Empire Season 3

[Toni]

I just watched the first 3 episodes of this new season and I´m getting bored again. If they just devoted to character development or tying the last season´s loose ends half the time they devote to the awful hip-hop recordings, the show would improve a lot. But if they are blind enough to consider plastic Mariah Carey as a big star (see pic below), then they will soon give a major role to Honey Boo Boo (see second pic below):

Where are the true stars when they are needed...?​

 

[Gabriel Maxwell]

I have to say, other than that huge disappointment with Rhonda at the beginning, I've been enjoying season 3 of EMPIRE so far. This week's episode with email hacking was especially compelling with a great twist ending. This season is certainly superior to season 2. The stories seem much more coherent and confident.

Oh, and that was great casting for young Lucious. The boy actually looks like Terrence and he's so sexy. No wonder young Cookie fell for him hard.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Is anybody still watching this? I got as far as the episode with the ghost threesome and threw in the towel. Has season three improved at all since then?

I really did love the show when it first began but even in the closing stages of the first season, I could see that the wheels were coming off. When they decided that Lucious wasn't dying after all, I knew we were in trouble and they'd play fast & loose with storylines going forward.

 

[Toni]

I have just watched the "sub-season" premiere and my eyes hurt. Or maybe it was my brain...The impression I eventually had of the show was that it was going under a serious "depression" (for lack of a better word): all the characters were in wrong storylines, the supporting cast seemed to be bigger than the main cast, the music was (as usual) strictly for hiphop fans, Jamal´s "new" song sounded suspiciously like Elton John´s "Your Song"...and to enliven things a bit, they made up with a scene with Cookie destroying Lucious´s gold records. How symbolic from them...Self-destruction is the right word for the show right now. I doubt that Eva Longoria can stir things up...before she gets killed very creepily, of couse.

​

PS: Speaking of creepy, what about Bruce Willis and Demi Moore´s daughter as guest star? How cheap can this casting be? And she´s ugly as hell!!

 

[Toni]

In case the news of Eva Longoria´s casting hasn´t been posted here yet, voilà:

Eva Longoria is the latest star to board “Empire,” making her debut on the Fox juggernaut Wednesday night, playing the powerful character Charlotte Frost.

Longoria’s three-episode stint on “Empire” is one of many projects she’s currently juggling, along with a Fox comedy pilot, “Type A,” which is in contention for the 2017-2018 season, and the upcoming film “Lowriders,” which hits theaters next month. Since her hit show “Desperate Housewives” went off the air, the multi-hyphenate has focused primarily on her jam-packed production company, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, and directing, with credits including episodes of “Black-ish” and “Jane the Virgin.”

Why did you want to join “Empire” and how did it come about?

I’ve been a fan of Danny Strong and of course Lee [Daniels] for a long time, and Terrence [Howard] and I have been friends for nearly 20 years, so the minute they asked me, I should yes before I even knew what the character was. And then I got on the phone with the showrunner and we talked about the character and her role leading up to the season finale and how important her role is as an adversary for Lucious.

What can you tease about your character?

I played Charlotte Frost. She’s the head the Las Vegas Gaming Commission. I hold the key to whether or not Lucious enters Vegas, so his usual wine and dining and ruling doesn’t work on my character because she doesn’t drink, she’s a Mormon, she’s conservative — so he has to try different strategies to get on my good side. Cookie notices an opening and tries to make a play herself, and she appeals to my more conservative motherly side. I have a great scene with Cookie and with Lucious.

When I spoke to Taraji P. Henson, she sang your praises. What was it like to work with her?

First of all, she should have a comedy show! She is hilarious in between takes. Her and Terrence need a sitcom. They just have this short-hand. I can’t imagine the show without them. They’re everything. To work with both of them was very exciting for me, and she’s a dream. I was in this scene, and I was like, I can’t believe I’m in a scene with Taraji — it’s Cookie!

Does your story wrap up this season, or could you come back?

It is open-ended. It definitely is unsettled business, as we get to the season finale. So there’s a possibility she could come back, especially if the Lucious Lyon Empire continues in Vegas.

You have a comedy pilot at Fox, “Type A.” What can you say about that project?

It’s a really funny comedy. It’s a workplace comedy like you’ve never seen before. It’s about a bunch of a–holes, which is based on this book. I have a dream cast and am surrounded by such amazing comedic talent. I’ve been dying to work with Ken Marino and he plays my love interest. And Andy Richter and Kyle Bornheimer and Steve Harris, we had so much fun shooting it, and I’m excited to get back on TV.

Over the past few years, you’ve really focused primarily on acting and directing, other than NBC’s “Telenovela,” but have you missed the regular routine of broadcast television?

Honestly, no. [Laughing] The workload is a lot. People don’t realize what a grind television is. I spent the last year just directing — I directed “Black-ish” and “Jane the Virgin.” Directing is something that I love to do, and I definitely want to keep directing. To me, it’s like my second nature. It comes second nature for me. It’s a place where I feel like I can use all of my creative muscles.

