There have been many interesting relationships to take center stage ever since FOX's hit series Empire opened its musical doors to us, such as: Cookie and Lucious; Anika and Lucious; Hakeem and Camilla. However, amid all the usual drama that comes with love triangles, there's been one couple who has stood out among the rest as being particularly… well… odd. You all know who I'm talking about, right? I mean, it pretty much goes without saying that Empire 's Andre and Rhonda are not in a healthy marriage. Well, unless you consider adultery, lying, and scheming useful traits toward marital bliss.
Having never been married myself, I try to have an open mind about all of the different types of marriages out there — even fictional ones — because, really, who am I to judge? But there's just no denying that this Empire duo is in need of some serious counseling at this point. Because as it stands now, their husband and wife status is sufficiently lacking. Normally, it's OK for a couple to feed off of each other's ambitions. But in this case, Andre and Rhonda take it several steps over the line — even going so far as to actually encourage each other's adultery when necessary. (Remember Andre's little "meeting" with the deputy mayor?) And the crazy thing was that Rhonda actually seemed OK with it.
Originally, I took this to mean that Rhonda had a conniving agenda of her own. But having seen just how concerned she can get for her husband, especially in regards to his bipolar disorder, I'm inclined to believe that there are true feelings muddled deep down in there somewhere. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. In fact, during a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, Trai Byers (who plays Andre) went on to describe their on-screen marriage as being "the greatest love story on this show," adding that, devious planning aside, "They're the only two people who genuinely love each other and have each other's back through it all."
Sure, he admits that the arrangement can be pretty twisted at times, however, he assures fans that their understanding is totally mutual. I, on the other hand, am not so sure. Let's not forget everything that went down during last Wednesday's episode "The Lyon's Roar," which made it seem as though perhaps Rhonda is growing a bit tired of playing their sexual games. As a matter of fact, I believe she quite literally got sick over it, having thrown up in her salad after having one too many drinks. (We've all been there, girl.)
I'm not saying that Rhonda is ready to retire from all of her scheming. (This is Empire, after all.) But I do think she's having second thoughts regarding how far she's willing to take things, which could be a subtle indicator that Andre and Rhonda are gearing up to part ways. Byers referred to them as having a "ride or die" marriage. So if "riding" is no longer a viable option, the alternative has the potential of turning rather grim. Tread lightly, you two.
Images: Matt Dinnerstein/FOX; caseykelpthesnorks, dailyempiregifs (2)/Tumblr
