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Empire: "Without A Country" Review

Empire
Season 2 Ep. 2
“Without A Country”

Building off of “The Devils are Here”, it’s all about set up in this episode. Empire is laying the foundation of the warring factions in the Lyon household. We’ll give it another episode or two, but the pink elephant in the room is the clutter of distracting cameos and slow brew storyline. This could be, however, the set up to an incredibly dramatic face off or plummeting story. We’ll see.

The episode starts off with Lucious still in jail and is the king of the jungle, fresh off his Frank Gathers kill. His medication has been mysteriously misplaced so he’s showing signs of fatigue in this episode. He looked like he was seizing up trying to rhyme in the yard. This week’s major feature was Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and he was doing too much in his first scene as the overbearing Officer McKnight, but came around as the episode went on.

Jamal meets with dear old dad in prison to give him the scoop on what’s happening with the company. The cameos were cool last season because each episode had a new artist guest star, but that was it. This season there are so many cameos I can’t keep up with everyone in their bit roles. However, Andre Royo steps in as Thirsty Rawlings, a shady lawyer who seems to have an interest in being Lucious’s lawyer. Royo seems like a good casting choice and an interesting addition to the drama.

Never the one to roll over, Cookie goes to the old recording studio (you remember the one where they “tried” to kill Jamal) to set up shop. Booboo Kitty is already there trying to mold an artist, but now that the alliance is no longer needed Cookie kicks her out. The studio is meager in comparison to the Empire and is visually setting up the David vs. Goliath companies through the settings of the show.

Jamal is stepping into a zone as the sensitive leader. He still isn’t fit for the throne because he’s too sensitive for the ring, but Jussie Smollet is doing his thing as an actor. He’s molding Jamal into a character that you root for, because his heart is in the right place as an artist and family member. Hakeem still desires the crown and tries to put together a three woman group to prove his A&R abilities, while leaking his album online to shake things up at Empire.

Lucious managed to record another banger for the streets behind bars. Was it just me or did it seem like Lucious was about to get got when he opened that closet door? Maybe I’ve seen too many prison shows. The “Hustle & Flow” reminiscent throwback in the prison was dope though!

Andre is going to go crazy if you don’t let him back in the fold Lucious! After meeting his father at the prison, Andre got the cold shoulder. Honestly, this is all too familiar as Lucious continues to use his son’s blind ambition and desire to please him to do his bidding...which I’m sure will happen next week.

Lyon Dynasty, Cookie’s record label, is a nice wink at the tv series this one happens to be similar to. Here’s to hoping episode 3 shakes things up a bit. As the ratings have slipped slightly, it needs a pick me up!

Cookie Crumbs:

Andre hasn’t shown his crazy yet this season, but I have a feeling it’s coming soon. Lucious’s emotional manipulation of his son’s is starting to age.
Hakeem is showing himself to have a mind of his own, which will likely be an advantage for him down the line. Leaking his album to the world was a bold move.
Jamal is going to have to step aside once pops gets out. That, or Lucious is going to play puppet master.

Best Empire Tweets This Week:


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Empire: "Sins of the Father" Review

“Empire” 

Season 1 Ep. 10

Sins of the Father

After Andre’s dramatic breakdown in “Unto the Breach,” I wasn’t quite sure how this week’s episode would unfold. It’s clear that the family had known about Andre’s disorder since his first incident in college. Of course Cookie had no idea due to her seventeen years of incarceration. Yet the opening scene showed how much the family (albeit minus Lucious) cares for their brother/son/husband. 

There was a heavy handed  PSA in the therapy scene that I didn’t care for. I know Lee Daniels has been quoted saying that with "Empire" he wanted to "blow the lid off of homophobia in my community” and I think this is the approach that was used here with Bi-polar disorder. Cookie’s line about it being “white people problems” was so early ‘90s that it lost some of the emotional appeal to me. Yes, she’s been locked up for a while, but I think we’re above that level of that type of scripted ignorance. Jennifer Hudson and Mary J. Blige had brief cameos almost not worth mentioning but they are both amazing talents.

