The first season of FOX’s modern-day “King Lear” story Empire was a smash hit when it premiered earlier this year—with unprecedented gains in viewers week after week. Empire Entertainment CEO Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) is a real rags-to-riches story—a man who turned his life around, going from drug dealer to singer to hip hop music mogul.

Lucious discovers he has ALS just as he’s in the process of taking his company public. So he needs to groom one of his three sons to be his successor. Eldest Andre (Trai Byers) seems like the most logical choice—a business school graduate who married school sweetheart Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday), but he doesn’t have the musical talents of his brothers. Middle child Jamal (Jussie Smollett) is an extremely talented singer-songwriter, but homophobic Lucious has never made his dislike of and disappointment in his closeted son a secret. Youngest Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) is Lucious’ favorite—he’s a talented hip hop star on the rise, but he’s a wild child whose partying and unpredictable behavior leads to constant PR nightmares. To make matters more complicated, Lucious soon finds the sins of his past coming back to haunt him—the biggest of which is ex-wife Cookie (Taraji P. Henson), who spent the past 17 years in prison for dealing drugs, and is now out and looking for her share of the family business she help built.

It’s easy to see why this show has become such a huge hit. It’s a fun throwback to the big 1980s primetime soaps like Dynasty, with a modern setting, interesting characters and lots of excellent original music. The sometimes over-the-top/campy storylines (in a good way) are filled with murder, sex, secrets, power-plays and drama. There are lots of big plot twists and turns throughout the season—each episode ends with some big reveal or cliffhanger. The show’s short season really helps it from going off the rails or resorting to filler episodes. While I watched the series when it originally aired, I found the show just as entertaining during my second viewing on this Blu-ray.

The characters all have many layers—just when you think you have them figured out, some new secret or aspect of their personalities is revealed. Lucious Lyon is a really interesting character—while he portrays this rich, businessman persona to the public, behind closed doors he is a more rough and tough and often falls back to the survival tactics he learned early on from the streets. Cookie is easily the fan favorite—she has a big persona in every way. Cookie walks around in furs and an attitude and says anything and everything that’s on her mind, no matter what the consequences. She is constantly finding ways to manipulate situations and people to her own advantage. Despite their constant fighting, you really get a sense of the love Cookie and Lucious had (and may still have) for one another. I also really enjoyed the relationship between brothers Hakeem and Jamal. With Hakeem being managed by Lucious and Jamal being managed by Cookie, the two are constantly being pitted against one another. However, they still maintain a wonderfully supportive and collaborative relationship with one another.

In the first season, the series brings on some amazing recurring cast and guest stars, such as Jennifer Hudson, Courtney Love, Raven-Symoné, Gabourey Sidibe, Naomi Campbell, Mary J. Blige, Judd Nelson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tasha Smith, Malik Yoba, Eka Darville and Derek Luke. And musicians Gladys Knight, Anthony Hamilton, Sway Calloway, Snoop Dogg, Rita Ora, Juicy J, Patti LaBelle and Charles Hamilton also make appearances as themselves.

The first season features a lot of excellent original songs that are well-integrated into episodes. The music feels like an organic part of the story rather than just a ploy to add an extra revenue stream to the series. Some of these songs will definitely be stuck in your head days and weeks after watching the episodes!

The Blu-ray presentation is top notch, with a beautiful, detailed picture that shows no signs of grain or distortion. The audio track utilizes of all of the audio channels to make the amazing musical performances come alive, while also keeping all of the dialogue clear. The bonus features are a bit light—I’m not sure if FOX is holding back some items for the “Gold Record Edition” of the Blu-ray that will be released in November. This release just includes an audio commentary on the pilot, two 9-minute behind-the-scenes featurettes, and access to the unedited musical performances from the season (without all the interruptions for dialogue or cut-scenes). The discs also offer a Season Play mode, which will keep track of where you left off as you watch through the season, and will prompt you for the correct disc whenever you want to resume.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (8:48:49)

