Empire’s third season continues with “My Naked Villainy” which is the thirteen episode of this year's cycle. I am still not impressed: this episode is not that boring or terrible, but it really lacks something. Let’s go into detail.
Lucious is still sick and he is not getting better and he is being treated in his house. While his father’s condition worsens, Andre tries to convince Giuliana and Empire’s board to get the Vegas expansion. Jamal is trying to push ahead his new single that is focused on the early stage of Cookie and Lucious relationship. This creates some problems to Cookie: she starts to remember all her memories with her ex-husband and how strong her bond with Jamal’s father is.
In the meanwhile, we have Anika praying Cookie to take care of Bella in case she goes missing. Angelo wins his primary but Lucious gets the spotlight with a voice-only performance of “You’re so Beautiful”.
I have to admit that I am still rooting for Cookie and Lucious. He is a bastard, heartless man, but there is such a strong chemistry between these two that it’s impossible to picture Cookie with anyone else. So I enjoyed that the writers tried to converge more storylines in this specific layer of the story.
I still believe that Hakeem is the less interesting character on the show and I am still waiting for Andre to shine. He wanted to kill his father, but I am worried that he will end up at the same starting point of season 1 and 2. I’m also wondering about Anika’s future in the show: she is becoming a character without a proper role in the story. What will she be up next? I liked her confrontation with Cookie, but it seems a bit pointless.
To summarize, “My Naked Villainy” is still an entertaining hour of television, but I miss the spark that Empire’s early seasons had. I am still enjoying the show, but it’s clearly far from the creative ground where it started.
What do you think of “My Naked Villainy”?
