It’s official: next week’s 18th episode of Empire’s sixth season, airing on April 21, will be the hip-hop family drama’s finale for the foreseeable feature, and quite possibly a series finale.
In separate statements, Empire creators/executive producers Lee Daniels and Danny Strong addressed the abrupt ending of their show due to the coronavirus pandemic while holding out hope that they could film a proper finale one day. In light of the situation in the U.S., there are no current plans for that.
“I’m heartbroken we aren’t getting to shoot the finale we wanted — at least not yet,” Daniels said.
Added Strong, “We had an ending for the series planned that we all loved, and hopefully someday we’ll be able to film it and give the series its proper conclusion.”
A promo at the end of Episode 15, “Love Me Still,” two weeks ago announced that the 18th episode of Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard-led drama’s final season will serve as the finale.
The creative team behind the show had been hoping to film the actual finale as Empire has a continuous story arc and a mystery in the final season that do not get resolved until Episode 20.
“The episode airing on April 21 was never meant to be the series finale, but due to current events it will likely be the last one our fans will see for a while,” Strong said.
Episode 18, which is scheduled to air on April 21, is the last completed episode before the coronavirus-imposed production shutdown. To help create a more satisfying overall ending, I hear the newly minted finale features footage from Episode 19, which was halfway through filming when the COVID-19 crisis paused all Hollywood production.
The Empire creative team already had to change plans for the series’ final chapter when key original cast member Jussie Smollett abruptly exited last season in the legal aftermath of an allegedly staged hate crime incident. Now the show’s producers had to pivot again and craft a new finale.
Empire was one of two broadcast series whose final season shoots were impacted by the mass production shutdown in mid-March amid the pandemic. The CW’s Supernatural, which had also completed 18 episodes of its 20-episode order, ended up airing 13 episodes this season and plans to film the last two episodes for a 7-episode run at a later date.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Deadline