Fox's hip-hop themed family drama, 'Empire' is shaping up to be perhaps one of the most intense and gritty family dramas TV has seen as of late. The story follows the Lyons family as they struggle to survive the deadly world of "the hip-hop dynasty." The third episode, "The Devil Quotes Scripture" spoke of old family secrets and old hurts that continue to haunt the Lyons family.
The third episode opened with hip-hop star Tianna shooting a very sexy music video with Hakeem as her backup dancer. We see that Jamal (Jussie Smollet) is still trying to his hardest to convince his father to accept him. Jamal wants Lucious to book some gigs for him, to which Lucious refuses. In the previous episode, it was Lucious who murdered his ex-wife Cookie's (Taraji P. Henson) cousin Bunky (Antoine McKay). While a detective does show up at the music mogul's office, they are none the wiser.
Jamal tries to talk to his mother about giving him another chance, however Cookie tells him that if he want to succeed, Jamal "needs to sing other peoples' songs and not his own for now."
Cookie revisits an "old friend" Puma (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who she has a romantic past with. The ex-convict convinces her ex-lover to write a song for Jamal, since he is "the best songwriter she ever knew." While the appearance of Gooding is brief, he is effective in showing the past between the two characters. Puma had harbored an unrequited love for Cookie and it was the song that he wrote that Lucious initially rejected.
The family dinner came off to a slow start as Cookie had said the grace with the word "skank". Jamal then performs Puma's old song, after adding some tweaks to it. Lucious then has a change of heart, saying that he now loves the song. The hip-hop mogul then remarks that the song would be "perfect for John Legend."
The drama heats up when Jamal is angered by his father's decision, calling Lucious "dried up" and a "little bitch."
Lucious then shares a quiet moment with Cookie when she scolds him for "running after something that's trying to chase him." Cookie then tells Lucious that while he tries to hide from his demons, he will never be able to hide from her.
Father and son confront each other in one dramatic scene as Lucious shows up at Jamal's house. It is a heart-wrenching scene to see Jamal in tears. "Since I was a baby, you beat me," cried Jamal. "You said it was to toughen me up, but that was a lie. You hate me!"
Jamal then leaves, but not without making a promise to himself that he will take his father's empire.
It is indeed family drama at its finest!
Are you loving 'Empire'? Should Lucious give Jamal a chance? What do you think of Jamal's vendetta against his father? Leave your comments below.
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