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DVD Review: EMPIRE Season 2

Sep 24, 2016 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The second season of FOX’s smash hit series Empire picks up three months after the events of the first season. Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) has been arrested for murder, and is being held in prison without bail. Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) throws an elaborate “Free Lucious” concert—primarily as a promotional vehicle for Empire, and not because she actually wants to see her ex-husband released. Lucious had put son Jamal (Jussie Smollett) in charge of the company while he’s in prison, but Cookie has her own ideas. She conspires with sons Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) and Andre (Trai Byers), and venture capitalist Mimi Whiteman (Marisa Tomei) to stage a hostile takeover and kick Lucious out of Empire. However, the plan backfires when Mimi reveals she’s in cahoots with Lucious. So Cookie decides to start her own label, Lyon Dynasty, with Andre and Hakeem.

Much of the second season becomes a battle of the labels, and the struggle for control of Empire as allegiances constantly shift. The second season is filled with more soapy twists and turns—including affairs, scandals, pregnancies, abductions, and murders (both attempted and successful). And while all of this is going on, there are some excellent original music performances. Some of the other storylines this season involve Hakeem assembling/managing a girl band (called Mirage à Trois), Lucious recording music in prison, Lucian and Jamal competing for a music award, Empire getting into music streaming, and the surprise return of someone from Lucious’ past. Plus, there always seems to be someone in the Lyon family at odds with another family member.

This season Gabourey Sidibe (“Becky Williams”), Ta’Rhonda Jones (“Porsha Taylor”) and Serayah (“Tiana Brown”) all get bumped up to the main cast. Plus there are some interesting new recurring characters including FBI Agent Tariq Cousins (Morocco Omari), who has an interesting connection to Lucious; Lucious’ rival Shyne Johnson (Xzibit); female rapper Freda Gatz (Bre-Z), who’s like a surrogate daughter to Lucous; fashion designer Camilla Marks-Whiteman (Naomi Campbell), who stirs up some controversy; concert promoter Laz Delgado (Adam Rodríguez); Laura Calleros (Jamila Velazquez), the lead singer of Hakeem’s girl group; and Leah Walker (Leslie Uggams), a family member of Lucious’ who was assumed dead. And the list of amazing guest stars includes Chris Rock, Ludacris, Petey Pablo, Becky G, Alicia Keys, Vivica A. Fox, Da Brat, Rosie O’Donnell, Kelly Rowland and Tobias Truvillion.

It’s easy to see why this series is so popular—as I started re-watching the second season on this DVD release, I was immediately sucked back into the show. Each episode ends in a way that makes you want to immediately see what happens next—and these DVDs are so convenient for binging! The second season is very solid and leads to a really exciting cliffhanger! The good news is that the third season is already upon us, so you don’t have to wait long to discover what happens next.

While Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment gave the first season of Empire both regular and special edition releases on Blu-ray, this time around the season is only available on DVD. While I’m disappointed that there is no HD release (I’m a strong believer that shows airs in HD should get HD releases), the DVD presentation looks and sounds fantastic. The picture looks crisp and clear with vivid colors, and the audio track provides clear dialogue, and the musical performances sound superb. The discs contain about 45 minutes of bonus material, including 4 uncut musical performances, a music video, and some behind-the-scenes looks at the USO Tour with the cast, the studio recording sessions, and the design of the sets.



What’s Included:
Episodes: (10:14:11)

  • All 18 episodes of the second season:
    Disc 1: “The Devils Are Here”, “Without a Country”, “Fires of Heaven” (2:11:51)
    Disc 2: “Poor Yorick”, “Be True”, “A High Hope for a Low Heaven”, “True Love Never” (2:55:56)
    Disc 3: “My Bad Parts”, “Sinned Against”, “Et Tu, Brute?”, “Death Will Have His Day” (2:54:23)
    Disc 4: “A Rose by Any Other Name”, “The Tameness of a Wolf”, “Time Shall Unfold”, “More Than Kin” (2:54:47)
    Disc 5: “The Lyon Who Cried Wolf”, “Rise by Sin”, “Past Is Prologue” (2:12:01)
  • 480p / Widescreen 1.78:1
  • Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Surround Dolby Digital 2.0
  • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
  • Closed Captioned

Extras:

  • Uncut Music Performances: (11:21)
    These four uncut musical performances appear on discs 2 and 3. The second disc includes a Play All option (9:33) for the final 3 songs.

    • “Runnin’” (2:31)
    • “You Broke Love” (4:06)
    • “Heavy” (3:03)
    • “Miracles” (1:48)
  • Empire Around the Globe: USO Tour (18:44)
    A look at the journey taken by stars Taraji P. Henson (“Cookie Lyon”), Bryshere Grey (“Hakeem Lyon”) and Jussie Smollett (“Jamal Lyon”) as they traveled on a USO tour to Japan in December 2015 to visit U.S. service members and their families, and see the people of Tokyo. Includes performance footage, interviews and lots of meet-and-greets.
  • Studio Sessions (8:17)
    Head into the recording studio with music producer Ne-Yo, Jussie Smollett & Serayah as they record the songs and give their thoughts on the show’s original music. Play All or select from:

    • “Heavy” (1:46)
    • “Never Love Again” (1:48)
    • “Born to Lose” (1:00)
    • “Do Something With It” (1:20)
    • “Sorry Just Don’t Cut It” (1:31)
    • “Supernatural” (1:17)
  • Freda Gatz Music Video (1:27)
    Music video for “Same Song”
  • The Look of Empire (6:15)
    Production designer Cece Destefano and set decorator Caroline Perzan discuss designing the show’s sets, recreating the locations from the pilot on stage, and give tips on how to achieve the same asthetics on your own.

    • How to Recreate Club Leviticus (1:31)
    • How to Recreate Lucious’ Office (1:47)
    • How to Recreate Lucious’ Living Room (1:36)
    • Discovering the Art on Empire (1:37)

 


Final Thoughts:

My Rating
Episodes:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Recommended

In its second season Empire continues to be a fast-paced, soapy drama with lots of fun twists and turns. The second season introduces some interesting new characters and big plot developments, along with some excellent original music. The DVD looks and sounds great, and the discs contain a nice collection of bonus material. If you’re looking for a great binge, this DVD release is perfect! Fans of the series will definitely want to pick this up, and it’s also worth checking out for newcomers to the series, though I’d recommend watching the first season first.