Empire's Jussie Smollett Says Jamal Faces a Rough Road Ahead

Empirereturned from hiatus on Wednesday with the midseason premiere which confirmed that Angelo (Taye Diggs) did indeed die during his altercation with Jamal (Jussie Smollett) in the fall finale.

Picking up after the brutal showdown, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) reveals that while Jamal is responsible for Angelo's death, Warren's (Terrell Carter) statement to the police regarding the incident likely exonerates him from potential murder charges. Though he won't face legal consequences for his actions, Jamal will still have to deal with an angry public who won't be so forgiving about him killing a respected city councilman, regardless of the circumstances.

"Jamal is going to take a hit personally and professionally," Smollett told TV Guide. "He's kinda known as America's sweetheart and now he's public enemy number one. Everybody's turning against him. It's gonna be hard of him. He's gonna have to do some soul-searching."

A harsh public won't be the only thing the soulful singer has to contend with. As the first of the Lyon sons to actually take someone's life, he'll have to deal with the weight of his guilt, something which won't be easy for him. "He's dealing with the fact that he did, in fact, kill somebody," added Smollett. "It's going to be difficult."

The deadly incident also closed the book on Jamal's relationship with Warren, who admitted to being a co-conspirator in Diana DuBois's (Phylicia Rashad) elaborate plan to take down the Lyons, once and for all. While Jamal may have forgiven Warren for seeking a relationship under false pretenses, he's unable to let his former beau off the hook for allowing Andre to be poisoned with psychedelic drugs which landed him in the hospital.

"Andre almost died. I don't see how that could possibly ever be [forgiven]," Smollett said.

With their romance officially over, Jamal will take this time to look inward and figure things out on his own right now. "Jamal needs to worry about himself for a little bit. He needs to do some soul-searching and come back to the center. If he were to jump into another relationship, that would be foolish on his part," explained Smollett.

Empire airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Fox.