#humblemeta

D-Major/Derek : First of all, I have to say, that even if I’m a Jamichael fan, 100 %, that doesn’t prevent me from finding his character very intriguing. I’m very curious to see what the writers are going to do with him. We have both seen him behaving with Jamal like a very considerate boyfriend but also, in other scenes, like a consummate jerk…

Skye Summers : what can I say, I love her ! Of course, because her appearance as a guest star was announced in advance only for a few episodes there was never any really suspense about the possibility for her to be a long-term love interest for Jamal. That’s maybe the drawback of having such a huge star as a guest star, we can kind of guess if the story will last or not.

But let’s talk about the storyline : I really thought it was an interesting one. I understood the writers’ interest in bringing that bisexual storyline and all the sexual fluidity speech by Jamal. Not everyone liked it, obviously, but that was expected.

Let’s try to have a look at Jamal’s boyfriends/love interests/hook-ups during the series, putting aside Michael.

Ryan : first, I have to say that I started watching Empire in the first half of season 2. It’s kind of weird trying to analyse Ryan’s character knowing from the start he wasn’t Mr Right for Jamal. But let’s try.

What is interesting is that the opinions were very divided regarding his character, kind of like with Michael. I know some people saw his character like someone with a secret agenda, not believing he could genuinely try to help Jamal without wanting something for himself, career-wise. I know that some other people really loved him, seeing how much he helped Jamal in one the most pivotal stages of season 1, Jamal coming out. And how much he understood what was needed to be successful in the industry (in contrast should we say to Michael). Finally, some people just thought it was not really necessary for the story to make him Jamal’s boyfriend in order to encourage him to come out, being there as a friend being enough for that. That’s an interesting point. That could have been a storyline indeed. I think a lot of people were just baffled by how quick Jamal got a boyfriend once Michael left. Well, let’s be honest, that was quick ^_^… But that’s how things go on Empire, always very fast ^_^…

The second point of division regarding Ryan was his reaction to Lola. He first said that Jamal should come out, among other things, for Lola. I remember the scene and I really think that was a honest, genuine advice. He was speaking in general terms. That’s what was good for Jamal. I wasn’t overly surprised shortly afterwards when Ryan declared he couldn’t picture himself parenting Lola. They had been together for a very short period of time, they were not even living together. And we are talking about a dude still very young, in the early stages of his adult life. He wasn’t ready for parenting and that was fair enough.

What has always been the more perplexing thing for me with Ryan is how the character was dismissed. Let’s be honest, I was happy, Michael was back ! But Ryan, being a ho ??? Ok, why not, but as an audience we never saw any of that.

In a season that probably suffered from storylines that were resolved too quickly I enjoyed Jamichael’s to be nicely stretched out from episode 1 (”The Devils Are Here”) to episode 15 (”More Than Kin”).

- In episode 1, they are back together and all is good, supposedly and if you put aside that little conversion that didn’t get a resolution about Jamal having an issue with “flamboyant dudes”.

- episode 2 : still good but foreshadowing for what could be a complication

- episodes 4 and 5 : total mess, obviously, thanks to Chase, aka “creepy photographer” and unfortunately thanks also to a real communication problem in our beloved couple

- episode 6 : we got a beautiful song and Jamal is still very mad at Michael, logically and understandably

- episode 10 : we got a cute little talk with Skye where we can see that Jamal still has strong feelings for Michael and he doesn’t seem mad anymore. I got a nostalgic feeling in the tone of his voice (but that’s maybe only me)

- episode 11, after the winter hiatus : another cute little scene, with baby brother this time, where Jamal says he understands about feeling that someone is “special” (again, if you are a Jamichael fan, you will probably see that as an allusion to Jamichael and what Jamal might feel for Michael)

- episode 15 : Michael is back, yeah !!! They are not back together though. They still need to talk about what happened with “creepy photographer” (thanks Becky !) but they seem to be able to be on friendly terms, which is good... We got a beautiful scene at the coffee bar, where we learn stuff about them (apparently the met there). A lot of feelings during that scene, I got a kind of nostalgic vibe, probably for a time when everything was simplier for them, in the music field and in the love field. Michael was very supportive and it was lovely seeing their interaction. Beautiful song by the way ! In my opinion, one the best Jamichael scenes so far, since the start of the series.

The “I’m the lucky one” interview at the beginning of season 2 episode 2 was very interesting. It was easy to glance over the scene without really noticing that everything was in there, all the issues and drama to come for Michael and Jamal.

In the middle of this interview, deliciously cheesy and fake, some truths are disseminated : when Jamal says he’s the lucky one, that’s really what he feels. When he says his lifestyle and fame don’t cause jealousy, we have no reason to think he doesn’t mean it.

To observe how the journalist presents it is very revealing : she says Michael is the lucky guy and that’s basically how everyone sees it, including Michael himself. He’s “just” a regular guy, lucky enough to have been chosen by the rich, famous and ultra talented Jamal Lyon. At this very moment, it seems like Jamal is the only one to think he’s himself the lucky one between the two.

Regarding Jamal’s speech about fame not affecting their couple, well, all of that was wishful thinking. Their relationship was indeed not solid enough. Since season 1 Jamal has been saying to Michael that nothing will change for them. Obviously, that’s not how Michael sees it. From his perspective it’s easy enough to establish that nearly everything is different.