Empire: Discussion Thread

[Errol]

Understandable. Cutting that one minute off from Idol, however, would have allowed for flashback scenes though. That's all we would have needed for the story to come together before Cookie threw Booboo Kitty's cards out the balcony and on the ground.

[Vee]

I thought it was a good episode, not the best but a lot of fun - and it dared to do a business story on a soap, something today's daytime is afraid of. Was it a little rushed, yes, but that's because much of this was done in a vacuum months ago, when they thought this show might not be renewed, and would need a somewhat closed and potentially finite narrative. My only real complaint was how Cookie found out about Anika. I have to assume she had Porsha watching her (all you would've needed was a shot last week of Porsha watching her enter Beretti's hotel or w/e). The rest of the great stuff - the business war, the opening, Andre's breakdown, Cookie with the purple [drink], and yes, another family singalong - made up for it.

I did do a double-take at Tiana wanting Hakeem back. I have to believe she meant she wanted the fame of "Takeem" back, not Hakeem himself.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Vee

[Errol]

Still rewatching...

The episode was written by David Rambo. Clearly he hasn't been paying much attention to past episodes outside of what he was told. Reminds me of certain writers.

He glossed over the legacy party at Leviticus which showed Elle high as a kite. Cookie never fully addressed that matter, even though Elle wasn't at fault. All of a sudden you got Cookie trying to keep Elle on the label and Elle saying she'd rather go to jail than go with Halle Berry. Like Anika even wanted Elle...

Speaking of which, that shit better come to fruition. Anika needs to be iced just for that!

[Soapsuds]

Idol has always gone past but even now Fox is trying to capitalize on Empire's success. Idol's numbers are up from last year. I am sure due to Empire. It's like a Wednesday ritual Idol followed by Empire a la Friday nights with Dukes, Dallas and Falcon Crest.

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

The actor playing Andre was incredible tonight. That being said the elevator scene was so touching. I just didn't like the aftermath of it all. His brothers non reaction or even attempt to warn their dad or mom about his strange behavior.

Still the "lean on me" moment had me in tears. As the oldest of several brothers it was just all too real. Love this damn show.

I thought they made Cookie way too silly tonight and borderline coonery. Do better please going forward. There's a way to be funny drunk without being trashy.

[Errol]

I get it. Just not happy about it. Never was a fan of Idol and now I gotta watch even a minute of it just to watch something that will actually entertain me. This is the ONLY show I personally know more than two dozen people who watch it. When it comes to other soaps I have to give background when talking about them.

"Why can't we make love, not war?" sang V (Veronica): Ironic considering...

Also, "black and blue, black and blue" was annoying to an extent. I couldn't help thinking of that damn DRESS! LMAO.

[Errol]

I knew I heard farting after that Cookie/ghetto people scene.

[Vee]

I did laugh when Hakeem's goofy ass started nervously beatboxing to calm down Andre in the elevator. Calm down, Hakeem.

Judging by the preview, Camilla's primary target is what I've suspected it was since she showed up at the club for the IPO gala and was revealed to be a serious businesswoman: Lucious and Empire.

Me too!

[MoTheGreat]

In my head, Jamal & Hakeem did tell Lucious. That's why he told Malcolm or somebody to call his wife & to make sure he doesn't leave.

[Errol]

See now I get it. THe reason the show goes by so fast is because I'm interested in ALL the characters. ALL their stories. Rewatching and all I'm doing is fwd'ing the commercials. I STILL care about ALL the characters and ALL their stories. On the other hand, no matter if it's GH, Y&R, B&B (or especially) DAYS, I can't NOT skip entire scenes and/or several minutes worth of an episode. That's why I'm watching this show with ya'll. It's been nearly a decade since I cared so much as a viewer first, reporter second.

[Juliajms]

When Hakeem was asking Lucious to fund his video, Lucious said he would as soon as Hakeem was as big a star as Tianna. That was the episode where Tianna and V had the pushing incident while filming the video. I don't see how Tianna would have had time to do a third album, but maybe more time has passed than I realized.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Juliajms

[Errol]

Oh, yeah. I remember that now. In hindsight, it made no sense to "fund" a video after one became a star. Doesn't a video make one a star these days? Did I dream up the 80s? Vevo is the new MTV. I do know that.

On a side note: How the heck did Hakeem know that was Anika coming out of the cab? He called her name before the cab drove off.

I'm sorry. Ignorant moment (being lazy)...

That friend of Hakeem's: Are they a boy or girl? I CAN'T TELL!!!

[Errol]

Oh, and "You're So Beautiful." I've never heard so many covers of one song in such a short period of time (professional at least). It's actually become played out for me. Each version is unique, I'll give it that, but still.

[Vee]

I think that's the idea, and I like it. But that is AzMarie Livingston, a model and the RL girlfriend of Raven-Symoné. On the show, she plays a DJ named "Chicken".

[Errol]

THANK YOU!!! LMFAO.

She was too clean to be a boy, especially in the chest area.