'Empire' Review: The Lyon-King Roars, So Does Queen Cookie
The opening moments of the new season of Empire on Wednesday night are almost literally riotous: A combination concert and protest-rally on behalf of the imprisoned Lyon-king, Terrence Howard’s Lucious Lyon, is loud, noisy, and militant. Sentiments such as “Our correctional system was built on the backs of our brothers!” elicit cheers and waved signs reading “Free Lucious.” A culturally fraught image — a gorilla in a cage — is brought onstage to protest the way “they treat us like animals!”
Does no one remember that Lucious did actually commit a murder? No matter: In the world of Empire as conceived by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, emotional truths matter as much as facts — indeed, that could be the motto of a music company like Empire Entertainment, where artistic expression trumps everything else — except, perhaps, money.
Related: Join Us for Our ‘Empire’ Aftershow, ‘Superfan Live’!
No TV show has ever delved so thoroughly and aggressively into the nexus between making music for pleasure and for profit — no, not even The Monkees. Empire returns after a triumphant first season in which its ratings rose with each succeeding week. If Daniels, Strong, and showrunner Ilene Chaiken are feeling pressure to maintain the show’s massive-hit status, it doesn’t show in the enjoyably scattered yet propulsive season premiere.
The scenes of Lucious in the slammer — menaced by a character played by Chris Rock, whose noodle-thin body and quizzical demeanor make him a refreshingly different kind of villain — are so much fun (by which I mean, Lucious isn’t intimidated for a second), you almost wish the show didn’t have to return to the internecine warfare between brothers Andre, Jamal, and Hakeem.
But business matters also bring forth the magnificent Cookie, and Cookie, fresh from giving Rev. Al Sharpton the brush-off at the free-Lucious rally, remains both a savvy business strategist and a wildly unpredictable diva. Taraji P. Henson plays these opposing forces within Cookie with deftness. For a show that’s often hailed for its enthusiastic willingness to go over the top, Henson and Howard’s performances are tightly controlled, full of small, subtle flourishes.
The premiere, written by Chaiken and Strong, directed by Daniels, sets up all sorts of subplots including the eccentric insertion of Oscar-winning Marisa Tomei as a jive-talking gay billionaire intent on a takeover. (I wouldn’t bring up her sexuality if Empire did not do so with such lascivious glee.)
Can Empire maintain its opulent entertainment quality without tipping over into repetition and/or absurdity? I think to its creators, that question may be beside the point, but it’s one the rest of us will be watching for, rooting for their success. Free Lucious indeed!
Empire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox.
