Psst, Don’t Buy Empire’s Cookie Lyon a Rose

FOX’s hip-hop soap opera, Empire, brought the drama, intrigue, and humor, it also sparked a revolution.

Lots of shows aren’t filmed in the city in which they are set. Vancouver and Georgia are popular substitutes. It may not always be convincing, but Empire, which films in Chicago, may be the most egregious when it comes to not even trying to look like it’s in New York, but that’s not the only giveaway. In the latest episode, “True Love Never,” there were four glaring moments that made me wonder if the crew has ever stepped foot in Gotham.

If there is one woman who knows how to get stuff done and keep it moving it’s Empire’s Cookie Lyon. The entrepreneur, mother and fashion icon reflects on her year since she got sprung from prison. She sat down with TVRD to reflect on her whirlwind year.

Can Tajari P. Henson, please stop being so compelling as Cookie. She’s making it quite demanding to pay attention to the rest of the show. There was a drive-by shooting, but Cookie wasn’t in the scene so it didn’t reach DEFCON levels.

I don’t know how many times folks have to be told not to let Empire’s Cookie get her hands on a rose. Drama always ensues. Next time, try orchids.

Aside from unfortunate twerking or whatever she was supposed to do to appeal to investor Mimi Whiteman and some off-screen sapphic action—which Mimi says was subpar—Miss Kitty got nothing to do. She finally has a story and was up to her old antics last night.