- Awards
- 27
The next three episodes...
The kidnap episode plays out in that standard B-movie quality that we've seen in countless other movies and tv series, but you only know after the episode has finished so there's still enough suspense.
Considering that in one of the previous episodes Lucious-as-Dwight had confused Cookie with Claudia (or vice versa), the physical confrontation between Cookie and Claudia feels very two Krystles in the attic.
There's another problem that continues in this setting. Lucious has regained his memory but the more violent part of him is still missing, and it aggravates Cookie.
"Who are we, Lucious?" she asks him.
But that's also my question. Who are you when you prefer your husband to be a ruthless, murderous bastard?
I think she's holding to their hustling days history, something special that no-one can take away from them. Then there's also the disagreement regarding who-chose-who, which is kinda similar to Mis Texas 1967 and future oil empire heir JR Ewing.
Either way, it's an interesting ongoing theme of black Americans who are living the American Dream (well, sort of) but at the same time they can't shake off their past.
Interestingly, most of that conflict comes from the characters themselves rather than the outside world, therefore the question "Who are we?" translates into: is it because we can't forget or because we don't want to forget?
Chained to the table and at gunpoint, Cookie and Lucious are having one of their dramatic confrontations, thus upstaging Claudia's kidnap drama.
It's exactly the kind of thing you would expect from the CW Carringtons, except that Fallon would complain about her hair or make-up for comedy value.
The bewildered look on Claudia's face is more unintentionally funny, and I even considered the idea that the Lyons were playing their argument to distract her.
But no, not even then. They're always raw and real, whether or not it suits the situation.
Incidentally, the upstanding Greenleafs from GREENLEAF, pillars of the community, are much more a traditional 1980s soap family since they're trying hard to ignore the sins from the past.
Cookie's jail time flashbacks are becoming more detailed in this season, and in essence there's no reason why they shouldn't make use of it.
It mostly functions as a double narrative to tackle a present-day problem, but I don't always see the relevance. On top of that, the two Cookies look like completely different persons, which makes for a rather clunky and hokey transition between these scenes.
By contrast, the young Lucious and young Cookie flashbacks have proved to be very effective, and sometimes I can still see these younger versions in the older Lucious and Cookie. And then that whole f**ked up chemistry makes perfect sense to me.
Back home, Cookie suffers from a minor dizzy spell. Alarm in SoapLand! because this always means something.
Some time later she's having a heart attack, and that this should happen so soon after their kidnap ordeal reveals the inherently trashy nature of soap opera.
Oh well, I got a good chuckle out of it. The Terrible Disney Sisters are looking after "Loretha", resulting in all the typical shenanigans and arguments. But I like Carol and Candace so it's all good.
André confesses to the bombing and storywise it's almost as devastating as Julia's confession in FALCON CREST.
I couldn't help but thinking, how is this ever going to be right again, how are they going to "forget" this?
There is blood on Lucious and Cookie's hands, but a sneaky car bomb is little too James Bond for their liking.
However, another plotline paves the way for André's return.
Eddie Barker, recruited by Cookie while Lucious was doing his "Dwight thang", has fallen victim to a ponzi scheme, and his ex-wives don't like it at all.
He plans to use Empire Entertainment to get his fortune back by means of an underhanded deal with a Silicon Valley kingpin. This is good, I like corporate intrigue.
But I didn't understand how the initial deal with Silicon Valley suddenly became a total sell out of Empire Records. Or how he managed to do that or how he thought he could get away with it.
Maybe the next episodes will explain it in more detail.
Becky is pregnant by J. Poppa! Sometimes he reminds me of Kermit the Frog.
There's a lovely Karen & Valene-style scene between Becky and Porsha. Porsha tries to get the truth out of Becky, but Becky is more concerned about washing her hands.
Then she's having more pregnancy talks with other characters but surprisingly enough it never becomes a repetitive subject. She decides to abort, or so it seems when she walks into the operation room...
There's an eerie sense of foreboding when Jamal needs to salvage his reputation after the shooting incident leading to the death of Angelo DuBois.
Tiana provides most of the music in these episodes because everybody else is kidnapped, insane, in court or dead.
Eddie Barker offers her a mega deal but that means she can't have any distractions. She needs to live for her work, and it's then when Hakeem decides to propose.