Cookie and Malcolm’s relationship is starting to kick off strong after last week. As much as Malcolm likes to tout his principles, messing with Cookie is going to come back to bite him. At the end of the day, “Empire” is about Lucious Lyons and I don’t see Malcolm lasting through next week’s two hour finale if it came down to it. 

Camila actually seems to care for Hakeem, or she has a really good scheme planned that requires her saying all the right things. After Lucious offered her hush money and sent her to the airport never to return, she vowed to come back. We’ll see how that turns out.

The majority of the episode focused on Lola. Yeah, Lola. You remember, the little girl whose paternity I’ve questioned since she showed up in “Out, Damned Spot!”. Just as Jamal was starting to write songs about Lola and consider having her live with him, Olivia comes back in town with a crazy ex holding her hostage. Props to Raven Symone’s performance in making us believe he was a scary guy, because outside of some tats he really didn’t do much the entire episode that would cause us to be alarmed. 

After an embittered Vernon leads Olivia and Loco to the Lyon’s estate, crazy pulls a gun on the family, which gets Lucious open and honest. He claims paternity for Lola in an effort to save his son. We’ll see if it’s true or not, but this came as a shock to the family (You guys really thought Jamal was the daddy?) and has created an obvious rift in the family.

Cookie Crumbs:

  • Lucious’ enemies are too many to count right now. Anika, Beretti, Vernon, Jamal, Cookie, Andre, and so on. I’m hoping he takes some kind of a hit in the next episode because his character has earned it. 
  • That’s a wrap on Lola! At least in my opinion. She’s served her purpose in the storyline, but she could appear throughout Season 2.
  • Was it just me, or did you notice the soap opera-esque music that played throughout this episode to build tension? Music has been the core of this show, and I hope they don’t bring that sappy element into it. 

You can buy the hit soundtrack here:

Best Empire Memes This Week:

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Empire: "The Lyon's Roar" Review

“Empire”

Season 1 Ep. 8

The Lyon’s Roar

If someone were to ask you, “what’s “Empire” about?” You would automatically answer “It’s about a family...”. The show is centered around the Lyons family, the record label is centered around family, and the IPO is all about family. So “Empire” is at it’s best when it hits familial themes, and this episode certainly did!

Most of the characters are motivated by love. Whether it’s love of money, or family, it’s usually one of the two. Hakeem and Jamal’s brotherly bond is really starting to become palpable. Watching them squash their beef, that stemmed from “Dangerous Bonds”, in the beginning of the episode was a nice moment. It’s the genuine, emotional moments that pull you in to the relationships of the show. So when Hakeem tells Jamal “that was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen” towards the end of the show (we’ll get to why in a second), it almost got a little dusty in my house! 

Cookie  and Hakeem had a break through in their relationship. Hakeem finally said why he was so mad at Cookie. Cookie explained that she didn’t love Jamal more than him, but she just understood Jamal better. It was nice to see them finally working at their relationship. In fact, Cookie read Camilla (Naomi Campbell) and put her in check for messing with her son! 

The Cookie/Lucious affair seemed like it would last at least a few episodes. NOPE! I guess the network said that’s for average shows! One of the things I love about “Empire” is that, while predictable at times, it knows when to go in another direction. Lucious was calculated the entire episode. His dismissal of Cookie was stone cold, especially after she gave him the idea for the legacy album and documentary to help with the dynasty hand off.  Lucious is showing his true colors as we get toward the end of the season. Jamal told Cookie not to love him because “he’s only capable of loving himself”.  

