Tuesday 9/20: Scream Queens 

BY CLAIRE OERTLY 

The second season of the Fox show Scream Queens maintains the overall satirically hilarious yet dark storyline that was presented to us in the first season despite the location change and the addition of new characters.

The first episode starts off explaining what exactly happened after the Chanels were framed as  the masked murder on campus by Hester

The show is set up in the same way as the first season, where years prior some horrific accident happened at a Halloween party, and years later someone dresses up in costume and murders residents of the location to enact their revenge. The change in setting but not in story makes fans excited and curious to see just how this season will turn out and stack up to the first season.

The new setting is located in a hospital which Dean Munsch now owns which reminds fans of  Munsch and the dominant role she played in the lead up to the murders. Her change in title but not in role makes it intriguing and seems like the show will somehow manage to have even darker humor than before.

The remaining characters from season one who weren’t killed off or imprisoned return and play the same people they did in the first season but as older and evolved characters from the incidents they encountered at the Kappa Tau sorority.

Dean Munsch invites the Chanels and Zayday to work in her hospital which brings the characters together again at last after a long time separation.

While the Chanels did gain some education while trying to turn their lives around they are still the same dim-witted prissy and bratty gals that they’ve always been. Dean Munsch remains to be creepy and seeming like she has something up her sleeve 24/7 and Zayday is still the independent and logically humorous person she was when she first arrived in season one.

Because the story itself isn’t completely different but is actually later on after the events at Kappa Tau, it’s interesting to see how the characters have evolved over time, or have lacked in evolution because of what they endured at the university.

There’s still a romantic aspect to the show; not real romance but more of lust and flirtatious admiration, typically from the Chanels and the new characters, John Stamos and Taylor Lautner who play doctors at  Munsch’s new hospital.

The change in setting but unchanging characters makes fans excited for the rest of the season because they grew to know and love all the characters and their attitudes and can envision all the mischief and mayhem that they will get themselves into. The satirical and dark comedy ties the show together and truly makes it an originally hilarious series.

Wednesday 9/21: Empire‘

BY KARLI DUGGER

The season 3 opener of Empire that aired on Sept 21 didn’t fail to disappoint just like the other two previous seasons.

At the finale of season 2, Lee Daniels and Danny Strong ended with a cliffhanger leaving the audience wondering.

It also left me and the rest of the audience wondering what Hakeem will do next, now that he was left at the altar by Laura. Whose family believed the Lyon’s were a bunch of thugs who didn’t deserve to be around Laura.

Along with all the intense drama between Cookie and Lucious, as we get more of a preview into their past and how they are where they are today because of it.

Season 3 begins with Lucious standing next to the car where Rhonda’s body was just thrown off the balcony by Anika. Andre witnesses all of this which causes him to go into a major rage which could possibly trigger bad experiences and medical problems he had to experience and overcome in the previous seaons.

The first part of the show takes place in the hospital as Anika is giving birth to her baby girl, which adds a major twist to the story considering everyone believed it was boy who would then carry on the legacy of the Lyon dynasty considering it is Hakeem’s baby.

Like normal, Lucious continues to threaten Anika along with other characters to protect his empire. But Lucious is slowly losing control. In Lucious eyes, Jamal can never succeed or never please him no matter how he perform or who he works with. While Hakeem is always rebelling against Lucious’ wishes to continue to try and prove he should be in charge of the Empire.

Episode one hooks the audience into watching the rest of the anticipated season by leaving many questions unanswered that will affect the entire show once they are answered as the season continues.

 This season opener left the audience excited and ready to see the dramatic story of the Lyon family,  and constantly questioning if the feds will ever get proof on Lucious and his family, and of course anticipating what this crazy family will do next to stay on top.

Thursday 9/22: How to Get Away With Murder

BY TARAH JOHNSON 

ABC’s NAACP and Emmy winning series How to Get Away with Murder made it’s season three premiere on Thursday night, and already left viewers reeling.

Critically acclaimed actress powerhouse Viola Davis, who portrays the fierce Annalise Keating, returns with her “Keating 5” in a new jam packed season.

