‘Empire’ airs 100th episode tonight on Fox

(Courtesy Fox)

What does Fox’s Empire, now in its sixth and final season, have in common with NBC’s Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. have hit E.R. and even Showtime’s  Shameless? They are all scripted shows based and filmed in Chicago that have reached the milestone of 100 shows.  

The hip-hop drama, once a ratings powerhouse and pop culture phenom, launched in 2015 and was immediately embraced by audiences, both black and white. It gave viewers a fully realized, brilliantly executed over-the-top soap opera. Dare we say the best soap since Desperate Housewives, Dallas Dynasty?

But as storylines got more outrageous in later years – who can forget Lucious suddenly seeing music through colors, Hakeem knocking up Boo Boo Kitty or Chris Rock as a cannibal gangsta – the ratings began to sink. The Jussie Smollett scandal did not help as ratings plummeted further. His character was written off the New York-set show.


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Tonight on the milestone episode “We Got Us,” after witnessing Andre’s breakdown, Cookie and Lucious (Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard) have him committed to the same treatment facility as Leah (guest star Leslie Uggams) and the guilt Cookie feels from Andre’s situation causes her to wonder how different life would be if she had not gone to prison.

Meanwhile, Becky struggles with balancing her personal and professional relationships and Hakeem and Maya find themselves in a less-than-ideal situation after a drunken night in Vegas.


ALSO READ: Submit for Season 2 of Netflix’s ‘Love is Blind’ here


Empire airs Tuesday, April 7 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The series finale airs April 21.

Colin Costello is the West Coast Editor of Reel 360. Contact him at colin@reel360.com or follow him on Twitter at @colinthewriter1