So, what was that all about? The show has been all over the place lately. The season premiere featured Cookie giving a speech about the so-called justice system while wearing a gorilla suit, a stream of pointless cameos and Chris Rock as the least convincing cannibal kingpin around. Last week’s episode was surprisingly fresh and…

Warning: This episode, “Without a Country,” may cause mental confusion. Did Cookie’s outfits border on tasteful? I initially chalked it up to Empire Stockholm syndrome. She’s no FLOTUS, but considering her usual getups, Cookie’s business attire was practically sedate. During Hakeem’s auditions for a new girl group, the wannabes showed up in acid-washed daisy dukes…

Last season, Lucious gave us a taste of what was to come when, in the final scene, he turned to the camera and menacingly notified us, “Game on, bitches.” Well, the game’s afoot, everyone is scrambling for control and Lucious is still winning. Cookie unleashes the beast. It’s three months after Lucious’ arrest for Bunkie’s…

Cookie, Lucious and the Lyon sons are back Wednesday when Empire returns to Fox for a second season. The show, which is so big everyone is trying to claim credit for it, kept making ratings history week after week last season, including the finale, which set a record with 16.7 million total viewers. No wonder…

Netflix released all 13 episodes of the third season of Orange Is the New Black last week, so you’re all caught up now, right? Season 3 played with our emotions. There was intense drama—including a suicide attempt, a hate crime and heartbreaking visits to the SHU—but OITNB also delivered inspired comedy. You can thank a…

Elaine G. Flores is a New York writer, editor and bon vivant. She’s a hard-core shipper and excommunicated soap opera reviewer. Her fictional dinner-party guests include Omar Little, Buffy Summers, Abigail Mills and Ichabod Crane. You can visit her site, TV Recappers Delight.

The big four broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox—made their “upfront” presentations last week to announce their fall prime-time lineups, as well as 2016 midseason replacements, which usually begin airing between January and March. Although Fox’s megahit Empire arrived a little late in the season to have a huge effect on the upcoming season’s new…

Craig Jones was fired—on his day off—and spent the next day with pothead Smokey in the 1995 film Friday. The movie cost $3.5 million, grossed $28,215,918 and spawned two sequels—and a third is reportedly in development. The “director’s cut” of the original gets a one-night-only re-release on April 20. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of…

Fox’s megahit Empire brought its first season to a close last night with a two-part finale. It’s no secret that the series has stirred up controversy, inspired fierce devotion, garnered record-breaking ratings and changed the face of television. The show has made an impact in other ways, too: In just one short season, the Lyons…

It’s the dramatic two-hour finale of Empire, with appearances by Patti LaBelle, Rita Ora, Snoop Dogg and Juicy J. Actually, it’s a one-hour finale filled with an extra 60 minutes of flashbacks and filler. Take a drink whenever you see Lucious’ do-rag, Bunkie’s shooting or the infamous trash-can scene. Let’s go. One week away from…