Empire: Discussion Thread

[ChitHappens]

Magnificent bastard is the perfect description for Luscious!  I couldn't love him more if I tried!  

 

Guest star hell. I'm so disappointed!  

Luscious turning Frank's men against him?  Suddenly, I miss JR a little less. That was everything!  

The end kind of brought it all together.  Calmed it down. Loved the end!

[All My Shadows]

See, and I thought the complete opposite. There were several things in this episode that could have played out over multiple episodes instead of being crammed into just the one. Chris Rock's hardened criminal is given a ton of screen time, but he shows and goes in one episode. The Whitemans (what a hideous name) are dropped into the story with little to no real introduction, and Mimi is mixing it up like she's been on the show since last season. The double cross felt hollow because everything happened so quickly that they barely settled into the premise of Mimi working for Cookie & Company PLUS any hint at her jumping ship was buried in a throwaway line about Lucious having "a visitor." Her turning around in that chair was just like "Oh, she's on their side now." Not the shock it could have been after a few episodes of her working with Cookie with Lucious working on her.

I didn't mind the guest stars in the opening segments because they had a purpose in that context.

[ChitHappens]

18, I believe. 

Honestly, I think Chris was just brought in to wrap up that arc from last season. Not meant to be lengthy. And I'm super happy Rock is gone. Miscast and just not interesting!  

[NothinButAttitude]

OMG. I cannot get over DeRay Davis' character head in that box. That sh-t was gross. But Carol's reaction afterwards was hilarious. I need for Lee to make Carol/Tasha Smith a mainstay on this show. She is a hoot.

 

Porsha telling Carole she had to 'doo-doo' had me rolling. 

 

And Cookie telling Boo Boo Kitty she can't even d*ke right had me in tears. 

 

I enjoyed the episode tonight. 

[ChitHappens]

On ignore. Effective: IMMEDIATELY! 

[YRfan23]

I enjoyed the episode too....it still needs to step up for the rest of the season which I'm sure it will....

I forgot how much I missed Cookie's one liners....LOL

[Eric83]

That was.... A lot.

[NothinButAttitude]

[alwaysAMC]

It was a bit lackluster for me... Chris Rock was completely unbelievable as a hardened criminal... I was waiting for him to smile at any given moment.

 

It finally picked up towards the end.

 

Oh, and don't get me started on the political bullshit that was the first 10 minutes.  

[Darn]

 

See whereas I felt the show had a much more confident and steady hand. It just felt more...self-assured in the concept and execution. Without being overly confident, they could have really gone off the rails here but it seems they didn't allow themselves to. The show ended on a fairly quiet moment. There was no big rush for a cliffhanger, it was more emotional and therefore resonated better to me. IDK I really enjoyed it.

 

Oh GOD. I love that literally quoting facts about the incarceration of black men is "political bullshit".

[vanguard]

Haven't seen the episode but I'm deducing from some of the posts that it hasn't changed much?  Still moves too fast, still too many guest stars etc.  Sigh!

[alwaysAMC]

Honey, they mentioned and discussed Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton getting elected, Ferguson, and spent at least 5 minutes about black men not getting fair treatment.... whether I agree or not, I just don't want to see blatant statements like that on my entertainment shows.  

[DeeeDee]

Taraji & Terrence are anchoring this show. The rest of the cast is slowly settling into their roles.

[All My Shadows]

I did like the ending a lot. The show is at its best when the focus is squarely on the family, IMO. They took the time in the early eps to develop those characters and their relationships with one another, so any scene that focuses on that is going to be gold. I include Becky and Porsha in this as they're part of the Lyon fold as well. Most other characters since maybe halfway through season one have been sloppily introduced and played out with a quickness. On the bright side, it's a huge positive that, no matter what, the Lyons as characters and a family unit still deliver, so the rest of the show can find its footing without missing a beat.

I mean, I think of a show like Dallas (though I know it's not productive to compare) and how even Cliff Barnes was merely a recurring character at first before he became a major story driver. They focused on the Ewings then gradually brought others in. With Empire, they toss a new character in and have that person making moves within their first hour on screen.

[Darn]

I apologize for jumping to that conclusion, I'm a little worked up, don't mind me.