S03.E06: Chimes At Midnight

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

The hacking of Empire leads to feuds breaking out between the artists and members of the Lyon family; and Andre tries to use the leak to his advantage. Meanwhile, Lucious sets out to drive Cookie and Angelo apart; at the same time, Jamal finds himself in a love triangle.

[SimoneS]

I honestly am shocked that Andre was behind the computer virus. Guess, he is back to playing down and dirty. I love his romance and partnership with Nessa. She is the first dark skin black woman to be a Lyon interest and she is gorgeous.

Cookie yelling, what they are perky, cracked me the hell up. I liked Angelo telling the truth and stripping to support women. His reaction to her naked picture was hysterical too. Taye Diggs is entertaining as hell as Angelo.

Jamal has two hot sexy as hell men drooling over him. Lucky guy. I don't get why he doesn't have a threesome with both of them. I would be so down with that.

Hakeem needs to grow the hell up, but I snickered when he blocked his eyes so he couldn't see his mother naked.

[Primetimer]

Who knew that there were so many computer geniuses in the Lyons' social circle?

View the full article

[Syndicate]

Wait! Jamal's two men know each other? OK! Now I'm intrigued.

[wanderingstar]

Taraji P. Henson looked beautiful in this ep. From the opening scene with Angelo to the red and white outfit to the gold dress, She looked stunning.

Speaking of beautiful women - damn Sierra McClain is gorgeous!

Can someone slap the shit out of Hakeem - please?

Jamal being apart from the rest of the family this week was weird, but I enjoyed his subplot, which is surprising since I'm not big on love triangles. I still find Jamal and Derek hot together, but I just can't forget how Derek treated him last season. 

Tonight was the first time Cookie and Angelo intrigued me. I'm now open to seeing where they go with their relationship.

Andre being responsible for the hack was a surprise. He really is his father's son.

Lucious getting a perm in his office kind of gave me life.

Xavier is an asshole. I hope Becky gets to one-up him soon.

God bless the writers of this episode for including so many shirtless men.

Edited November 17, 2016 by Gillian Rosh

[Dee]

This show is seriously firing on all cylinders! I love it!

[wanderingstar]

Dee, I couldn't agree more. The last few episodes have been amazing!

Quote

Jamal has two hot sexy as hell men drooling over him. Lucky guy. I don't get why he doesn't have a threesome with both of them. I would be so down with that.

I dunno, SimoneS, that might scorch my TV screen beyond repair! But you know, I think I'd be willing to risk it.

Quote

Hakeem needs to grow the hell up, but I snickered when he blocked his eyes so he couldn't see his mother naked.

Yes, that was funny.

[SimoneS]

39 minutes ago, Gillian Rosh said:

Lucious getting a perm in his office kind of gave me life.

Xavier is an asshole. I hope Becky gets to one-up him soon.

I can't believe I forgot Lucious getting a perm. Hilarious. Talk about being real. Reminds me of Annalise getting a weave on How to Get Away with Murder.

Thirsty hitting on Becky was so dirty and funny at the same time. He is way to old for her. I hope her man is still in the picture.

Edited November 17, 2016 by SimoneS

[thuganomics85]

Thirsty!  I know he a more minor character, but I really love him and how Andre Royo plays him.  I'm glad Thirsty is still slinking around and finding solutions to almost impossible problems.  And the idea of him getting involved with Becky's beef with that tool, Xavier, is something I wouldn't have predicted, but I'm all for.

I figured Gram was going to be some kind of patsy, but I truly didn't not predict it would be Andre behind the hacks and using it to make himself President of Empire.  They really weren't lying about bring him back into the forefront.  He's been one of the standouts this season, and Trai Byers is really shining with the material.

Oh, Hakeem.  Of course he's deluded himself into thinking this is some kind of contest, even when it is obvious that Nessa only really like Andre in that way.  And he still finds the time to diss Tiana while he's at it.  A real ladies man, right there!

Angelo showing his loyalty towards Cookie is probably the most interesting I've found him and their relationship so far.

Seems like Tariq found the email that relate to paying of the guys who killed Freda's dad.  Uh oh!

Things are looking rough for Jamal, but at least he's got both Phillip and Derek!