• All 12 Episodes of the first season:
  “Pilot”, “The Outspoken King”, “The Devil Quotes Scripture”, “False Imposition”, “Dangerous Bonds”, “Out, Damned Spot”, “Our Dancing Days”, “The Lyon’s Roar”, “Unto the Breach”, “Sins of the Father”, “Die But Once”, “Who I Am”
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD-MA 5.1, Spanish Surround Dolby Digital 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French (Canadian)

Extras:

• Commentary on the “Pilot” (46:37)
  Stars Terrence Howard (“Lucious Lyon”) and Taraji P. Henson (“Cookie Lyon”), director/co-creator Lee Daniels, co-creator/writer/executive producer Danny Strong, showrunner Ilene Chaiken and executive producer Brian Grazer provide a running commentary on the pilot episode. They talk about the characters and premise, the casting, point out their favorite moments, and provided some interesting behind-the-scenes stories and production. Overall, I found this commentary a little disappointing—Lee Daniels is constantly monopolizing the conversion, breaking in to talk about art and fashion, and the hair and clothes the characters are wearing in different scenes.
• Uncut Music Performances:
  Each disc contains the uncut music performances for the episodes contained on that disc. These sound phenomenal with the disc’s DTS Master Audio soundrack. There is a Play All option on each disc.
  • “Good Enough” – Jussie Smollett (“Jamal Lyon”) (3:59)
  • “No Apologies” – Jussie Smollett (3:03)
  • “Tell the Truth” – Jussie Smollett (4:07)
  • “Keep it Movin'” – Byshere Y. Gray (“Hakeem Lyon”) and Serayah McNeill (“Tiana”) (3:20)
  • “Drip Drop” [DIRTY]” – Byshere Y. Gray feat. Serayah McNeill (2:39)
  • “I Wanna Love You” –Jussie Smollett (1:38)
  • “You’re So Beautiful” – Jussie Smollett) (4:04)
  • “You’re So Beautiful” (Ensemble Version) – Estelle, Terrence Howard (“Lucious Lyon”), Taraji P. Henson (“Cookie Lyon”), Jussie Smollett, Byshere Y. Gray feat. Serayah McNeill (2:09)
  • “Nothing to Lose” – Jussie Smollett (3:29)
  • “For My God” – Jennifer Hudson (“Michelle”) (2:56)
  • “Whatever Makes You Happy” (feat. Jennifer Hudson & Juicy J) (2:59)
• Video Medleys:
  Songs from the series are played over a montage of scenes from the season.
  • “What is Love” – feat. Veronika Bozeman (2:54)
  • “Power of The Empire” – Byshere Y. Gray (2:21)
  • “Come Away With Me” – Jussie Smollett (2:46)
• Empire:  It’s in the Music (9:17)
  The cast and creators of the series talk about the use of music on the series, working with Timbaland, and writing songs for the series. Includes interviews with creators/executive producers Danny Strong & Lee Daniels, co-executive producer Sanaa Hamri, executive producer Brian Graze, executive music producer Timbaland, songwriter/music producer Jim Beanz, and stars Taraji P. Henson (“Cookie Lyon”), Byshere Y. Gray (“Hakeem Lyon”) and Jussie Smollett (“Jamal Lyon”).
• The Empire of Style (8:26)
  The cast and creators of the series talk about the fashion and style portrayed on the show, how the series tries to set the trends and each character’s unique sense of style. Includes interviews with creators/executive producers Danny Strong & Lee Daniels, executive producer Brian Graze, co-executive producer Sanaa Hamri, executive music producer Timbaland, fashion/music consultant Monique Mosley, and stars Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Byshere Y. Gray, Trai Byers and Jussie Smollett.

Final Thoughts:

It’s easy to see why the inaugural season of Empire was a smash hit in the ratings. The series is a wild, fun ride with interesting characters, excellent original music, and lots of unexpected twists and turns. The Blu-ray presentation is top notch, but the bonus features are a bit lacking. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will be releasing a “Gold Record Edition” of the season in November, and die hard fans may wish to wait for that version. However, I highly recommend either version based on the quality of the series alone.