First family of music — on TV — is back
Fox drama returns after 3-month midseason hiatus
It’s been several long months since we last saw the Lyon family at the center of Fox’s hit hip-hop family soap opera “Empire.”
The midseason finale in December saw Lucious (Terrence Howard) losing control of his company to son Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray).
And who could forget that crazy fall Rhonda (Kaitlyn Doubleday) suffered down that flight of stairs?
While “Empire’s” ratings haven’t been as impressive as they were in its debut season — when viewership grew week to week until hitting an alltime high of 16.7 million for its season finale — the filmed-in-Chicago drama remains a high note for Fox.
“Empire” headed into its threemonth hiatus with some power, averaging 11.2 million total viewers and nabbing a 4.4 rating among the advertiserfavored demographic of adults ages 18 to 49 with its midseason finale, and that’s not even factoring-in delayed viewing over seven days.
And industry watchers will no doubt keep watch on how “Empire” fares in the ratings with its second leg of its sophomore season, which kicked off Wednesday.
We spoke to “Empire” executive producer and showrunner Ilene Chaiken about how Season 2 is shaking out. The following is an edited transcript of our conversation.
Q. How would you describe the second half of the season?
A. The second half of the season is really about the family coming back together. I think that’s the big headline: The Lyons family comes back together initially to vanquish their enemies, to take their company back while always and forever competing with one another for all the same things. So, there are shifting allegiances in the context of all that, but it’s very much about the love and the treachery among these wild and crazy people.
Q. What were some of the narrative arc concerns you had this season?
A. We’ve started a couple of stories that we’ve been looking forward to playing through. The story of Lucius losing his company and coming back hard and reconnecting with his gangster past in the course of that has been a big story for us and the repercussions that it has on his children and on Cookie. The way that Cookie and Lucius reconnect in the course of that is one of the loveliest and most exciting things to me.
Q. Was there a story line in the first half of the season that drew a lot of debate in the writers room? A. Every single arc and story draws a lot of debate in the room. But certainly the Anika story line — where we were going with Anika, how far we were going with her, and whether or not she is indeed the person who pushed Rhonda. And I would not ask anybody to assume that . . . In the latter half of the season, I think audiences will come to see that Anika’s behavior, although it might have gone a little far, was all in some ways justifiable and motivated by how badly she was treated by the Lyons.
Q. Hakeem is the head of Empire Entertainment now that Camilla has taken over. This can’t last long. How is this going to affect the future of Lyon Dynasty?
A. Hakeem is going to have some big choices to make. He made an impetuous move, he made a power grab that miraculously worked. But it’s not clear that he’s ready for it and he’s going to have to choose between power and family and that’s going to be a tough choice for Hakeem.
Q. One of last season’s most talked about moments was the fight between Anika and Cookie.
A. There will certainly be more conflicts on “Empire,” physical and psychological. I don’t like to call them catfights, even though sometimes the women do fight in that way. I like to think our women are every bit as able as men and that their martial skills compare and compete.
Q. How detailed do you get in the script when writing those scenes?
A. Sometimes we get very detailed. I’ve learned over the years that those scenes really emerge on set and the actors have a lot to do with them, and the directors, and the stunt coordinators. I prefer not to say, “then she pulled her ear,” because it never happens that way. You spend all your energy as a writer writing and imagining the moments and then the actor will say, “I’m not pulling her ear.”
Q. The show definitely knows how to get heads turning with its guest spots. This season saw Alicia Keys, Rosie O’Donnell and Vivica Fox. Any exciting ones for the second half? Will we finally see Oprah stroll through?
A. I don’t know when we’re going to get Oprah. But the last half of the season is much more about the family. Frankly, we’re not having as many guest stars. We’re concentrating on telling our stories.