Empire: Discussion Thread

[NothinButAttitude]

I love how the ratings keep going up every week. It demolishes that whole "ideal" that "black does not sell in Hollywood."

Lies. It does.

With a great story and characters, great actors, great writers/producers/directors, and a network/production studio that fully supports a project, it can succeed.

Now watch and see CBS and NBC start following suit. ABC already caught the hint with the success of Scandal & HTGAWT.

Daytime as a whole needs to pay attention to Empire. It is so refreshing to see characters with ambitions and jobs and business savvy.

[Eric83]

Don't expect to see an influx of African American dramas on CBS They will stick with their procedurals.

[NothinButAttitude]

Which are all dull as dishwater. How many CSI & NCIS type shows do you need? They all look the same IMO. Just like their comedies do too. CBS primetime has never held my attention with the exception Survivor, Big Brother, & The Good Wife occasionally.

[marceline]

Right? CBS has a very specific demo and they serve it.

[Toups]

I love this show! It's so soapy and I love the dialogue (there's a lot of great one-liners). I pretty much like all the characters and find them interesting. Too bad this show isn't on cable because it feels like a cable show and you could do more with the kinky sex, language and violence. Not being able to swear kind of hurts the hip hop songs. I love the music from the show too, mostly Jamal and Hakeem's music. I'm definitely going to check out Yazz The Greatest's music. Terrence and Taraji are so good. I hope they get an Emmy nod. Grace Gealey (Anika) is gorgeous! Can't believe this is her first show and she's almost 30. She's beautiful.

I think it's the best new show this tv season. I'm so happy the show is getting these awesome numbers. It deserves it.

[YRBB]

Lovely, lovely episode, and the ratings are still going UP. That's amazing.

The opening scene was perfection, the way it kept going from Tiana's video, to Hakeem's demands, to the manager, the beating (), Cookie showing up.

I wasn't expecting Kidd Fo-Fo to continue factoring into the show. I thought he was used as a plot point but, this follow-up, and whatever else they potentially do, enhances all the stuff they did last week.

Girl, YES! I got my wish and they are continuing to amp up Anika's presence/role. I think that is a very, very wise move. They NEED a good enough rival for Cookie in order for it to work. "She is visiting from... prison." DEAD. Anika got in some good ones in this episode. "A ho who can slice your throat without even disturbing her pearls." LOOOOL. Notice how she said 'who' instead of 'that'. Anika is indeed a well-spoken, educated ho.

Bunky's funeral was amazing. I am so glad that Lucious murdered him because it has given genuine tension to all the scenes Lucious does; you know he's capable of really horrible things not because the show tells you to but because it showed you. They did a marvelous job intercutting the singing, Lucious' speech, Lucious crying and Lucious killing Bucky. Cookie will KILL him when she finds out, there is no doubt. Side note: I cannot believe Rhonda's outfit for the funeral. You just know that bitch would f u c k Andre right there and then, if she could.

I am SO glad they didn't go down the "he's cheating" route with Andre. The way he grabbed Alvarez and turned her around. He used his peen to get what he wanted. The sexual freakness that they are doing with Rhonda is SO great and very, very fresh and interesting. This is MELROSE PLACE for 2015 and they are killing it.

The stuff with Cookie and Puma was very cute. You can tell she's genuinely affected. Taraji is a goddess--she sells it all.

FIRST thing I thought when I saw Hakeem and Naomi was that he looks like a child in front of her. And, yep, perfect casting--that's exactly what they are going for. Hakeem is one messed up kid.

FINALLY! A soap dinner. A disaster, like it ought to be. Cookie's prayer, Anika rolling her eyes, Lucious being a rude bitch to Michael, Hakeem giving Cookie his hand but leaving his palm rigidly opened... amazing. The song Jamal sung was great and I LOVED how he completely and utterly eviscerated Lucious. And then a Cookie and Anika bitchfest! lol Cookie was rocking that green dress and I'm so glad they're seeding the reveal of his sickness. I hope they keep it a secret for a while longer, though.

The ending stuff was so unexpected and great. Lucious can stop with his "I want to protect you" bullsh!t. I don't doubt that he loves Jamal but this is, and always has been, about Lucious: How it reflects on him that he has a gay son, what it says about him, what could be said about him and his masculinity, etc. It's wonderful drama. Aaaaand, “I’m going after his empire… and I’m gonna take it.” YAS, honey! YAAAAAAS.

[YRBB]

DEAD!

YES.

And that disappoints you? It's actually 10x more interesting and soapy!!

That's the whole point--his journey to try, and even possibly, achieve that.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Note, this was the first episode not written by Danny Strong and/or Lee Daniels and they both favored somewhat longer scenes. This episode felt a little more network-frenetic but only slightly so. I hope it doesn't become worse because this show thrives on the interactions and what the characters do/say in reaction to the plot.

Chit, SWERVE. Your dislike of Jamal over the grounds that he is a freeloader is nonsensical considering Hakeem is the same and you don't have an issue with that at all apparently. And where is that trash can when you need one? Howard is fantastic, and you can feel for his point of view, but COME ON.

It shocks me how easily that seems to escape people. It's THE WHOLE POINT. He's a filthy rich kid who will not easily abandon the luxuries. As of last week, he "sold his obedience." Now he realized what a mistake that was and is changing & trying something new. That's progress, maturity and a GREAT character arc. How anyone doesn't feel for that (and, notice, all this has nothing to do with his gayness) is beyond me.

[Juliajms]

^ Jamal telling his dad to take the money and shove it, actually happened a little too fast for me. Still, I'm going to trust the writers and that they won't burn through story too fast.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

My girls and I were LOL at his expression. I was definitely questioning if he was ride or die lmao.

[YRBB]

I can't argue with that. Perhaps they felt they have to do that in order to move Jamal into the main theme of the season, which is the fight for CEO. I hope they don't start speeding things up ala every network soap opera recently.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

if this were a 22 episode season I'd think they'd do something like this in Episode 10. There should have been more give and take on Jamal's part and perhaps some argument with the boyfriend (Michael I think?) about whether they should/could do it. There could have been some drama regarding Michael's need for comfort versus his dedication to Jamal.

[Eric83]

LOL. He was like "Are you serious?" he was not trying to give that loft up. I am ready to see what happens between the two of them.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

He's such a cutie pie but I so see a moment where Lucius finds a way to drive a wedge between em....

[ajsp35801]

Lucious won't have to do a thing. It hasn't been shown that Michael has a job. He's a kept man it seems. This is a natural arc that needs no outside influence. One of the first dating tips my father gave me was "it's just as easy to love a rich man as it is a poor man. It's just as easy to love a man with a job as it is one without." I find it a truth universally acknowledged. Michael should start questioning whether a starving artist is worth the same effort and time as an heir to a fortune.

[Cheap21]

You guys see this?

https://medium.com/empire-enterprises/nyc-power-couple-to-watch-andre-and-rhonda-lyon-2b7902002fcb