Empire - Season 2, Episode 01: The Devils Are Here
Trailer
Cookie tries to convince the board that Lucious is fine, knowing Lucious won’t be held much longer in prison a plot is up to displace him from the company.
Jamal is the new Lucious, Hakeem is the new Jamal, and Cookie is just... well, Cookie. And whether you're into the show's soapy storylines or not, that's just plain old fun to watch.
Personally, I'd hyped up Empire Season 2 Episode 1 so much in my mind that anything other than a masterpiece was going to disappoint me. And while it wasn't without its flaws, I was absolutely compelled from start to finish.
If there was any concern that creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong couldn't follow up their fantastic first season, this single hour of television laid them to rest.
There's a greater focus on the core characters, even with the explosion of guest stars and cameos, and less narrative whiplash than in the typical season-one episode.
It says something about the power of this show that it can spend its opening 15 minutes focused on a topic that news programs of the same network can't seem to address.
Ask Cookie, though, and she'll only insist that she's doing this for the good of the children. What a coincidence! That's our motive for watching this show, too.
Packing enough twists and reversals into a single episode that more timid shows might take half a year to accomplish, Empire is dizzying, dazzling and lovably deranged...
