History YMMV / Empire

* 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.
* FandomRivalry: With Power fans.

**

** Andre's breakdown is chock full of Narm, thanks to Trai Byers, who brings a glorious amount of HamandCheese to the scene.

* TheScrappy: Kingsley, who's character arc bounced around from taking down [[spoiler: his father's]] Empire, to being a part of the Lyon family, resulting in his [[spoiler: eventual suicide]]. It gets worse in the next season, where he lingers as a figment of Andre's mind after receiving his heart (undoing all the character development Kingsley had in the last season, in the process), leading to him possessing Andre, which lead to some of the series' most narmful moments.

** Andre's breakdown is chock full of Narm, thanks to Trai Byers, who brings a glorious amount of [[Main/HamandCheese]] to the scene.

* MinorityShowGhetto: Averted. Despite a severe lack of white people in the entire main and recurring cast, the show still gets extremely strong ratings, to the point where a second season was greenlit after only two episodes.

* HypeBacklash: The TonightSomeoneDies plot from Season 5. Throughout the season, it was setting up a death that would 'change the show forever', complete with flash forwards to the future in the season's first half, ending with [[spoiler: Andre seemingly being the one in the casket.]] In the end, the person in the casket was [[spoiler: Kingsley, Luscious' illegitimate son, who was introduced that season, and not even 5 episodes before, had patched things up with Luscious, randomly killing himself by suicide. His story ended with Andre (who had suffered through Cancer) receiving his heart.]]

* TakeThatScrappy: Many fans of the show who hated Anika [[spoiler:rejoiced when Anika dies by falling off a building]].

** Kingsley, who's character arc went from, "I'll take down Empire!" to "I wanna get along with [[spoiler: my family, as well as my father]], to, "IDK, [[spoiler: guess I'll die!]]" It's also upsetting how rushed his character arc was, given a majority of the fans were disappointed that the result of the TonightSomeoneDies mystery that had shrouded most of the season.

** Terrence Howard's spousal abuse accusations cast quite a pall over any scenes about Luscious' conflicts with his family.

* 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.

* HolyShitQuotient: 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.

* HilariousInHindsight: Three episodes in season 2 features a fellow prison inmate of Lucious' named Guy...who's a music producer played by Max Beesley. Remember [[Film/{{Glitter}} what happened the last time Terrence Howard and Max Beesley were put together?]] Bonus points that Music/{{Mariah Carey}} guest stars in one episode.

* HypeBacklash: The TonightSomoneDies plot from Season 5. Throughout the season, it was setting up a death that would 'change the show forever', complete with flash forwards to the future in the season's first half, ending with [[spoiler: Andre seemingly being the one in the casket.]] In the end, the person in the casket was [[spoiler: Kingsley, Luscious' illegitimate son, who was introduced that season, and not even 5 episodes before, had patched things up with Luscious, randomly killing himself by suicide. His story ended with Andre (who had suffered through Cancer) receiving his heart.]]

* OvershadowedByControversy: The show got hit ''badly'' with this in early 2019 when actor Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon) claimed to have been attacked by a pair of Donald Trump supporters in a racist and homophobic hate crime. There was a huge outpouring of support for the actor from the entertainment industry and even politicians who decried the attack. Then the case took a turn for the bizarre when, two weeks later, the attackers were discovered to have been a pair of immigrants from Nigeria who said Smollett paid them to pretend to attack him, resulting in Smollett being charged on multiple counts of having staged the entire thing as a publicity stunt because he wasn't happy with his salary. This hit the show's ratings hard, ending with Jamal being PutOnABus at the end of Season 5 and ultimately it was announced that the sixth season would be the last one.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Taraji P. Henson's performance as Cookie has received acclaim from both critics and fans.

* OvershadowedByControversy: The show got hit ''badly'' with this in early 2019 when actor Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon) had been attacked by a pair of Donald Trump supporters in what was a racist and homophobic hate crime. There was a huge outpouring of support for the actor from the entertainment industry and even politicians who decried the attack. Then the case took a turn for the bizarre when, two weeks later, the attackers were discovered to have been a pair of immigrants from Nigeria who said Smollett paid them to pretend to attack him, resulting in Smollett being charged on multiple counts of having staged the entire thing as a publicity stunt because he wasn't happy with his salary. This hit the show's ratings hard, ending with Jamal being PutOnABus at the end of Season 5 and ultimately it was announced that the sixth season would be the last one.