Regardless, Terrance Howard knows how to knock the emotional beats out of the park, helping us to love him and hate him from scene to scene. Lucious didn’t do a good job of juggling both Cookie and Anika. After Anika convinced him to push the date of their wedding forward, she also pushed for him to make the announcement during the all white Legacy party. Of course Cookie wasn’t going to be shown up, and she made sure that Anika knew about her and Lucious’s hook up in the studio that morning. I’m glad that rivalry will keep going!

Jamal came out in style during the legacy white party! He changed the words to “You’re so Beautiful”, which was his father’s song, to fit his personal self expression. Everybody was on board with Jamal’s admission except Lucious. We’ll see how that goes. 

Andre is about to go off the deep end. After being shut out by the board from being made CEO of Empire Records in case Lucious was incapacitated, Andre took it hard. (Lucious’s nay in the vote was a dope scene!) It’s sad enough that he is struggling with his Bi-polar disorder, but he admitted to feeling inadequate in comparison to the rest of his talented family. Those two combinations pushed him to what seemed like a suicide attempt. 

I have to geek out on the production of the episode for a moment. During the all white party, people walked in and out of frame in handheld shots with other characters in a beautiful choreography that supplemented the emotions of the environment. Like opposite ends of magnets, one person would come into the frame and someone would leave. For instance, as Cookie was talking to Jamal, Lucious approached which sparked Cookie’s exit. They also took advantage of the spacing of the room. After Cookie dug into Camilla, the camera tilted up to show Vernon and Andre coming together to talk in the balcony above. We then cut to their conversation. It’s these cinematic touches that “Empire” infuses that make the show great.

Cookie Crumbs:

  • Lucious is really proving to be a racist homophobe to the point that it’s not a good look. How marrying a white woman shows you can’t be trusted is beyond me. I hope they give his character redemption in those areas, or at least dial it back a bit before making him Walter White unloveable.
  • Although “Empire” probably could go on without Andre, he is going to have to get help or he’ll destroy himself. As in, only be back in Season 2 in flashbacks! lol
  • Cookie and Lucious are still destined to be together, and the writers are giving us more rope to be strung along with their relationship. 
  • Anika is about to be outted for her treacherous activity with drugging Elle, likely by Cookie because she wants to be with Lucious deep down and Anika messed up her hard work with that move.
  • Will they kill the whole Jamal's little girl story please!? I mean, these "smart" people don't believe in a paternity test at least? 



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Empire: "Our Dancing Days" Review

“Empire”

Season 1 Ep. 7

Our Dancing Days

Well this episode should have been called “At Last” because of the truths that were told.  For “Empire”, this was subdued, filler built off of "Out, Damned Spot". Every TV series has these slowed down episodes, but it’s also going to ramp things back up.

Looking for investors in the IPO, Lucious throws a big party to exhibit Empire Records. Prior to the party, Lucious faints and is hospitalized due to the experimental drugs he’s been taking. As he is rushed to the hospital, Lucious has to make a decision between Cookie and Anika as to who will ride with him. He chooses Anika after a few seconds of struggle, and even though she’s hurt Cookie stays ride or die for Lucious. Honestly, the memes that came out of this scene were hilarious!

Prior to the investor exhibition, Anika drugs Elle, likely to try and sabotage Cookie. Jamal and Hakeem take to the stage as the headliners instead of Elle. During the performance, Lucious’s ALS symptoms stirs up and he looses his voice. He then asks Cookie to give the closing speech to the investors over Anika and Andre. Cookie does what Cookie does, and gives a fantastic, from the heart speech. Lucious finally confesses his love for Cookie out loud and in front of Anika by saying “I love you Cookie” right after the speech. 

With so many health issues manifesting with Lucious, he calls a meeting amongst his family after the exhibition. He informs the family that he has ALS, and each react in their own way. Andre’s Bi-polar disorder flairs up in an odd, “don’t ya’ll think this is more than someone being upset at the news?” kind of display. Hakeem and Jamal both seem to care more about their father’s health, unlike Andre who was more worried about the IPO and all of the work that he’s done. 

