TV SERIES BECOMING HOMOGENEOUS | SO MANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN EMPIRE AND POWER

TV series are longer stories. They are released in episodes, and the episodes are compiled in a season. Most of these series never ends. In a way, there will be a twist to make it continue and you will keep wanting more. A large percent of movie lovers actually prefer series. I must confess, the thrills in one episode will make you want to watch the next. Unlike the regular movies where every suspense and twists ends in less than three hours, these ones happens forever.

Come to think of it, aren’t we watching the same movie with different characters and a little change in the stories? Let’s face it! There’s little or no difference between “Legend of the seeker” and “Merlin”. Or should we talk about the similarities between “Flash” and “Smallville”? These series are outdated already, so I’m less concerned about them. Two of the most popular series that’s still in vogue is what I’m emphasizing on; “Power” and “Empire”. And I remain my stand, there’s little or no difference in the story line. We keep falling back to the same circle.

_{Image edited by me.}

The first thing I confirmed was if the same director directed the two series. Of course, they were different with different backgrounds. Perhaps, one is copying the other! The question is; who is copying who? Power was produced first, so it’s safe to say Empire watched and used its story line to form theirs. Well, that’s not true anymore, Power just finished its latest season and they had to finish it same way Empire did. You don’t understand yet? You have just two minutes read to find out!

POWER

The first episode was released on the 7th of June, 2014 and it was shot in New York City. It was created by Courtney Kemp Agboh and has 48 episodes currently. Power is a story about a man nicknamed “Ghost”, he grew up in a hood where things were difficult. He had to sell and push drugs to earn. He has a trusted partner “Tommy” and a loyal wife who’s always an accomplice. He made so much money from the drug business and opened a night club with it. The club served as a way of letting people know he earns legit money. Ghost has always find a way to leave his former life but somehow, he still finds himself crawling back to it. He had to kill to keep his profile.

EMPIRE

The first episode was released on the 7th of January, 2015, it was written by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong and has 66 episodes currently. Empire is a story about a man who changed his name to “Lucious”, he also grew up in a hood where things were difficult. He has a talent; singing. Lucious had to sell and push drugs too to survive in the hood. He made it and built an empire, a big record label. He has a wife, “Cookie” who is ready to stand with him always. He’s surrounded with talented children and had to kill to keep Empire.

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From the summary above, you can spot the little difference the stories had. One was focused on music and the other wasn’t music inclined. But, they had a connection, drug pushing. Just this reason made the directors think alike or perhaps, copied each other. Let’s take a look at six similarities both series had.

The man cheats on the wife.

I guess this is now a compulsion for men that finally made it. They neglect the woman that was with them when everything was rough and then fall in love with another woman when the money starts flowing. That’s the idea both series are informing the public. Is this a normal way of life, a coincidence or a stolen idea?

In Power series, Ghost and Tasha were in love when they were still in the streets hustling. They looked like they wouldn’t depart from each other. They got married with three kids, the money came in and Ghost suddenly had eyes for another woman, Angela. He fell in love with her and almost divorced Tasha.

In Empire series, Lucious also fell in love with a mistress and neglected Cookie. He married Anika while Cookie was in prison. He also left a woman that was with him when everything was rough, a woman that suffered with him. He left her and went for a mistress when he became rich.

The wife cheats on the man too to get revenge.

Instead of working on the marriage and trying to get their men back, the wives thinks cheating will make the situation balanced. They try to get another man that will love them, they also fall in love and act like they don’t care about their husbands’ affairs. Same story line both TV series wrote.

Cookie fell in love with Angelo who was ready to marry and fall at her feet, Tasha also got Silver at her feet. Same way, same story!

The man gets jealous and kills the man sleeping with his wife.

This is the next step, the cheating husband couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t stand the sight of his wife kissing another man. He kills or tries to ruin him.

Ghost killed Teris Silver. He couldn’t take it anymore when he found him kissing and digging his wife at a car pack. He ended the man’s life immediately his wife left the spot.

Empire had a slight change. Lucious couldn’t take it anymore too, he ruined Angelo’s career due to jealousy and tried killing him. He didn’t though, his son did.

In a nutshell, both guys died, the guys their wives cheated with. Bullshit!

The mistress dies.

This was when I concluded they had the same story line. The mistress dies at the end. And in a way, the husband and the wife gets back together. They both cheated, but who they cheated with got taken away by death.

Angela was killed at the last episode of Power. Anika was also killed at the last episode of Empire.

The man goes to prison and comes back.

Don’t sweat it, they never went to prison for the death of their mistress. They got arrested for murder (another issue), stayed in prison for some days, killed there and got discharged because they had a smart lawyer.

This same thing happened to Ghost and Lucious. They went to prison, killed there and still got discharged without the police proving anything. Now, this isn’t a coincidence, is it?

The gentle son kills.

Lucious has a son who wouldn’t hurt a fly. The gentleman killed!

Ghost’s son killed someone too!

CONCLUSION

I believe we are watching the same movie with little changes in the story lines. We get to see some musical artists in one and we get to see a lot of bad guys in the other. It’s still the same drug pushing story. This is a glimpse of what might happen next.

Tommy, a friend to the family tries to ruin Ghost by taking over his night club and all connects he tries to have. If he doesn’t do it, then Tate (Ghost business partner) will. This has happened in Empire already, they might copy the story line from there.

Or…

Another loving person we wouldn’t want his/her death will die. Andre’s wife died in Empire already, a big suspense to all of us and we wanted to know the fate of her death. Here is what Power might copy; Tommy’s girlfriend might die too. She’s someone who obviously don’t want her death.

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Nevertheless, I still watch both movies, I download all episodes anytime it comes out. I’m ready to see how everything unfolds. I’ll like to appreciate the directors and the artists too. Directing and acting a movie is one big deal, making the viewers glued to it is another big deal.

Until we meet again.

All images are screenshots from the movies.

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@afolwalex writes.

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