* HypeBacklash: The Main/TonightSomoneDies plot from Season 5. Throughout the season, it was setting up a death that would 'change the show forever', complete with flash forwards to the future in the season's first half, ending with [[spoiler: Andre seemingly being the one in the casket.]] In the end, the person in the casket was [[spoiler: Kingsley, Luscious' illegitimate son, who was introduced that season, and not even 5 episodes before, had patched things up with Luscious, randomly killing himself by suicide. His story ended with Andre (who had suffered through Cancer) receiving his heart.]]

** Kingsley, who's character arc went from, "I'll take down Empire!" to "I wanna get along with [[spoiler: my family, as well as my father]], to, "IDK, [[spoiler: guess I'll die!]]" It's also upsetting how rushed his character arc was, given a majority of the fans were disappointed that the result of the Main/TonightSomeoneDies mystery that had shrouded most of the season.

* OvershadowedByControversy: The show got hit ''badly'' with this in early 2019 when actor Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon) had been attacked by a pair of Donald Trump supporters in what was a racist and homophobic hate crime. There was a huge outpouring of support for the actor from the worlds of entertainment and even politicians who decried the attack. Then the case took a turn for the bizarre when, two weeks later, the attackers were discovered to have been a pair of immigrants from Nigeria who said Smollett paid them to pretend to attack him, resulting in him being charged on multiple counts of having staged the entire thing as a publicity stunt because he wasn't happy with his salary. The show had been on a hiatus at the time with the producers making the decision to cut as much of his character as possible while the show took a hit in the ratings.

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

* BrokenBase: Given that the show is totally centered around what is essentially a ThereCanBeOnlyOne-type competition, it seems that this trope is an intentional part of its appeal. Each brother's storyline is presented (for the most part) with a high degree of objectivity, and each one has a decent case made for himself, which in essence encourages viewers to root for any one of the three without their pick being a designated "hero" or "villain". It also helps that each brother has a backer/mentor (Lucious for Hakeem, Cookie for Jamal, Vernon for Andre), and how you feel about ''that'' character will probably also influence which brother you're rooting for.

* OvershadowedByControversy: ''Big time'' in early 2019 when it appeared as if Jussie Smollett had been attacked in a horrible racist/gay-bashing incident. There was huge support for the actor from the worlds of entertainment and even politicians who hailed him as a hero. Two weeks later, Smollett was charged on multiple counts of having staged the entire thing as a publicity stunt because he wasn't happy with his salary. The show had been on a hiatus at the time with the producers making the decision to cut as much of his character as possible while the show took a hit in the ratings.

* HilariousInHindsight: Three episodes in season 2 features a fellow prison inmate of Lucious' named Guy...who's a music producer played by Max Beesley. Remember what happened [[Film/{{Glitter}} what happened the last time Terrence Howard and Max Beesley were put together?]] Bonus points that Music/{{Mariah Carey}} guest stars in one episode.

* HilariousInHindsight: Music/{{Mariah Carey}} makes a guest appearance in season 3 as Kitty. This the second time she [[Film/{{Glitter}} plays a fictional super star artist alongside Terrence Howard.]][[note]] Difference being that here ''she's'' not the one being actively threatened by him.[[/note]]

* 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.

* MinorityShowGhetto: Gloriously averted. Despite a severe lack of white people in the entire main and recurring cast, the show still gets extremely strong ratings, to the point where a second season was greenlit after only two episodes.

* PlotTwist: The show uses this trope to a fault.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Maybe not quite "rescued", but fan reaction definitely warmed to Rhonda over the course of the first season, where she slowly underwent a HeelFaceTurn from a rather bitchy, scheming LadyMacbeth to a supportive, genuinely caring wife who prioritized Andre's health and well-being rather than his taking over Empire, to the point that some fans felt some real sympathy for her after [[spoiler: she accidentally murdered Vernon to protect Andre]], something that ''definitely'' wouldn't have been played for such if it had happened in, say, the pilot.
* [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct She Really Can Act]]: Taraji P. Henson's performance of Cookie has gotten both the critics and the audience talking this trope.

* OvershadowedByControversy: In 2019 Jussie Smollet reported being viciously attacked by alt-right fanatics, with the police quickly finding several holes in his story until it appeared that he actually staged the whole thing with a former extra from the show and his brother. If that's the case, he'll have torched his career and reputation forever and done lasting damage to any efforts by real victims of such attacks to seek justice.

* OvershadowedByControversy: In 2019 Jussie Smollet reported being viciously attacked by alt-right fanatics, which the police quickly finding several holes in his story until it appeared that he actually staged the whole thing with a former extra from the show and his brother. If that's the case, he'll have torched his career and reputation forever and done lasting damage to any efforts by real victims of such attacks to seek justice.