The biggest moment of all, was when Lucious and Cookie got some alone time after the family announcement. Cookie was obviously effected by Lucious’s announcement and told him he has to fight it because “I can’t lose you twice”. Lucious wanted to take advantage of the moment and the two finally got back together...just as Anika comes back in from a trip.

Cookie Crumbs:

  • Lucious finally showed some fatherly love to Jamal during this episode. He expressed interest in Jamal’s failed relationship with Michael, and his (we’re still waiting to find out) little girl.
  • Anika drugging Elle is sure to come to light down the road, and when it does, there’s gonna be smoke in the city!
  • The Lucious/Cookie hook up was bound to happen since episode one, but of course this will stir the drama for the Cookie vs. Anika fight.



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Empire: "Out, Damned Spot" Review

Empire

Season 1 Ep. 6

“Out, Damned Spot”

“Empire” never ceases to please with explosive openings. We find Cookie getting dolled up to meet with Lucious. She walks into a ritzy restaurant wearing her best fur. As she meets Lucious near the entrance, she quickly learns that he invited her not for the date that she thinks, but to tell the family he’s engaged to Anika. Never to be bested, Cookie spills the beans on the rose Lucious sent her in “Dangerous Bonds”, and reveals the lingerie she had under her coat for everyone, and especially Lucious and Anika’s eyes. 

What I’m starting to enjoy about Cookie is not only that she’s real, but she doesn’t mind speaking up and acting a fool! While it is becoming a bit one note, Taraji P. Henson slays the role with every Cookie tantrum and pep talk. This week she hooked Jamal up by getting a big sports star to tweet about Jamal’s song, helping it get buzz.

Jamal’s slow rise to success is already weighing on his paranoid boyfriend. While it’s good to have vision and awareness, Michael is doing too much. At first I thought his insecurities were going to rip their relationship apart, but Cookie didn’t help much informing him that he should be prepared for Jamal to be busy. Jamal didn’t help his relationship either in not telling the world that he had a boyfriend during a Sirius radio interview with Sway. Honestly, Jamal looked like he was over Michael the entire episode. 

Remember how I talked about Andre covering for his father in “False Imposition“? It came back to haunt in this episode. As Vernon confronts Andre with a choke hold to get the truth about his false alibi, Andre confirms his role as his father’s eternal way out whether Andre knows what he’s covering for or not.

Hakeem is dealing with Tiana’s side chick in the only way someone with something to prove would. Looking like a fake Nelly, Hakeem shows up drunk in the club. He once again asks for Jamal’s help and is rejected for what seems like the final time. He does, however, manage to put out another banger to combat Jamal’s music.  

Vernon gets a little more screen time and new layers to his character are added. We find out that he’s a recovering alcoholic. We also learn that Vernon and Andre have a coup in the works. Although, I find it hard to believe that Vernon is really going to play second fiddle to Andre after he questioned Bunky giving his life to serving Lucious. 

This week had lots of cameos. Courtney Love came in as Elle, one of Empire’s first artist, a former chart topper now broken and strung out. Derek Luke came in as the new head of security. Yet perhaps the most out of place cameo was Raven-Symone as a (distant?) friend of the family, claiming the girl with her was Jamal’s daughter. We know how this is going to go! I’m predicting blood tests next week, and the next episode will be Michael’s last! 

Cookie Crumbs:

  • Anika is actually starting to stand her ground against Cookie. She still isn’t the head honcho though.
  • Raven-Symone was doing a little too much in her role. I hope we won’t see too much of that character. How about Courtney Love’s appearance as Elle? It wasn’t a stretch for her to play a version of herself, but it was a decent performance.
  • What do you think Vernon is cooking up? I’d say a double cross on Lucious and Andre. Why go from serving the devil to serving the devil’s bi-polar seed? 
  •  As a recovering alcoholic, Vernon has a weakness. I think Lucious is going to use it to his advantage down the line.
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