Eva Longoria returns to Empire on Fox tonight — in the first episode of the two-part finale.
The former Desperate Housewives star and Golden Globe-nominated actress first appeared in the series in Episode 14, Love Is a Smoke, earlier this season.
She plays Charlotte Frost — the director of the state gaming commission, who due to her job has had the power to make or break Lucious’s bid to expand into Las Vegas.
She is outwardly alluring, but beneath the exterior is a woman with a dark side embroiled in corruption.
Longoria resumes her role in both tonight’s episode, Toil and Trouble, Part 1, as well as next week’s end-of-season Toil and Trouble, Part 2.
The first episode, tonight, sees Cookie build a group of allies around her as she bids to get revenge on Giuliana and steal her secret weapon after being banned from Leviticus Vegas.
Jamal is also encouraged to delay his album so that it doesn’t go head-to-head with Lucious’s own offering Inferno.
The second episode, next week, sees Lucious preparing to open EMPIRE Las Vegas along with Giuliana, but Cooke and her allies do everything they can to create chaos at the launch.
Fox promises in its information about the show that the final five minutes “will leave viewers speechless”.
Longoria is obviously no stranger to the smallscreen, having had regular roles in The Young and the Resteless, Dragnet, Desperate Housewives, Mother Up!, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Telenovela and Decline and Fall, as well as a string of other one-off appearances.
Empire airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Fox.