“Empire” embraces its soap tendencies for the better.
‘Empire’
8 p.m., Wednesday, FOX
3 out of 4 stars
Look, the second season of “Empire” hasn’t been half as good as its first. There’s no way around that. The plot has become even more nonsensical, the musical numbers lackluster and the juicy moments fewer and less satisfying. I don’t know how “Empire” managed to become more ridiculous AND more boring at the same time, but it’s quite an accomplishment.
That said, this episode—the midseason finale and last installment until March—fully owned its soap opera tendencies and mostly pulled it off. Anika pushed Rhonda, her one friend, down the stairs in hopes that Lucious will embrace her unborn bastard child with Hakeem as his new “heir.” The only way that could get soapier is if Rhonda loses the baby and ends up in a coma or with amnesia. And chances are she will.
Oh, “Empire.” It sure is ludicrous to see Cookie parading around her former prison stomping grounds in couture, but it does pack an emotional punch. And it takes the show back to its roots—ridiculous family drama between entitled kids and parents with a rough background. Oh, yeah, Cookie was in prison! That was the catalyst for this show. Remember when it was good and fun?
Sure, this episode had some more nonsense with the board of directors, but it finally paid off on several running storylines. Anika’s craziness manifested in a way beyond stalking Laura and cutting out pictures of Hakeem. Mimi’s erratic behavior is actually rooted in something meaningful. Camilla is back! Ugh, could have done without that last one. But for once, “Empire’s” developments seemed carefully plotted instead of thrown together at the last second. This was the first episode in a while that legitimately felt tied to the show’s own history.
Yes, sometimes “Empire” is still lazy. Cookie introduces Hakeem by his first and last name, as if there wasn’t a whole episode about how he’s just “Hakeem” now a few weeks ago. And it’s hard to forgive the show for what it did to Anika, once a smart and capable woman who was consistently screwed over by the Lyons’ baggage. There was nothing about her that suggested mental instability until “Empire” decided it needed a new crazy.
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But the one constant has been Lucious. Lucious Lyon and his black, black soul. He’s consumed by Jamal’s success in a negative way. His constant mistreatment of Hakeem and Andre has backfired on him in different ways. And what does he take from this? “The enormity of damage I’ve done to my soul … for what?” he complains of his ungrateful sons, as if they are the reason he’s so twisted. As if he wasn’t messed up long before them.
After a mediocre effort for weeks, “Empire” manages to pull out a win in the last second. But then, it did always have a flair for the dramatic.
Stray thoughts:
Did Jason Derulo insist on a cameo where he could say his name?
The “American Sound Awards” are probably supposed to be an equivalent of the Grammys, but they just sound like a rip off of some MTV award.
The Jamal/Skye storyline veered dangerously close to being insulting. It was too on the nose—per “Empire’s” usual issues—for a random presenter to compare Skye’s biracial label to Jamal’s sexuality. But the tender scene between Skye and Jamal where she says she doesn’t want to change him sort of makes up for the earlier weirdness.
Props to the costume designer who dresses Camilla and Cookie so similarly that Hakeem probably could have confused them in that board meeting scene. Your mommy issues are showing, boy.