The American musical drama series, “Empire” concluded its third season just this week. The finale was met with happy endings but left off with a cliffhanger. Showrunner Ilene Chaiken opened up on why the third season ended on that note and what to expect in the next season.

'Empire' Season 3 Heartbreaking Cliffhanger

The final episode of “Empire” Season 3 was another spectacular sight, which was filled with happy news for the Lyon family. Cookie’s love life is heading a notch up, Andre finally gets a hand in controlling in the company, and Hakeem is reunited with baby Bella. However, just like how it usually goes in television drama and in the “Empire” universe, in particular, happiness is a fleeting moment as the season finale revealed plot twists.

The handsome and talented aspiring singer that Jamal just met turned out to be a pawn in Diana’s huge plan of bringing the Lyons down. The young singer is actually a member of the DuBois family. Meanwhile, Lucious’s mother is caught in a turmoil as she frames Anika for the murder of Tariq, leading to an arrest. As if things couldn’t get worse, Lucious wakes up from his coma only to find out that he has no memory of his family or Cookie.

'Empire' Season 4 Will Be Themed After Truth

Executive producer Ilene Chaiken revealed that the “Empire” Season 3 finale was to answer questions that have been lingering in the series. She also emphasized that she wanted this to pave way to something new for the characters in the next season. In January 2017, Fox greenlighted the renewal of “Empire” and gave it a fourth season that will consist of 18 episodes.

Chaiken further shared that “Empire” Season 4 will deviate from the show’s usual pattern. She didn’t want to spoil what’s up for the next season but she emphasized that Lucious will have a big part in it since each character’s story was built up because of him. She simply said that the fourth season will be all about getting the truth out and who gets to say it.