tmelange

I don't know. I just think it's odd that Lee Daniels and Ilene Chaiken, both gay individuals, would go this route with Jamal after the entire drama of last season. It's like validating Lucifer's position that all Jamal needs to not be gay is to find the right girl. That being gay is a choice. That's a dangerous message to get behind.

I think Alicia being transgender is the only thing that would make sense.

I agree 100 percent. I like the songs best with both brothers performing. It adds dimension to the song. Jussie with that falsetto that goes higher and higher really drives me crazy. It's like listening to Prince "I want to be your lover" where he sings the whole thing in falsetto rather than "Little red corvette." Jussie has a great falsetto, but it's not the most interesting falsetto, IMHO. I don't think he should carry a whole song with it. I don't know. I'm trying to think of a song or singer that uses a falsetto that I can listen to...maybe Usher on Climax, or going back, like that guy from the Stylistics or Babyface's brother from After 7. Obviously, Smokey Robinson. I guess. I don't know. lol

I watched an interview with Timbaland, and he said that they get the script notes that tell them what the song has to say, then they have 2 days to create the song. So they're not creating these songs at leisure or even with any sort of normal creative process. And when you take into account there's about three new songs per episode...it's amazing how good the songs are, considering. I mean, if it was easy to craft a hit song, everyone would be like....Helloooo....it's meeee....I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet... I really like the Pepsi song. I found myself with the beat stuck in my head.

Marisa Tomei has been really over the top, and I haven't warmed to her character in any way yet, but I'm waiting to see where her storyline goes. As for Alicia Keys, I'm sort of hoping she's transgender or something. lol Anything to make it make sense.

I find the situation with the guest stars interesting. OTOH, there are too many of them, and they can be distracting. OTOH, the way they're doing it sort of gives the show its feel of being just left of reality. This show reminds me of magical realism in hip hop form. You have the guest stars that appear as themselves: Timbaland, Lee Daniels, Sway, Funkmaster Flex etc; then you have the guest stars who appear as characters, from Naomi Campbell to Rosie. The first group of stars sets the show in the real world, while the second group gives you that "What if Chris Rock was a drug dealing gangster?" LOL I think some of the guest spots have worked better than others, but overall, I've enjoyed it all. For example, I haven't been feeling Marissa Tomei, but I suspect her part is just getting warmed up. OTOH, I liked seeing that guy who played Prince's abusive father in Purple Rain playing that Huey/Quincy Jones character. I sort of really like seeing all these black actors that we so rarely get to see chewing the carpet in one show. If you're of a certain age and know all of these black actors, you have to admit it's fun seeing them in and of itself, which is why Lee is probably doing it.

I don't mind the Anika storyline, but I would have preferred it if she didn't say she was in love with Hakeem. I think it's more indicative of the mindset they're going for if they had left it at her saying, "I know you love me," because then I could buy that her sense of self-worth has been destroyed. Anyway, she's obviously going to kill someone. I agree that those stairs loom large, and the fact that Anika was even in that house that they just got (all the way out in Long Island), does not bode well for Rhonda or the baby. I was sort of screaming at the screen when Hakeem started going off on Anika for him to dial it back. I guess he never got that advice from his mom not to antagonize the woman who you're trying to dump. I hope both Anika and Rhonda make it to next season. I like both characters. Poor Laura. I like her, but she lacks that pop. I think Becky G (who played Valentina) would have been a bit more spicy. As a person who grew up in the Bronx, I know Anika would have drawn back a nub if she had come out like that with anyone I grew up with. lol As for Cookie -- I guess I was okay with how it played out with Laz because I'm from the old school where the women take care of problems with women, and I let my man handle any problems I have with dudes. Not that I can't handle it, but that's what he's there for. Gotta let the dude be a dude. lol Anyone else notice that Laz could barely hold that gun he was pointing properly. lol

