History YMMV / Empire

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: Andre's story arc. One could argue Jamal's as well, but while homosexuality has been slowly gaining acceptance in the African American community, mental illness is still a taboo subject, and Andre's character shows that it can afflict anyone regardless of race or class. Lucious and Cookie's reactions are not unheard of, with Lucious doing his best to hide Andre's condition and refusing to think of his son under those circumstances, and Cookie thinking it a "white people problem" and that all he needs is family love. She's heartbroken when she realizes that's not the case, and is later seen researching bipolar disorder.

* CounterpartComparison:
** Of the [[Series/{{Dallas}} Ewing family]]:
*** Lucious is Jock Ewing, as both characters were founders of the company, patriarch of their families and strongly dislikes their middle child.
*** Andre is JR Ewing. Both qualify as the WellDoneSonGuy and want to take over the family business by any evil means necessary.
*** Jamal is Gary Ewing. Both suffer from MiddleChildSyndrome and are the TheUnfavourite to their fathers while the opposite to their mothers.
*** Hakeem is Bobby Ewing, as both are the youngest in their families, heavily spoiled and favorited by their fathers and disliked by their eldest brothers, competing for their father's respect.
*** Baretti is Cliff Barnes. Both men want to destroy their main rival companies due to past conflicts.
** Some fans have noted similarities between the Lyons and [[Series/GameOfThrones The Lannisters]]:
*** Lucious is Tywin, as both are the patriarchs that built up the family fortune, who see their families as useful tools at best and enemies at worst.
*** Cookie is Joanna: both mothers whose absence from the family shaped their children's identities, for better and worse. In the books, it's said that Joanna 'ruled Tywin,' and we see that Cookie is pretty much the only person that can stand up to Lucious.
*** Andre is Cersei: they're the eldest and the ones who try ''so hard'' to follow their fathers' principles, do everything they're told, and denied what they feel is their birthright for arbitrary reasons (for Cersei, she's denied Casterly Rock because of her gender. For Andre, he's not in the running for Empire Records because he's not a musician). Both are also very manipulative and have no qualms pitting one sibling against the other to further their goals.
*** Hakeem is Jaime, as both are their fathers' favourites, heavily spoiled and reckless at the beginning of the series. They both also undergo CharacterDevelopment and slowly become better men.
*** Jamal is Tyrion, in that both are abused and ignored by their fathers for a trait they were born with (Tywin hates Tyrion partially because he's a dwarf, Lucious hates that Jamal is gay), and yet both are the ones who are most similar to their fathers and most 'worthy' of their legacy:
--->'''Tyrion:''' Why father, I believe I am you writ small.
--->'''Jamal:''' Everyone's gonna see that I'm you, but on steroids.
*** That's not even getting into the fact that both families have adopted lions as part of their creed and/or symbols.
** [[Series/BetterCallSaul Thirsty Rawlings is a would-be lawyer "guilty people hires" and who claims to have graduated from the University of Guam. Sound familiar?]]
** Lucious Lyon and [[Series/BreakingBad Walter White]], [[{{Foil}} with significant differences as well as similarities]].
*** Both are generally known by their AlliterativeName, although Lucious made his up.
*** Both adopted a fiercer name to fit a more hardcore persona (Lucious Lyon vs. Heisenberg) and distance themselves from their older and meeker name/persona (Dwight Walker vs. Walter White).
*** Additionally, one family was more familiar with "Lucious" than "Dwight", while the other family knew "Walter" and learned about "Heisenberg".
*** Both patriarchs were suffering from a fatal disease (ALS for Lucious, cancer for Walter) and thus wanted to ensure a lasting legacy for their children. Both also got news that they no longer had to worry about their illnesses; however, in Lucious' case, he learns that he was misdiagnosed with ALS, but in Walter's case [[spoiler:the cancer eventually returns and contributes to his death]].
*** At one point, Jesse asks Walter if he wants to control the drug or money business, to which Walter replies "neither. I'm in the empire business." [[{{Pun}} Name of this show (and company) aside]], Lucious also wants to build an empire, albeit ''through'' music rather than ''in spite'' of it.
*** Both fathers care much less about other people than they do their own families and friends, but are definitely not above manipulating and controlling them for their own purposes. However, Walter has generally never touched his own family, save for [[spoiler:getting into a struggle with Skyler over a knife she pulled on him, leading to Walt Jr. calling the police and triggering a HeelRealization within Walter]]. Lucious, on the other hand, does things like dumping Jamal in a trash can as a child for dressing as a woman and punching Hakeem in the face for publicly rapping about having sex with Anika and leaving Empire, but always finds a way to justify his actions.
*** Both have set up a pretense of doing the things they do to ensure a legacy for their children, yet are clearly in it for themselves, though while Walter doesn't admit this until [[spoiler:the very last episode, during his last conversation with Skyler]], Lucious is much more upfront about it--what with routinely sabotaging everyone else's authority and even threatening to kill Hakeem for taking over Empire.
*** Both men's families also have very different reactions to their fathers' true natures. Walter's family is utterly repulsed the more they learn, while Lucious' is at least willing to keep doing business with him and even occasionally trade kind words. Though this is likely since the Lyons are accustomed to Lucious being a {{Jerkass}}--yet are themselves still capable of being further angered as more of Lucious' skeletons are revealed.
*** Then there's how both men got into crime in the first place: [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Hank told Walter how much money drug dealers can sell meth for, then later took him on a ride-along for a drug bust]], whereas [[TheCorrupter Frank Gathers found Lucious on the street as a kid and had him sell drugs]].