There are so many reboots and revivals these days. Would you ever do a “Desperate Housewives” reunion?

100% percent! I don’t think it would ever happen, but absolutely 100%. I would love to step into Gaby’s shoes again.

Has anything ever been discussed with you or the cast?

No, not really. Marc [Cherry] has been asked a million times. But we did almost 10 years of 24 episodes per years. We did almost 200 episodes, so he already that he’s already mined all of those character. I don’t know what else people would want to see with those characters.

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/eva-longoria-empire-charlotte-frost-1202399673/

More info here too:
http://www.eonline.com/news/846258/...haracter-she-kind-of-feels-like-a-sarah-palin

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Charlotte Frost ... I still say Lee Daniels reads this website.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

It all sounds like an absolute mess.

Although while ratings are around half of what the show was getting this time last year, it looks like it's still FOX's highest rating drama, so they'll likely squeeze another few seasons out of it yet.

 

[cijimccashin]

The show isn't perfect but i have enjoyed this season.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Should Cookie have used the phrase, as she did last night, "a fake-ass Claire Huxtable!" when Phylicia Rashad was on the show?

Is that kind of breaking-the-fourth-wall really constructive?

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

​

PS: Speaking of creepy, what about Bruce Willis and Demi Moore´s daughter as guest star? How cheap can this casting be? And she´s ugly as hell!!

I've just discovered that not only was Rumer Willis on the show in a guest role but Demi Moore showed up in the finale as Nurse Claudia! And she is due to recur in the upcoming fourth season.

I also read this interview with Ilene Chaiken where she discusses them doing a "reset" for season 4.

http://deadline.com/2017/05/empire-...on-illene-chaiken-donald-trump-fox-1202101747

 

[Toni]

She looks like his father if went drag.
With all due respect to drags.​

 

[Willie Oleson]

Empire does not only seduce its fans with a wonderful two cliffhanger-episodes, its third season premiere opens with a SMASHING water cooler moment.
"Dysfunctional" doesn't even begin to describe the Lyon family - and they're not even living in the same mansion!
The dark and miserable tone of the first episode reminded me of Dynasty's first season finale episode (or its very last episode, for that matter) when it felt as if everything was falling apart.
They're all in a bad place, and in his own strange way Lucious is trying to reform his dynasty, like Cookie did in season 2. There are some very instinctive forces going on here.

The second episode has a different tone; more like old-skool character soap, and it's also very very enjoyable.
There are childhood flashbacks as they did it in Knots Landing (and strangely enough, Empire's flashbacks also look like something from the sixties - I mean the ice water shop, or was it water ice shop?) and then Tariq and Angelo - represented by Cookie's first boyfriend Ben - are also soaped into that flashback story.
The Lyon brothers decide to step up to the plate, but Andre - who's giving Poor Val a run for her money - is immediately sabotaged by two evil white cops.

Becky's friend & artist J Poppa tells her he's leaving Empire, and she should do the same.
Empire is streaming a show with Kids With A Positive Attitude but Lucious only did that to get Jamal to perform again. It doesn't work and Jamal has a panic attack in the spaceship corridor.
Will we ever see Michael again or have they lost him to that stoopid fake-ass NuDynasty?

 

[tommie]

I think with Empire you need to remember that the bad guys don't always get their upcomance (DIE ANIKA DIE)

 

[Willie Oleson]

Queen Anika is JUSTIFIED!!!!

 

[tommie]

Andre should've tossed that damn bitch off the roof.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Lucious at war with both his wives! I feel a Who Shot? season finale coming up!
All these characters and supporting characters are so great, I think I'm IN love with Empire.
And it's such a smart show because they do have their cake and eat it. Gun Violence Awareness and Black Lives Matters, and it all feels real but the show never forgets that it's first and foremost a soap opera with twists and turns and schemes and ulterior motives.

And so it can happen that the system against black people - which, again, is very real - is used as a plot device by Lucious' half-brother. Surprise! Tariq reminds me of Jon Kavanaugh who tried to take down Vic Mackey and his Strike Team except that Tariq is more openly aggressive.
That was fun when he was having dinner with the Lyons because he could have his "emerald studded zoo" moment and insult all the family members.
Eighties Dallas and Dynasty should have done that more often.

Angelo Dubois is also a bit of an Empire antagonist. "The world doesn't need more rappers".
He's a passionate man with a dream, but passionate people are the ones who are shattered the most when that dream is being destroyed. I suggest he steers clear of the Lyons and their shenanigans.

Music is never just music in Empire because they often literally pinpoint what's so good about this-or-that song.
Modern American R&B isn't and never will be my kind of thing but I love to discover details in music and sometimes I hear chords and other musical constructions that could also work in a euro-pop song.
Having said that, I think I'd pay to watch Hakeem perform. He's fresh so fresh and exciting.