Davis stars as a steely law professor at a prestigious Philadelphia university who, with five of her students, becomes entwined in a murder plot.

With each new season comes a new murder that both Annaliese and her band of students have to solve/deal with all while balancing their studies and tumultuous social life.

Season three of the hit drama quickly delves into how the Annaliese’s five students spent their summer attempting (and failing) to bring some normalcy back into their lives after the season two murders that rocked their world, as well as Annaliese herself.

Any sense of stability that came with newfound friends and relationships is quickly diminished, however, when the end of the first episode of season three jumps 4 months into the future and reveals that someone dear and near to Annaliese has been murdered. With that begins the main storyline of the season of who was killed and who was not, giving viewers the classic yet eye catching mystery cliffhanger. Just as its past seasons, season three of HTGAWM already promises twists, turns, heartbreaks, betrayal, misunderstandings, and, inevitably, murder.  

For her portrayal of the fierce Annaliese, Viola Davis has received critical acclaim; becoming the first African-American woman to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. This upcoming season of HTGAWM certainly won’t disappoint, and with the already tense cliffhanger that’s to guide this season, it should be better than ever.  

Thursday 9/22: Grey’s Anatomy

BY KYLIE IRWIN

The highly anticipated Grey’s Anatomy season premiere came out this Thursday, and it didn’t disappoint.

Going into the season, there were rumors of certain characters making a return, but since this episode took course over a few hours of one night, no new or returning characters have been brought onto the show yet.

The show started off with Owen and Amelia’s wedding, where everything is just fine and dandy in the Grey’s world. Now, we know this happiness only lasts for about 2 minutes on this show before things start to spiral.

I think I can speak for all Grey’s fans in that we all hold a special place in our hearts for Alex Karev, but the Grey’s Anatomy’s lovely writer, Shonda Rhimes knows exactly how to toy with our emotions.

Right off the bat we see that this is really going to be a tough season for Karev, and I want to be mad about his actions, but poor Alex has been put through so much already you find yourself being sympathetic towards him.

Also, it wouldn’t be a Grey’s episode if a relationship wasn’t at risk, and of course it has to be Karev’s. It’s as though he isn’t going through enough already.

There is also a hint of a new romance for Meredith Grey, and I know we all want the best for her, but no one compares to Derek Shepherd.

I really want to be accepting of this possible new-found love, but I still feel resentment towards the fact that McDreamy is gone. But, with Meridith’s hot-and-cold and denying attitude, we might have a little more time to hold on to that unrealistic McDreamy dream, before we have to accept this reality.

There is also sister drama between Maggie Pierce and Meredith, which we find out is partially the reason Grey is denying any feelings for her possible love.

For all Japril lovers, and for those who don’t know who that is, Jackson Avery and April Kepner finally make a breakthrough.

At the end of season 12, we were able to see a glimpse of what possibly could be a return of their relationship, and of course the birth of their second child, who we were all ecstatic to see was healthy and happy.

The baby’s last name was hyphenated to Kepner-Avery, but I know all fans are hoping that this could get changed to just Avery, and that this couple will end up together for good this time.

Now they aren’t dating, nor will they admit their feelings for each other, but it is obvious that they have a connection and are still in love, and all Japril fans are impatiently waiting for them to get back together.

The whole mix of Grey’s characters were there except for Arizona Robbins. Her ex-wife Callie Torres is moving to New York, and we are all sad to see her leave from the show after so many seasons together, but luckily there is still room to write her back into certain episodes.

As for Arizona, we don’t really know where she was during this whole Karev fiasco. We know she is going through a rough time (in fact they all are), but we would have loved to have bubbly Robbins around to lighten up the mood.

Finally, Ben Warren and Miranda Bailey. While these two seem to go through so much, and fight a lot, they are one of the strongest couples on the show. Everyone knows the extreme struggle they went through in season 12, and personally, I am extremely happy to see their little family back to their normal selves again.

Of course this was a classic Grey’s Anatomy episode, where you are left completely confused, hurt, happy, irritated, and partially wanting to cry due to all of these reasons, but you still love it so much and hold high anticipation for the next Thursday to roll around.