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Considering all the stuff Golgoth does during the entire run, it's very likely the reader will feel unsympathetic towards him considering the final fate of [[spoiler: his daughter]].

* MostWonderfulSound: Many fans of the show love Jamal's singing.

** Lucious Lyon and [[Series/BreakingBad Walter White]], [[CounterpartComparison with significant differences as well as similarities]].

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Nearly every character in the series is a lying, cheating, backstabbing scumbag with the notable exceptions of Jamal ([[spoiler: until the ending of the first season sees him [[TookALevelInJerkass take a huge level in jerkass]]]]), and, surprisingly enough, Cookie (she may be spiteful and quick to anger, but she isn't dishonest). Lucious himself is an abusive, conniving [[spoiler: murderous]] crook. Given all of this, it's all too easy for this trope to set in. However, it is also noteworthy that there are several who are loving the show exclusively because of this. Hakeem does [[CharacterDevelopment take]] [[TookALevelInKindness a level in kindness]] as the first season progresses.
* EarWorm:
** "Adios" by Tiana.
** "Drip Drop" by Hakeem and Tiana.
** Jamal's cover of "You're So Beautiful".
** Jamal and Hakeem's cover of "What the DJ Spins."
** "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by Lucious and Freda ''will'' be stuck in your head.
* {{Expy}}: Of the [[Series/{{Dallas}} Ewing family]]:

[[folder: The Fanfic]]
* JustForFun/XMeetsY: ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' meets ''{{Deadpool}}'' meets Myth/ClassicalMythology meets ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo''.
[[/folder]]

* WTHCastingAgency: Casting ''Creator/ChrisRock'' to play Frank Gathers, a drug lord who had only been spoken of in dreaded tones throughout the first season. When we finally meet him in the second season premiere, seeing Chris Rock in those chains totally killed the immersion. It was perhaps the first time Rock has ever done a 100% dramatic role (and a rather dark one at that), but because he's so distinctive as a comedian, it was impossible to take him seriously. [[spoiler: Thankfully, he doesn't live past the first episode.]]

* IKnewIt: Anyone who was correct about [[spoiler: Anika pushing Rhonda down the stairs]].
** The minute Andre said it was [[spoiler: Harper Scott, who revealed Lucious's mother being alive]], Lucious was on that "Handled" mindset.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Considering all the stuff Golgoth does during the entire run, it's very likely the reader will feel unsympathetic towards him considering the final fate of [[spoiler: his daughter]]
* VillainSue: A whole team of them to be precise.

* AwesomeMusic:

* {{Earworm}}:

* {{Expy}}: Of the [[{{Dallas}} Ewing family]]:

** Some fans have noted similarities between the Lyons and [[GameOfThrones The Lannisters]]:

*** At one point, Jesse asks Walter if he wants to control the drug or money business, to which Walter replies "neither. I'm in the empire business." [[{{Pun}} Name of this show (and company) aside,]] Lucious also wants to build an empire, albeit ''through'' music rather than ''in spite'' of it.
*** Both fathers care much less about other people than they do their own families and friends, but are definitely not above manipulating and controlling them for their own purposes. However, Walter has generally never touched his own family, save for [[spoiler:getting into a struggle with Skyler over a knife she pulled on him, leading to Walt Jr. calling the police and triggering a HeelRealization within Walter.]] Lucious, on the other hand, does things like dumping Jamal in a trash can as a child for dressing as a woman and punching Hakeem in the face for publicly rapping about having sex with Anika and leaving Empire, but always finds a way to justify his actions.

