Tuesday, May 16, 2017

My Review of Empire's 3x16: "Absent Child"


Written by Attica Locke & Malcolm Spellman
Directed by Millicent Shelton

Diana (to Angelo, re Bella): "They ruined one of mine so I took one of theirs."

Well, I guess that rules out my theory about Andre being the one to snatch Bella. I guess that's a good thing, even though we had that really tense scene where he physically attacked Anika and revelled in her suffering over Bella being taken off her.

Much as I hate Anika as a character and want her to suffer over what she did to Rhonda, even I have to feel bad for her and Hakeem over the Bella situation. Oh well, at least this episode didn't waste too much time in revealing that Diana actually was responsible as she showed her hand to Angelo at the end of this one when Bella was in her possession.

As revenge schemes go, it's definitely taking things way too far but this war between the Lyons and the DuBois has definitely escalated. Cookie even got Shyne and his men to beat Angelo for information, even though he was unaware of his mother's misdeed during that particular scene. With the two part finale coming this week, I think Diana is going to regret going after the Lyons through Bella though.

Speaking of the Lyons though, the in fighting didn't really stop enough for them to get their shit together over getting Bella back. Andre kept backbiting when Cookie was trying to cook up a deal for the When Lucious Met Cookie album while Lucious and Jamal did clash a little over the mix for a song for the Inferno album.

However while Andre and Cookie still clashed and the latter delivered one hell of a smack down on Nessa (who then turned on Andre), at least Jamal and Lucious managed to sort out their differences and come together with a better version of the song they had been fighting about. I guess for that bit though we had Leah to thank for. She thinks there's an angel in Jamal, so I guess she's spot on there.

- Giuliana continues to be in the way of an inevitable of Cookie/Lucious reunion and it's like she's aware of it too.
- No Tiana and Becky this week.
- Standout music: Hakeem's Elevated and Jamal and Fetty Wap's The Father, The Sun.
- Chronology: Not long from where Civil Hands Unclean left off.

Absent Child is another strong episode and it certainly had it's moments. The feud with the Lyons and the DuBois has certainly gotten nasty and I can't wait to see how it unfolds in the last two episodes, especially with Bella caught in the mix.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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