Oh, I had one more thing to say about Lucifer: I think the show glossed over the stint in jail. Being in jail is traumatic. You're exposed to indignities great and small. No one walks out without being affected. I've thought this whole season that Lucifer -- by virtue of the shaved hair etc -- has a manic menace about him. With the flashbacks to his childhood and the way he seems to be acting out in every direction about his sons, I can see sort of a break coming. In a minute, he's going to need Cookie to pull him back from the ledge. I already have him singing the Usher part in my head: Cookie: You're gonna want me back LuciferUsher: That's the last words she said to me / now I'm wishing she was still here with me Cookie: You're going to need me one day LuciferUsher: Said I'm about to go crazy / 'Cause I been needin' you lately / I'm goin' outta my head and all the things that I said I wish that I never said them now nod nod /Throwback lol

I thought the parallel between Cookie showing up and exposing Anika last season, and being the one to throw her stuff out of Lucifer's house, and Lucifer showing up to expose Laz and being the one to take care of him worked really well. I didn't get the feel that Cookie should have handled it herself. I got the feeling that she and Lucifer (who have been a team since they were teens) have a way of handling people who come after them. Lucifer had two goons in the room; she let Lucifer do what he has always done for her -- take care of business. This dynamic was also evident when Lucifer was talking with her on the phone and she said she was in a bad neighborhood and he asked, "Do you need me to come and get you?" It all seems to be setting up the pulling together of the family when Lucifer loses Empire. The show has to keep the underlying connection between Cookie and Lucifer relevant. She's his ride-or-die chick, and he's the Clyde to her Bonnie. I also liked when Lucifer spilled that wine. Goes to show he's just as dangerous to the food in the area when he's jealous as Cookie. I thought Rosie did an excellent job. She was funny in a deadpan way. She's one special guest I hope they keep around. I also like Vivica and the whole sisters storyline. Taraji needs women to play off of. I love Alicia Keys, but her and Jussie singing in the same...what's it called...register? I don't know. I need some bass in a male-female duet. I did think it was cute that Alicia was watching Jamal singing the Pepsi song, which was produced by her husband, Swiss Beatz. I don't know what's going on with that kiss, but I can buy a gay guy being confused. God knows gay guys sleep with women all the time, whether they're in or out of the closet. I can give the writers some rope, I guess. I thought the cameo by Lee Daniels was hysterical. When he refused to go to Lucifer's trailer I fell out.

I cracked up when Cookie kept putting her shoes in Lucifer's face, then he threatens, "Go ahead, put your shoes in my face again." lol I've been part of an interaction like that in the past. It was such a typical thing for a guy to say.

I don't know how old Lucifer is supposed to be in that scene, but he looks young. I dare say even in these vicious times, there's no way a child would be sleeping on the sidewalk like that. Not even in NYC.

I really disliked that long multicolored jacket thing that Cookie was wearing in Jamal's live session. It looked horrible to me. Does anyone know what happened with Cookie's wardrobe this season? Does she no longer have access to Timbaland's wife's closet? It's been so hit-or-miss for me this season.

Andre has a number of storylines, but because they're not musical per se, they don't seem as prominent. He's has the pregnancy, going back to Empire, the revelation of the Vernon murder, the baptism, running Gutter Life, and sitting in on this new merger. The person who doesn't have a lot of storyline is Jamal. His basic storyline is the promotion of his career and singing 3 songs an episode. What I think is a missed opportunity with Andre is his bipolar disorder. That storyline tanked last season to spotlight Jennifer Hudson, and it never really reached its potential for such an important issue. This season, he's back on his meds...but again the issue has changed to why Lucifer can't take his mental disorder instead of focusing on Andre.

