In JTBC’s tradition of a gritty revenge story featuring a dysfunctional family, The Empire utilizes the legal world for which members of an elite family move.
Hints of infidelity and internal family conflict spice up the opening chapters of this new series. However, a lot more variance in the genre-specific narrative of The Empire is utterly needed to make up for its mediocre opening.
abbyinhallyuland watches The Empire on Viu
Opening Week Rating:
PRESS CONFERENCE: “The Empire” Takes An Interesting Look At A Family Monopolizing Legal Power
The Empire Opening Week Story
Prosecutor Han Hye-ryul has a powerful career and family. Ostensibly, she appears like she has it all. Little did she know that her husband who is a popular law professor is having an affair with his student behind her back.
In her current case, she valiantly investigates a chaebol CEO who is married to her younger sister. Albeit the request of the Chief Prosecutor to give leeway to the chaebol group in question by virtue of their family connection, Hye-ryul remains committed to bringing out the truth.
The Empire Opening Week Musings
Unfortunately, nothing much happened in the first two episodes of The Empire except the elaborate introduction of the family who prays together and hopefully stays together as they face looming trouble.
Sticking to the initial story sketch revealed, the series is shaping up to see a showdown among the warring Han sisters. How Hye-ryul survives the trump card that will be used against him which involves his unfaithful husband will be one of the watching points of this series.
Hopefully, the story is just on a slow start and will pick up its pace and relevance in the subsequent episodes because nothing striking was presented so far in the launch week. Truth be told, it felt like pieces of plot elements from previous revenge dramas that viewers are sure familiar with.
Fortunately, the saving grace is the precision of the key actors to deliver their characters well. We can definitely see the efforts, and let’s look forward to unraveling more of their motivations and end games.
The Empire airs on JTBC every Friday and Saturday. International fans can watch it on Viu.
Photos: JTBC Drama
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