Empire

By: Robert Murphy

I have never been a big fan of any sort of dramatic programming that is being dramatic just for the sake of it, soap operas and other shows like that, you know the drill. But, when I first started to hear buzz about the new drama series, Empire, I was immediately hooked. I can’t say for certain what it was; maybe it was the fact that the incredible Terrance Howard was the main character or the great R&B and Hip Hop tunes that were previewed. Whatever the case, I was glad I gave the show a chance. The story revolves around iconic Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) who was/is one of the biggest names in Hip Hop and is a man who struck out on his own and made his own company that now represents big names in the industry today. The company is aptly named Empire and is about to be the first African American owned company to go for an IPO and not only that but it would be the first music industry giant to do so too. Lucious is about to get a blast from his past though as his former wife Cookie (Taraji Henson) is released from prison and wants what belongs to her. The two spent years together in the slums and after working so hard, Cookie ended up in jail and Lucious ended up on top, they did whatever it took to survive and now it’s Cookie’s time to live the life she’s missed out on.

When I first saw the commercials for Empire, I thought that I would instantly dislike Cookie’s character because she was loud, obnoxious and always spouting off. However, despite the show having many main characters such as Lucious and the three sons he shares with Cookie, Jamal, Andre and Hakeem, she is the one that usually stands out the most during the entire first season. You could practically call the show Cookie and I still would love it. The first few episode of the show mainly revolve around her trying to establish herself back into the world after being locked up and away from her family. She tries to make amends with her sons, Jamal being the only one who really has kept in contact with her all these years, Andre was busy helping with the company and going off to business school and Hakeem was the youngest and bares plenty of resentment towards Cookie for not being there. Cookie also takes every opportunity to cause trouble for Lucious, she obviously still carries a torch for him and she also wants to be a part of his “Empire,” it’s what she deserves. She never pulls any punches along the way, there is so much drama and fire that comes from her character and it’s one of the reasons the show moves along so well.

On the opposite end of things you have Cookie’s ex-husband Lucious. Despite now living it up in his luxury penthouse office, his massive mansion home, debutant wife and fancy suits, he is still a man who group up on the streets. He may have lost touch with that notion along the way as you’ll see in the season finale but he is still a criminal and a thug underneath all the money. Lucious did whatever it took to get to the top and you will see that he still will do whatever it takes to make his company go public and make himself into a God. A line that he even spouts during the series. He is an extremely self righteous and egotistical man and he in fact ends up being the character that I just hate to love throughout Empire. The show does a brilliant job of making all sorts of characters with so much raw emotion and back story to them that you cannot stop watching. Emotions are not phony or fake in the show, even though they actually are, but what I mean is that unlike a soap opera things feel genuine when Lucious or any character speaks. This also gets greatly represented when Lucious speaks about his music or music in any light, is raw and powerful and it can create empires. It’s what he used to create his after all.

As for our three sons, they too drive the story home. Each of them got along fairly well in story, they’re brothers after all but they each have their own crosses to bear and that cross mainly reads, Lucious Lyon. As I mentioned earlier, Lucious is an arrogant and blowhardy character who always thinks what he does is right and so that’s caused some serious issues in his child rearing. Perhaps the one son that has the most trouble with Lucious is Jamal (Jussie Smollett), despite being just as musically talented as Hakeem, he is looked on with distain for being gay. The two do not get along and Lucious spends a good chunk of the show being homophobic and does a good deal of gay bashing, a particular flashback scene involving a garbage can will leave you in tears. Hakeem (Bryshere Gray) can best be described as a Justin Beiber character, give an extremely young kid more money than a small country and you will have a spoiled and pompous brat on your hands. His character does evolve quite a bit and he has amazing musical talent that I loved to see come out during the series. As for Andre (Trai Byers), he is the one member of the family that doesn’t actually take part in the family business in a musical sense, he went to school and his brains are the only reason that Empire got so far.

The main trifle between them all though becomes who will run the company after Lucious is gone, he somewhat pits them all against each other for the keys to the kingdom and boy does it get messy. Each of them will eventually come to see themselves as the right choice for the job, the underhanded attacks on one another and the war that wages with each of them kept me on the edge of my seat each week. Again, it’s all about raw emotion and the music is what brings that out the most. Jamal cuts ties with Lucious at about the halfway mark for the series, giving up his swanky apartment and all of the money that he uses to try and control him. This leads him to go out on his own, move to the slums just like before and start fresh. He finds his own sound and ways to express his struggle in a scene where he walks around the neighborhood and bangs on garbage cans and throws around rusty chains. Even, Andre who doesn’t care much for music though still has raw emotion going on underneath it all as he struggled so much and the fact that he knows the business world, it would make him the choice to run Empire. His dad would see otherwise, music needing to be run by someone who knows music and all that.

When the foot isn’t constantly being put on the peddle during the story and pumping up your adrenaline, there is a constant stream of music performances and scenes spread throughout each episode. This is just as enjoyable as the dialogue and action and also serves as key points of expression during an episode, it usually relates to something taking place on screen. Jamal and Hakeem each create songs on the spot during Empire; whether it is Jamal singing about his recently discovered daughter or Hakeem singing about his new girlfriend. Music flows out of every orifice of the show and it’s a truly wonderful addition. My personal favorite scene takes place in the two part finale episode between Lucious and Jamal, Jamal bring Lucious back to their childhood home, a source of a lot of hate, rage and anger but also a source of inspiration. The two create an insanely catchy song with one another; it’s a clearing the air moment to the show that should be cheesy but just works. Viewers even have access to all the songs if they’re on Spotify or iTunes to listen to over again, every show or movie has a soundtrack but Empire has about ten.

One of the biggest sources of complaints that I have seen about Empire though has to be its cliché and classic score. The show is dramatic and of course there are bound to be tense moments but in shows like these there tends to be orchestral scores to point out this fact. A dramatic realization? That calls for a dramatic sting. A tense conflict is going on between two characters? That calls for another musical cue to play in the background. It’s all gimmicky and a classic move played by countless shows over the years and it really isn’t necessary because everything is already dramatic enough for Empire. I was already shocked at what was happening on screen, I don’t need the show to tell me the emotion that I need to be feeling. It’s the equivalent of putting a cue card in front of a live studio audience that tells them to “applause.”

Overall, Empire is off to a great start as a series. The twelve episode long first season just came to an end on Wednesday and already looks like it is setting up for the next season to start up. The characters, the music and the fast paced story telling pushed the story along wonderfully and I certainly hope that it will continue to keep it up.

Good:

- Fast paced story with drama that doesn’t make your eyes role 

- Brilliant and engaging characters

- Wonderful music from Hip Hop, R&B and Rap

- Fantastic dialogue

Bad:

- The cliché soap opera scores that go on during tense or bewildering parts of the story

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10