
"Empire" Season 3 will return to FOX in March.