These doom-and-gloom predictions about Empire really baffle me, as does certain people's sideline view of what the writers should do. Complain about how quickly Lucifer got out of jail? Well, he was in there for months, and it's not feasible to keep him in there during the season. The best parts of Empire are Cookie and Lucifer being in the same room. You can't have that with Lucifer off in his own box in jail. I thought they handled the Vernon/Lucifer storyline great: the murder was revealed, the body got dug up, Cookie's hit from last season came to fruition, Lucifer got out of jail, Thirsty got introduced to replace Vernon, and Andre and Rhonda were worked in significantly. To top that, the threat from Gathers gave the audience key scenes of Cookie and Lucifer and the entire Lyon family pulling together. What more could people want? I've said before that Empire's only real problem is that it now has too many characters that people want to see all the time with deep storylines. Focus on Cookie, Lucifer and Hakeem, and people are asking where's Porsha, Tiana and Rhonda. All of these actors are great and deserve whatever time they can get, but it is what it is. Also, this show is operating on a different income model than an ordinary soap opera. Look! Season 2's album is already out. Storylines are going to suffer because the music must have its time. That's the show. As for Anika: I don't think what we saw of her in S1 defined her as some BOSS diva who can't have the kind of breakdown she's having now. What we saw was a very well-dressed woman who was smart, but who was also sleeping with her boss. A woman who allowed his catting around per her mom. A woman who was so insecure that she had to come out of her bedroom in her drawers just because her boyfriend's ex-con ex-wife stopped by. A woman who ultimately slept with her fiancee's youngest son, and thought that was a rational way to get back at Lucifer that didn't demean herself. So...Anika. I can see her falling apart. Getting to a privileged position in the record industry for a woman is not easy, and with no references and the underlying odor of Lucifer having given her the position she had, she could easily be in crisis. Plus, she was being told all along that Empire was Lucifer and her, if you remember some of their earlier interactions. I'd surely be a bit devastated if it all fell apart. I know I'd lose my mind if some kid that should be happy to be sleeping with me tells me he loves some little girl and says we're still "homies." Homies? I got your homie, bitch. LOL Anyway, I think S2 of Empire is moving along nicely. Is it quite as mind-blowing as S1? No, it can't be. We know what to expect now, and we're settled in. But the show still delivers IMO.

I've been reading up on the Pepsi collaboration, and it's quite a coup for the show. I'm tired of most commercials, so I'm happy to see companies exploring different ways to get their messages across, and I'm glad they chose this diverse show. But mostly, I'm glad that no big deal was made of Jamal being gay. Plus, having been involved with many events that relied on sponsorship and knowing that the opportunity is crucial for many entertainers these days, I thought the whole Pepsi thing was handled really organically. I remember one nonprofit event I did where we we so happy when Target contacted us with a sponsorship offer -- it was like manna falling from the sky. So I got a kick out of the Pepsi people and the enthusiasm around the whole thing. One of the things I like most about Empire -- that probably many other people don't like -- is how it makes such an effort to set itself in the real world. Empire doesn't exist, but the show acts like it really does by incorporating lots of indicia of hip hop culture. So I love that Lucifer says, "Dre has beats, Jay has Tidal, and Empire will have Steamstream (or whatever)." It gives him an underlying motivation that's tied to the accomplishments of current moguls in this industry. And I also love stuff like Funkmaster Flex DJ'ing the rap battle, because such an event by a major record company would of course have someone like him involved, and the artists getting interviewed by Sway. That's what would really happen with artists today. Also Timbaland showing up to back up Hakeem when he crashed Jamal and Pitbull's performance the other episode is another example. Timbaland is exactly the producer who would cameo to take a rapper in his crew to the next level when it matters. During that scene, all I could hear was Timbaland on Aaliyah's track, "It's been a long time / I shouldn't of left you / without a dope beat to step to." lol Of course, it sort of backfires in trying to convince us that Lucifer is the Ice Cube of gangsta rap. They don't have the leeway on network television to go there, so it's all a bit silly. But I like how Terrence sells it. On another note, I found out why Jamal is singing so much. Apparently, his music was the most popular in sales from last season, and they're working him like a real income stream.