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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
49
Mixed:
12
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews
Jan 5, 2015
Season 1 Review:
There’s something soapy and delicious about Empire.... But it’s a double-edged sword: Empire will either continue to be fun and splashy, while staying grounded and engaging, or it will flame out as so many primetime sudsers have before it, becoming too ridiculous for its own good.
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Jan 7, 2015
Season 1 Review:
The series hits the ground running, letting the viewer fill in the narrative gaps. In other words, Empire is that rare nighttime soap opera that credits its audience with understanding without a lot of tiresome explanation, and whose purpose is to entertain, to surprise, and to confuse.
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Sep 23, 2015
Season 2 Review:
With the wattage of star-power turned so far up in the first episode alone (read: a lot of cameos we can’t tell you about) the struggle for control of Empire can fuel the plot further, but it’s Cookie’s steady stream of hilarious one-liners and the show’s character transformations--if they happen at all--that could add nuance and depth to the show.
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Sep 21, 2015
Season 2 Review:
There is certainly cause for some wariness that an already bursting-at-the-seams drama has become stretched even more haggis-tight, but the three episodes made available to critics remain above the guilty-pleasure fray, with catchy new songs, wacky diamond-encrusted, fur-lined hijinks and, of course, Cookie.
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TV Guide MagazineJan 12, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Doesn't really matter if hip-hop is your musical genre of choice, because the beat the deliciously entertaining Empire grooves to echoes the more traditional and timeless rhythms of grand soap operas. [5-18 Jan 2015, p.16]
TV Guide MagazineSep 24, 2015
Season 2 Review:
Even the bits that backfire--like the ridiculous stunt casting of Chris Rock as a supposedly menacing prison drug lord00rarely diminish the glee with which we ride along on each hairpin curve. [28 Sep - 11 Oct 2015, p.16]
Sep 22, 2015
Season 2 Review:
Empire’s one and only problem remains the ethical hollowness of its characters--even the “good” ones are prone to cruelty. Co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong and their crew either can’t locate or do not wish to introduce an underlying moral tone to this story. That’s part of what makes it so rich and watchable, but it also leaves viewers used and abused.
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Jan 8, 2015
Season 1 Review:
It remains to be seen if the strength of the performances from the rest of the cast (which includes another Academy Award nominee, Gabourey Sidibe--it might be hard to find work as a black actor, hm?) will balance out the show’s pulpy premise.... Empire is notable for doing something different, in a landscape populated by dramas of an entirely different stripe. For that, and that alone, it’s worth checking out.
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Jan 7, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Empire isn't a subtle show, nor does it pretend to be: Characters say things like, "I'm here to get what's mine" and "Music saved my life." But amid all the prime-time soap-opera posturing, there are moments that feel like something more, as Lucious and Cookie catch up, or Jamal and Hakeem collaborate.
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Jan 5, 2015
Season 1 Review:
If Lucious and Cookie and Jamal’s dynamics seem unique and complex, other parts of the show are messy and flat.... Generally speaking, the arc of the soap opera is long, and it bends toward insanity. But, one episode in, Empire feels insane in exactly the right measure.
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Sep 25, 2015
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