This season continues to be extremely entertaining.  And they've done a good job with using almost all the regulars so far.

[buttersister]

Thirsty and Becky outflanking Xavier! Bye, Xavier.

Wardrobe folks did a great job for Cookie tonight. Maybe that's because they had extra time, considering they had fewer shirts to provide this ep?

[Brooklynista]

Thirsty eating that chocolate donut while spilling the tea about hefty board member?? I'm picking up what you putting down Thirsty !

[withanaich]

Why are they writing Becky like a dummy all of a sudden? How many times is she going to fall for Xavier's nonsense? I can't even feel bad for her at this point. I'm just waiting impatiently for her and Thirsty to shut him all the way down. (I could watch an entire episode of that, or even just Thirsty dancing in his shirtsleeves.)

Speaking of shutting it down, someone needs to tell Hakeem about himself. Like, with five fingers and a palm. I've never cared for the character, but he is being so incredibly ridiculous right now, even for him. I know Lucious encouraged his insanity to get the streaming numbers up or whatever, but it's time for him to step in and say "okay, that's enough." Because it's going to start affecting the bottom line in a bad way (and we know that's all Lucious cares about) if he can't even perform for three minutes without being a weirdo. I really wish Nessa would be more forceful with Hakeem, because he's being a real fucking creep and everybody is just acting like he's a toddler who needs a time-out. His behavior would be way out of line even if they HAD dated, but because they only sang a couple of songs together, Hakeem looks like he's really gone off the deep end. (Maybe they're working up to a full-blown stalking plot at the end of the season...?)

I'm happy to know there were Oreos in that jar. It was downright mesmerizing, but I assumed they were some kind of metal disks. Still not sure why they were arranged like that, but...

[Dee]

These past couple of episodes have reminded me why I adore the Lyon Brothers.

Andre has finally reached the point Lucious (and to a lesser extent Cookie) have been trying to teach him, that no amount of whitewashing his family's past will ever legitimize their legacy to the mainstream. He's decided to embrace his dormant inner thug, instead of constantly running from it, and it's made him much stronger. No longer is he the Lyon family workhorse being perpetually used & abused with nothing to show for it, instead he's now a power player who is utilizing his perceived weaknesses for his own gain. Nessa apparently being down to become his new, Rhonda approved, ride or die chick is just icing on the cake at this point.

Jamal is tormented by his internal demons and in severe denial about himself. He's so busy looking down his nose at the rest of his family (sans Cookie) he refuses to see that he is just like them. It is amazing though, that even as high as a kite, he remains an optimist. And it's fitting that he's currently caught between two men who represent the two very distinct aspects of his fragile psyche. On one side there's his charismatic, self preserving, musical soulmate, and on the other is his guileless, non-musically inclined, emotional rock.

Hakeem is reeling and doesn't know how to cope. In the past couple of months his world has been completely turned upside down and all of his emotional touchstones have either betrayed him (in his eyes), abandoned him, or are otherwise occupied. This show puts a lot of emphasis on finding, and cultivating one's own musical soulmate which he thought he found in Nessa (after a string of failures) only to be thoroughly rejected (again). This, coupled with the other significant upheavals in Hakeem's life, goes a long way to explaining (if not excusing) the youngest Lyon's actions and current frame of mind.

Edited November 17, 2016 by Dee

[luckyroll3]

1 hour ago, withanaich said:

Why are they writing Becky like a dummy all of a sudden? How many times is she going to fall for Xavier's nonsense? I can't even feel bad for her at this point. I'm just waiting impatiently for her and Thirsty to shut him all the way down. (I could watch an entire episode of that, or even just Thirsty dancing in his shirtsleeves.)

This pissed me off!  How many times does she need to be screwed over by that dude?  She should have known after the debacle with the recording session that she couldn't trust him, so I also don't feel sorry for her that she got played again.  At least Thirsty will be there for the takedown.  (And I'm still chuckling about him all up in the background getting his groove during the Nessa/Hakeem performance.  Lol!)

Hakeem still needs to learn how to read a fucking room.  Nessa has given him no indications that she is interested in him beyond literally making music together.  Does he need to see her banging Andre to get it?

