Empire: Episode 1- "Pilot" Review

Empire: Episode 1- "Pilot" Review

I wasn't sure about this series going into it, however, I enjoyed the opening musical numbers and am very glad that I continued on the rest of the episode.

The pilot episode was very strong and there are so many different aspects of this show that I enjoyed. Terrence Howard played the main character Lucious Lyon who is so incredibly unlikable but yet somehow seems surprised when people are disgruntled with him. We saw scenes with Lucious at the doctor where he was told that he has ALS and maybe three years to live. Once we are introduced to the mother character Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) who balances a fine line between likable and hate-able, it becomes very clear that both the parent characters are so similar. Life has hardened both of them with Cookie having spent seventeen years in prison for something both of them have done (though we've yet to find out all the details) and Lucious shrugging off his parental duties onto family members to spend more time growing the company. They are both very money hungry and puts more emphasis on their company than their children and even less emphasis on their children's happiness. 

I loved all the kid characters and felt so badly for them having to put up with so much crap from their parents. The eldest son Andre is educated and has the appetite for power that his parents do so you could just feel his heart break when Lucious announced that he was going to start grooming his next in line, which could be any of the three sons even though he is the only one with business sense and an education. Also Cookie doesn't approve of his marriage and constantly refers to his wife as "that white girl". Jamal, the middle child, is a gay song-writer who can't stand Lucious because he believes "sexuality is a choice". The song that Jamal wrote and performed in the club was amazing and you could just feel though the lyrics how broken his parents have made him. "I'll never be big enough to pay your dues" and "I just want to be good enough". The youngest son Hakeem is Lucious's favorite because he's a hip-hop star on his rise to fame, however Hakeem doesn't take the business very seriously and Lucious feels like he's "spoiled" because he's "never worked a day in his life".

Overall, the pilot episode was fantastic and left me wanting to know more. How did Cookie get arrested? Who will take over the company? Will Lucious tell anyone that he's sick? How will Andre and Cookie's plans of pitting the family against each other work out? Will anyone find out that Lucious shot Cookie's cousin?. I also hope we hear more original songs, as they were all very well written.

A-

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