Empire boss plans a "reset" for Season 5, says writing out Jussie Smollett came with "pluses and minuses"

Variety

“We have such a terrific ensemble that when first you’re told you have to take one chess piece out, it’s ‘What the hell am I going to do?’" showrunner Brett Mahoney says in talking about the Season 5 finale. "But then it opens up space and room to tell the other important stories that you want to tell. So there are pluses and minuses. There was definitely stuff I wanted to do with Jamal in (Episodes) 17 and 18 that I just had to express a different way, but it did open up the focus a little bit more on the Andre storyline.” Mahoney adds: "Season 6 will have to be somewhat of a reset, and we’re going to find some exciting, bombastic way in. And we may discover that it takes more than just blood to be a Lyon, and we might see some other characters step up and step into the fold." ALSO: Mahoney reveals who almost ended up in the casket.