Hate Jamal's new song.  It sounded way too much like a Ne-Yo track to me instead of a "Jamal Lyon" one (Ne-Yo is the show's new music producer, right?).  I'm glad it got deleted.  Looks like Andre did Jamal a favor.

[Racj82]

2 hours ago, withanaich said:

Why are they writing Becky like a dummy all of a sudden? How many times is she going to fall for Xavier's nonsense? I can't even feel bad for her at this point. I'm just waiting impatiently for her and Thirsty to shut him all the way down. (I could watch an entire episode of that, or even just Thirsty dancing in his shirtsleeves.)

Speaking of shutting it down, someone needs to tell Hakeem about himself. Like, with five fingers and a palm. I've never cared for the character, but he is being so incredibly ridiculous right now, even for him. I know Lucious encouraged his insanity to get the streaming numbers up or whatever, but it's time for him to step in and say "okay, that's enough." Because it's going to start affecting the bottom line in a bad way (and we know that's all Lucious cares about) if he can't even perform for three minutes without being a weirdo. I really wish Nessa would be more forceful with Hakeem, because he's being a real fucking creep and everybody is just acting like he's a toddler who needs a time-out. His behavior would be way out of line even if they HAD dated, but because they only sang a couple of songs together, Hakeem looks like he's really gone off the deep end. (Maybe they're working up to a full-blown stalking plot at the end of the season...?)

I'm happy to know there were Oreos in that jar. It was downright mesmerizing, but I assumed they were some kind of metal disks. Still not sure why they were arranged like that, but...

Becky is a person who is also trying to succeed in this business the hardworking way. She has been learning this whole season that she isn't going to succeed that way. Not with the Lyons. It's a arc for her character. She's not a dummy.

[pbutler111]

Why does this show bother to build Cookie up as both street smart and simply intelligent only to then have her do stupid things? She was raised well, yet, in the episode at the opera, they had her acting like a yokel because she wasn't dressed appropriately and people were acting snobby. So? Cookie should've known how to handle that. And now they have her taking a naked selfie and sending it to the phone of someone running for mayor? Dumb enough, but I like to think that, if she wanted to send him a nude selfie, Cookie would've been smart enough to send a photo from the neck down, so no one other than the intended recipient would know who it is. It just doesn't scan.

[mtlchick]

Quote

Hakeem needs to grow the hell up, but I snickered when he blocked his eyes so he couldn't see his mother naked.

I loved that with all the turmoil going on, seeing their mom naked freaked the sons out the most. "MA! NO!"

Quote

Lucious getting a perm in his office kind of gave me life.

I died.  He's raging at everyone while he's getting his hair did.

 

Meanwhile I face palmed when Becky fell for Fiddler on the Roof's (hee!) nonsense...AGAIN.  Girl, I know you're smarter than that.  And while I hate that she's going to get Thirsty's help on this, she needs to make a move now.

Andre being behind the leak is something I never would happen and yet glad that he did.  He's the one with the business sense and for the most part played it straight but has done some shady things. This?  Is a Lucious style attack.  And his father would have been proud...if it wasn't at his own expense.

[withanaich]

Quote

Becky is a person who is also trying to succeed in this business the hardworking way. She has been learning this whole season that she isn't going to succeed that way. Not with the Lyons. It's a arc for her character. She's not a dummy.

There's an expression that applies here: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Yes, Becky has always been a go-getter but A) she's been working for the Lyons long enough to know that some people lie and play dirty rather than work hard to get ahead and B) Xavier already proved that he's not trustworthy and he doesn't care about her. She knows he'll throw her under the bus in a heartbeat, yet she handed him the keys and stood right in front of it. And then, was like, surprised when he stabbed her in the back? That's not hardworking, that's dumb. Hardworking would have been handling the radio station thing herself without telling Xavier anything. 

[SimoneS]

I also liked how Cookie sitting bed declared that she loved Angelo and then looked around sheepishly. Good for her. Now she has to go get her man back. Her wardrobe was on point.

[IntrovertGal]

Man Jamal and Derek were hot, their chemistry is just amazing. I loved their romantic kiss in front of the fire. Jamal's love life is finally going into an interesting direction. Too bad they had him OD on painkillers though. Luckily, he's got two hot guys now caring for him.

