The midseason finale features plot twists, backstabbing and more celebrity cameos than a Taylor Swift concert. Can Lucious keep it all together?

Alicia Keys joins the cast, Cookie and Candace go looking for their crack-addicted sister and showrunner Lee Daniels appeared in a very meta cameo

Empire does rap beef as Hakeem and Lucious’s protege Freda face off, while Anika deals with some life-changing news and there’s another kidnapping

Cookie and Laz explore their shady new romance, a threesome turns sour, and Lucious’s demons loom ever larger in the hectic soap set in the music business

After Hakeem’s kidnapping last week Cookie and Lucious put aside their differences to try and find their son, who’s waking up to the realities of being a Lyon

There are heavy religious overtones for the Lyon family this week, who are all dealing with retribution, revenge and resurrection

As the Lyon clan continue to fight between themselves a federal case brings them together, and forces them to dig up the past

Lucious has been granted bail, Cookie is trying to keep on top of Hakeem’s love life and the Lyons sit down for a decidedly frosty family meal. Bon appétit!

Empire gets into its stride with Lucious coming face-to-face with Ludacris, Hakeem’s version of the X-Factor and a man called Thurston ‘Thirsty’ Rawlings

Cookie, Lucious and the rest of the Lyon family return to talk mass incarceration with Don Lemon, fight among themselves (obviously) and try to #FreeLucious