Last week was the premiere of the fourth season of the hip hop soap opera Empire. It was titled, “Noble Memory” and here’s what we know so far. If you haven’t watched the premiere yet, spoilers are heading your way.
The first episode which aired on September 27 started out with a documentary of the Empire’s label 20th anniversary. However as we all know from the last season’s finale that Lucious (Terrence Howard) had an attempt to be assassinated.
Now what happens to the label when the aftermath of that event was Lucious’ memory being taken away, or they all say as amnesia. Further from forgetting everything about his self, his leg was amputated and had to deal with a new prosthetic leg.
Convenient for Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) as she becomes the one-in-charge of the label. Questions are asked about her involvement but could you really say Cookie was behind the assassination attempt? The reconfiguration of the Lyon family is vital at this season and personally I don’t think she was behind it.
Oscar and Golden Globe winner, Forest Whitaker joins the cast as Uncle Eddie, a music icon. He’s supposed to lend a hand to Lucious while he’s in recovery and he unites with Cookie to produce a song in honor of the 20th anniversary of Empire’s label.
Actress Demi Moore also joins the cast as Claudia. She plays as Lucious’ rehab nurse and is perceived as a threat by Cookie. Moore stated in an interview that she has an unorthodox approach to her rehabilitation program.
She says that she’s trying to bring back the most pure self of him which was the real innocent, untainted part of Lucious. It seems that in five months of intervention, he had already gained a conscience, a soul, and an overall sense of decency.
Rumor Willis, Moore’s daughter, has been playing as Tory Ash and with a total of four episodes from last season. Now, producers say that she’s already part of the ensemble with a big story revolving around her on the second half of the season.
“We’ve got to keep these characters moving and growing, we’ve got to keep them feeling like themselves and keep the audience feeling as if they’re on a journey with us.” ” says executive producer and showrunner Ilene Chaiken.
“At the same time, we’ve got to change the show from year to year in the way that life changes and we need to do that in the way that you have to in order to keep it fresh for both the actors and the audience,” she adds.
The focus of this new season is all about the Lyon family and their relationship. In the previous seasons, the producers and the audience felt overwhelmed by the guest stars’ storyline that they almost left out the center of the series which is the Lyon family.
This season will have a total of 18 episodes and with a crossover show with Daniel Fox’ show Star. Star’s main cast is Queen Latifah who made a brief appearance on the premiere unveiled a past connection to Lucious.
Empire airs every Wednesday at 8 P.M. on Fox.