Guest star disaster: Mariah Carey. Not because of Mariah herself, she's in top-diva form and not nearly as icy as Alicia Keys, but it feels a little too convoluted to think of her as a singer who isn't Mariah Carey, also because her small part - and I didn't think I would use MC and "small" in the same sentence - doesn't allow her to be a fictional character.
Cookie's reaction when she meets not-Mariah Carey is such a barf Oprah Winfrey moment. "Waaaa! Guuuuurrrrl!"
But thankfully there are also many great Cookie moments.

the news of Eva Longoria´s casting

Oh dear.

But I'm not there yet.

 

[Willie Oleson]

I also want to mention the variety in the episodes. Even if the storyline isn't overly exciting (but that can be deceptive!) the episode itself looks fresh and interesting.
Episode 4 takes us to the opera house, and of course they also manage to make that music sound great. It's really beautiful, and even more beautiful when it's used on Tiana's XStream performance track.
Anyway, this kind of high society is new territory to Cookie and overall the episode focuses on the pitfalls thereof in order to create doubt in the mind of Cookie and, by extension, us.
It's a good old-fashioned romance story and that needs to be soaped out over an X amount of episodes.
But they're doing everything they can to avoid repetition and many episodes are as beautiful as the stand-alone episodes of the eighties soaps.

Empire doesn't offer something new in the grand scheme of things but I always find something surprising in every episode. Or I'm surprised by my own emotional reaction.
Is Jamal going to be an addict, and what's going on with Andre? His storylines are eerily consistent with his bipolar condition and I like it that he's not sharing everything with us.
Jamal gets Freda Gatz out of jail, but this is also not exactly what it looks like. Unbeknownst to himself Jamal has been emotionally manipulated, courtesy of Lucious, and as a result Lucious no longer has to worry about any allegations regarding his "alleged" involvement in Frank Gathers' death.
Even when they drop a storyline, they drop it so satisfyingly.
Nessa's brother Shine is very angry, and he's going to war Lucious. It all looks very dangerous! *trembles*

 

[Willie Oleson]

It's a good old-fashioned romance story and that needs to be soaped out over an X amount of episodes

Yeah.

Cookie prepares a family dinner for Angelo and his high society mother and Angelo wants her three sons to be there. A lovely but very optimistic idea.
Not surprisingly, everything goes terribly wrong in a way that has all the tropes of sitcom TV and it's really only saved by the Duboises who refuse to react to the bizarre situation.
Jamal performs his new "Mama" song (all in falsetto, it doesn't sound too great) but at least there's the relevance of three mothers being in that room.
Oh yes, Lucious and Anika also crash her dinner party.
At the end no real harm is done and Mrs. Dubois makes and friendly and dignified exit.
It's all very obvious and corny but it could have been so, so, so much worse.

Lucious has been trying to bring out the warrior in Hakeem in previous episodes, but now he literally teaches him that it's good to be mad & bad because that makes people survivors and winners.
It's not uncharacteristic for Lucious to think and behave that way but when it's being literally cited it feels too much like a Disney villain embracing his villainy.
A soap villain needs to feel justified, at least to some extent, in order to make me buy into that very villainy.
Without doubt there's no mystique and subtlety.
Of course it's all about getting Hakeem to do more powerful dishing-the-dirt performances and I understand how important music is in Empire, but it doesn't feel particularly important to me.
I'm not getting a whole lot of satisfaction out of it.

Andre plots a cyber attack on Empire and then saves the day, which prompts Lucious to make him president of Empire XStream.
It's great that he's giving Lucious a taste of his own medicine but, as I've mentioned before, a prestigious position within a music company just doesn't feel exciting enough. Unless it's about a total and hostile takeover.

We also get to know more about Cookie's past and it's nice but not really necessary although the flashback scenes - this time on video - are truly lovely.
Candace and Carol make a guest appearance without the obligatory screaming/insult match.
There's something about low-key aunt & nephew scenes in soaps that always works for me because without any strong soaptastic connections it feels like a mini alternative universe within the soap.
Abby was cool with Sid's kids, Alexis was cool with Jeff and Caress and Steven really had no reason to do a scene together at all, but they did it anyway.
One could argue that THE COLBYS spin-off was unintentionally based on that idea.
Speaking of which, Nessa reminds me of Kim Morgan Greene aka Channing Carter.

Tariq's vendetta has been put on hold because of all this but it's still going on in the background and I expect good things to come from it.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Episodes 8 to 10 are incredibly fantastic: big drama, big tears, an EPIC fight between Lucious and Cookie, backstabbing, nasty surprises and then many more twists and turns. And let's not forget the glitter and the glamour.
Lucious is working on his prestigious Inferno project, an album that is going to showcase the crème de la crème of Empire music, but there are other things in the works that suggests that the Empirians are heading for a fiery season finale!

 

[Willie Oleson]

A gothic-sickbed boardroom meeting!

They're so melodramatic!