Poor kids, such an unfortunate timing.
The kidnap episode plays out in that standard B-movie quality that we've seen in countless other movies and tv series, but you only know after the episode has finished so there's still enough suspense.
Considering that in one of the previous episodes Lucious-as-Dwight had confused Cookie with Claudia (or vice versa), the physical confrontation between Cookie and Claudia feels very two Krystles in the attic.
There's another problem that continues in this setting. Lucious has regained his memory but the more violent part of him is still missing, and it aggravates Cookie.
"Who are we, Lucious?" she asks him.
But that's also my question. Who are you when you prefer your husband to be a ruthless, murderous bastard?
I think she's holding to their hustling days history, something special that no-one can take away from them. Then there's also the disagreement regarding who-chose-who, which is kinda similar to Mis Texas 1967 and future oil empire heir JR Ewing.
Either way, it's an interesting ongoing theme of black Americans who are living the American Dream (well, sort of) but at the same time they can't shake off their past.
Interestingly, most of that conflict comes from the characters themselves rather than the outside world, therefore the question "Who are we?" translates into: is it because we can't forget or because we don't want to forget?
Chained to the table and at gunpoint, Cookie and Lucious are having one of their dramatic confrontations, thus upstaging Claudia's kidnap drama.
It's exactly the kind of thing you would expect from the CW Carringtons, except that Fallon would complain about her hair or make-up for comedy value.
The bewildered look on Claudia's face is more unintentionally funny, and I even considered the idea that the Lyons were playing their argument to distract her.
But no, not even then. They're always raw and real, whether or not it suits the situation.
Incidentally, the upstanding Greenleafs from GREENLEAF, pillars of the community, are much more a traditional 1980s soap family since they're trying hard to ignore the sins from the past.
Cookie's jail time flashbacks are becoming more detailed in this season, and in essence there's no reason why they shouldn't make use of it.
It mostly functions as a double narrative to tackle a present-day problem, but I don't always see the relevance. On top of that, the two Cookies look like completely different persons, which makes for a rather clunky and hokey transition between these scenes.
By contrast, the young Lucious and young Cookie flashbacks have proved to be very effective, and sometimes I can still see these younger versions in the older Lucious and Cookie. And then that whole f**ked up chemistry makes perfect sense to me.
Back home, Cookie suffers from a minor dizzy spell. Alarm in SoapLand! because this always means something.
Some time later she's having a heart attack, and that this should happen so soon after their kidnap ordeal reveals the inherently trashy nature of soap opera.
Oh well, I got a good chuckle out of it. The Terrible Disney Sisters are looking after "Loretha", resulting in all the typical shenanigans and arguments. But I like Carol and Candace so it's all good.
André confesses to the bombing and storywise it's almost as devastating as Julia's confession in FALCON CREST.
I couldn't help but thinking, how is this ever going to be right again, how are they going to "forget" this?
There is blood on Lucious and Cookie's hands, but a sneaky car bomb is little too James Bond for their liking.
However, another plotline paves the way for André's return.
Eddie Barker, recruited by Cookie while Lucious was doing his "Dwight thang", has fallen victim to a ponzi scheme, and his ex-wives don't like it at all.
He plans to use Empire Entertainment to get his fortune back by means of an underhanded deal with a Silicon Valley kingpin. This is good, I like corporate intrigue.
But I didn't understand how the initial deal with Silicon Valley suddenly became a total sell out of Empire Records. Or how he managed to do that or how he thought he could get away with it.
Maybe the next episodes will explain it in more detail.
Becky is pregnant by J. Poppa! Sometimes he reminds me of Kermit the Frog.
There's a lovely Karen & Valene-style scene between Becky and Porsha. Porsha tries to get the truth out of Becky, but Becky is more concerned about washing her hands.
Then she's having more pregnancy talks with other characters but surprisingly enough it never becomes a repetitive subject. She decides to abort, or so it seems when she walks into the operation room...
There's an eerie sense of foreboding when Jamal needs to salvage his reputation after the shooting incident leading to the death of Angelo DuBois.
Tiana provides most of the music in these episodes because everybody else is kidnapped, insane, in court or dead.
Eddie Barker offers her a mega deal but that means she can't have any distractions. She needs to live for her work, and it's then when Hakeem decides to propose.
Poor kids, such an unfortunate timing.