*** Then there's how both men got into crime in the first place: [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Hank told Walter how much money drug dealers can sell meth for, then later took him on a ride-along for a drug bust,]] whereas [[TheCorrupter Frank Gathers found Lucious on the street as a kid and had him sell drugs.]]

* {{HSQ}}: Several, given the [[DramaBomb nature of the show]]. The reveal that [[spoiler:Lucious' mother is still alive]] and [[spoiler:Jamal getting shot by Freda]] stand out the most.
* IKnewIt: Anyone who was correct about [[spoiler: Anika pushing Rhonda down the stairs.]]
* The minute Andre said it was [[spoiler: Harper Scott, who revealed Lucious's mother being alive]], Lucious was on that "Handled" mindset.

* SheReallyCanAct: Taraji P. Henson's performance of Cookie has gotten both the critics and the audience talking this trope.

** Porhsa jumped a subway turnstile and when ticketed, she gave her name as [[spoiler: '''Cookie Lyon'''.]] [[GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity Oh, she got fired and then rehired.]]

** Lucious is Jock Ewing, as both characters were founders of the company, patriarch of their families and strongly dislikes their middle child.
** Andre is JR Ewing, both qualifies as the WellDoneSonGuy and wants to take over the family business by any evil means necessary.
** Jamal is Gary Ewing, both suffer from MiddleChildSyndrome and are the TheUnfavourite to their fathers while the opposite to their mothers.
** Hakeem is Bobby Ewing, as both are the youngest in their families, heavily spoiled and favorited by their fathers and disliked by their eldest brothers, competing for their father's respect.
** Baretti is Cliff Barnes. Both men wants to destroy their main rival companies due to past conflicts.

-->'''Tyrion:''' Why father, I believe I am you writ small.
-->'''Jamal:''' Everyone's gonna see that I'm you, but on steroids.

** [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Thirsty Rawlings is a would-be lawyer "guilty people hires" and who claims to have graduated from the University of Guam.]] [[Series/BetterCallSaul Sound familiar?!]]

* {{Expy}}: Lucious is Jock Ewing, as both characters were founders of the company, patriarch of their families and strongly dislikes their middle child.

** Hakeem is Bobby Ewing, as both are the youngest in their families, heavily spoiled and favorited by their fathers and disliked by their eldest brothers, competing for their father's respect

* Some fans have noted similarities between the Lyons and [[GameOfThrones The Lannisters]]:
** Lucious is Tywin, as both are the patriarchs that built up the family fortune, who see their families as useful tools at best and enemies at worst.
** Cookie is Joanna: both mothers whose absence from the family shaped their children's identities, for better and worse. In the books, it's said that Joanna 'ruled Tywin,' and we see that Cookie is pretty much the only person that can stand up to Lucious.
** Andre is Cersei: they're the eldest and the ones who try ''so hard'' to follow their fathers' principles, do everything they're told, and denied what they feel is their birthright for arbitrary reasons (for Cersei, she's denied Casterly Rock because of her gender. For Andre, he's not in the running for Empire Records because he's not a musician). Both are also very manipulative and have no qualms pitting one sibling against the other to further their goals.
** Hakeem is Jaime, as both are their fathers' favourites, heavily spoiled and reckless at the beginning of the series. They both also undergo CharacterDevelopment and slowly become better men.
** Jamal is Tyrion, in that both are abused and ignored by their fathers for a trait they were born with (Tywin hates Tyrion partially because he's a dwarf, Lucious hates that Jamal is gay), and yet both are the ones who are most similar to their fathers and most 'worthy' of their legacy:

** That's not even getting into the fact that both families have adopted lions as part of their creed and/or symbols.
* [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Thirsty Rawlings is a would-be lawyer "guilty people hires" and who claims to have graduated from the University of Guam.]] [[Series/BetterCallSaul Sound familiar?!]]

** [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Thirsty Rawlings is a would-be lawyer "guilty people hires" and who claims to have graduated from the University of Guam.]] [[Series/BetterCallSaul Sound familiar?!]]

* FandomRivalry: With Power fans

* CaptainObviousReveal: Nobody (well, 90%) was surprised to find out that [[spoiler:Anika pushed Rhonda down the stairs, especially since she was already frustrated over her own pregnancy and wanted to harm the Lyon family]].

* CaptainObviousReveal: Nobody was surprised to find out that [[spoiler:Anika pushed Rhonda down the stairs, especially since she was already frustrated over her own pregnancy and wanted to harm the Lyon family]].

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Thirsty Rawlings is a would-be lawyer "guilty people hires" and who claims to have graduated from the University of Guam. [[Series/BetterCallSaul Sound familiar?!]]

* FandomRivalry: With [[Series/Power]]