And I swear if they are actually showing (or even implying) a threesome between three gay black men on network TV, my head's gonna explode.

I also loved that Cookie scene you described above, SimoneS. And yay for Angelo's little speech and stripping on live TV.

Hakeem is getting more and more ridiculous by the episode. And they turned Andre into the Big Bad? Not sure I'm liking that all too much.

[gazebo]

Yay, Thirsty is back!  I wondered where our favorite dirty lawyer had disappeared to.  He's a great unforgettable miner character.  I wonder how he will help Becky get her revenge on that cheating, thieving white boy.

Love that beautiful gold dress Cookie was wearing.  She looked unbelievably sexy like that.

I still can't get over the fact that it was Andre that masterminded that incredibly vicious hack on Empire.  Very impressive!  I think Andre just got more and more ambitious since Rhonda died.  It's like he's out for revenge.  I also don't understand why he let Nessa know that he was the one behind the hack.  I don't think he should trust her but maybe it's all part of a plan.

[mtlchick]

Quote

 Her wardrobe was on point.

Let this be the only time I use this word in my life but "YAAAS."  (ahem.)  The gold dress was stunning on her. 

[Racj82]

10 hours ago, withanaich said:

There's an expression that applies here: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Yes, Becky has always been a go-getter but A) she's been working for the Lyons long enough to know that some people lie and play dirty rather than work hard to get ahead and B) Xavier already proved that he's not trustworthy and he doesn't care about her. She knows he'll throw her under the bus in a heartbeat, yet she handed him the keys and stood right in front of it. And then, was like, surprised when he stabbed her in the back? That's not hardworking, that's dumb. Hardworking would have been handling the radio station thing herself without telling Xavier anything. 

It's always easy to sit back and watch someone screwing up and judge. Hey, we all do it. It's tv. But, Becky is a human being. Also, one of the few genuine good people on the show too. She got fooled this time because she thought she saw weakness. She knows how it feels to mess up at the job and want to fix things. She thought they really could be allies and he could be humble now. Of course, she was wrong. But, it doesn't make her a dummy. 

This also created clear character motivations. What he did before could have been chalked up to the game. It's just business. He wasn't even wrong really. Just following bosses orders. Now he's being a straight up punk and preying on what he thinks is the weak. Now I can't wait for him to get his.

[Mrs OldManBalls]

On 2016-11-16 at 10:33 PM, Gillian Rosh said:

Tonight was the first time Cookie and Angelo intrigued me. I'm now open to seeing where they go with their relationship.

Lucious getting a perm in his office kind of gave me life.

I'm really looking forward to Cookie and Angelo. 

Lucious is hilariously vain. I bet Cookie and Anika could bond over stories of his vanity. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

 I think Andre just got more and more ambitious since Rhonda died.  

I agree. It seems like killing off her character freed him in some way. Maybe she and their relationship was holding him back.

[For Cereals]

I don't know if it's the actress or the character, but Nessa just seems too nice/like able to go bad.

I still can't take Hakeem seriously.  He just looks all of 14 to me.

[jhlipton]

On November 16, 2016 at 10:02 PM, SimoneS said:

I love his romance and partnership with Nessa. She is the first dark skin black woman to be a Lyon interest and she is gorgeous.

Isn't Tiana a "dark skin black woman"?  I find her hotter than Nessa, who's a little scrawny for my taste.

[darkestboy]

Brilliant episode. Andre really is playing dirty this season but will teaming up with Nessa actually pay off for him or will she betray him for Shyne at some point in the season?

Lucious had his moments. Whether it was getting his hair down as everything was going to hell or his reaction to Cookie's nude leak, he got some good moments here.

Both Shyne and Tariq managed not to annoy in this episode but Hakeem did and I can't wait for Becky and Thirsty to take down Xavier as well.

I liked Cookie and Angelo's scenes in this episode and felt a bit bad for Tiana. Her ex-boyfriend was a nasty piece of work.

Jamal's plot took one hell of a turn this week. I liked the involvement with Derek and the counselor in it though, 8/10

[jhlipton]

2 hours ago, darkestboy said:

I ... felt a bit bad for Tiana. Her ex-boyfriend was a nasty piece of work.

Nowhere near as bad as any of the Lyons!  And that includes the baby!