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Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots (2013-2021) is a Prime Time Soap created by Tyler Perry (who also serves as executive producer, and has written and directed every single episode) which airs on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).

Set in Savannah, Georgia, the show focuses on three families, two of which (the Cryers and the Harringtons, AKA the "Haves") are upper-class while the third (the Youngs, AKA the "Have Nots"note ) is working-poor, though the one thing they have in common is that they're all highly dysfunctional. Jim Cryer (John Schneider), The Patriarch of the Cryers and a criminal courts judge who aspires to become Governor of Georgia, sleeps with a young escort, Candy Cane (Tika Sumpter), on his 50th birthday. Later the same day, he meets his daughter Amanda's (Jaclyn Betham) new friend Candace Young...who turns out to be Candy. It gets better; Candace also happens to be the daughter of Hanna Young (Crystal Fox), the Cryers' new maid. Candace proceeds to make life hell for not only Jim, but many other characters, though that's not to say other characters aren't responsible for all the other drama that goes down.

Other characters include Katheryn (Renee Lawless), Jim's unhappy and passive-aggressive wife who forms a close bond with Hanna; Wyatt (Aaron O'Connell), Jim and Katheryn's delinquent son who returns home from another unproductive stay in rehab; David Harrington (Peter Parros), Jim's best friend and fellow judge; Veronica (Angela Robinson), David's snobbish attorney wife; Jeffrey (Gavin Houston), David and Veronica's son who works as a rehab counselor and is assigned to monitor Wyatt; Benny (Tyler Lepley), Hanna's son and Candace's younger half-brother; and Celine Gonzalez (Eva Tarmago), the Cryers' long-serving maid.

WARNING: This page contains some unmarked spoilers for Seasons 1-2.


The Haves and the Have Nots contains examples of the following tropes:

  • Abusive Parents:
    • Jim is verbally abusive towards Wyatt, often gets physically violent with him, and even threatens to kill him a couple of times. Regarding Carlos, one of his illegitimate sons with Celine, he rejects the young man outright and later cruelly refers to him as "that bastard," much to Celine's shock.
    • Katheryn generally treats Amanda like shit, forcing her to attend law school and later refusing to give Amanda her inheritance from her late grandfather, believing she isn't smart enough to manage the money. Really, is it any wonder Amanda has issues?
    • Veronica is verbally, psychologically, emotionally, and financially abusive towards Jeffrey in her insistence that he be the man she wants him to be, especially after he comes out the closet in the Season 1 finale. After Jeffrey reveals his homosexuality, she verbally cuts him down in the cruelest way possible, freezes his bank account, fires him from his counseling job, blackmails him into dating Melissa, a woman he doesn't have feelings for (Season 3 reveals that she arranged the whole thing so Jeffrey would get Melissa pregnant and be forced to marry her); blames him for her and David's deteriorating marriage; and has him brutally beaten by Quincy.
    • Hanna is verbally, emotionally, and sometimes physically abusive toward Candace.
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: In the second half of Season 2, an unstable Amanda strikes up a relationship with Candace's ex-boyfriend Quincy, an uncouth Scary Black Man whom Veronica frees from prison to track down Candace.
  • All Men Are Perverts: Jim certainly has a hard time keeping it in his pants. He even admits this to Wyatt in "Enough is Enough." In "Vetted," he comes onto Maggie, who turns down his advances and leaves his office in a huff.
  • Amoral Attorney: In Season 2, Veronica uses her legal expertise to get custody of Jeffrey's car (which Wyatt accidentally hit a young girl and Benny with while high on drugs) and use it to force her son to date women.
  • Antagonistic Offspring:
    • In Season 2, an increasingly-unbalanced Amanda buys a gun with the explicitly stated aim of killing her parents. Tragically, she ends up killing herself.
    • Candace is this to Hanna. The two just do not get along. At all.
    • In Season 3, Wyatt becomes this to both of his parents after he finds evidence of Jim's numerous affairs and later reveals Jim's cover-up of his (Wyatt's) involvement in Lizzie's murder to D.A. Sallison.
    • In the third season, Jeffrey finally becomes fed up with Veronica's treatment of him and tells her off in "Enough is Enough."
    • In "Dianna Winchil," Carlos, one of Jim's illegitimate sons with Celine, denounces his father on national TV.
  • Asshole Victim:
    • Professor Cannon, who raped Amanda in Season 1's "The Criminal," gets stabbed by his victim in the first season finale. In Season 3, he ends up on the receiving end of a brutal beat-down by Jim after the latter discovers Amanda was raped by him. In the Season 3 finale, he's shot and killed on Jim's orders.
    • In the Season 2 finale "Checkmate," Jim gets his ass kicked by Quincy in his own home and, at the end of the episode, gets taken captive by Warlock and his thugs at Candace's request. Continuing into Season 3, he's tied to a chair in a dingy basement, where Candace forces him to pose for provocative photos with transsexuals and subjects him to Electric Torture to force him to transfer 7.4 billion dollars to her bank account.
    • In "Enough is Enough," Quincy gets beat up by Benny in retaliation for assaulting Hanna earlier in the same episode. A couple of episodes later, he's injured in a truck accident caused by Benny, who again beats him up for the whereabouts of his nephew, Q.
  • Baby Trap:
    • In Season 1, Candace pretends to be pregnant with Jim's child so she can force him to give her money. Her plan eventually falls apart after her capture by the Malones on Jim's orders.
    • Season 3 reveals that Veronica arranged for Jeffrey to get Melissa pregnant so he would be forced to marry her. This proves to be the final straw for Jeffrey, who finally stands up to his mother.
  • Big "SHUT UP!":
    • In "No More Hiding," Veronica screams this at Jeffrey when he tries to explain himself after he comes out of the closet to his parents.
    • In "Oscar," Hanna silences a berating Jim by screaming "SHUT UP, DEMON!" at him.
    • In "Enough is Enough," Jeffrey yells this at his mother when she tries to reply to his incendiary speech to her.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing:
    • Katheryn and Veronica both put up courteous and affable facades in public, but in reality, they are very unpleasant (though Kathryn qualifies for Jerk with a Heart of Gold status).
    • Celine, as well. At first, she's helpful to Hanna as she begins working at the Cryer mansion, but once Hanna starts becoming close to Katheryn, Celine's personality changes for the worst.
  • Black Comedy: In "Amanda's Room," Katheryn gleefully tells Hanna about how Quincy beat the shit out of Jim in the Season 2 finale, taking perverse joy in seeing her smug husband get beat up, remarking she even got turned on by it, and even suggesting having Quincy show up every Friday to beat Jim up. Hanna, however, is far from amused and warns Katheryn about Quincy.
  • Blackmail: After Wyatt accidentally kills a young girl and critically injures Benny while driving Jeffrey's car while high on drugs, Veronica takes custody of said car and uses it to force Jeffrey to dating women lest she have him arrested as an accomplice.
    • Veronica also blackmails Quincy, Candace's ex-boyfriend whom she releases from prison, into her service by threatening to kill his family.
    • "In Memoriam" reveals that Veronica is blackmailing Melissa, the girl she forced Jeffrey to date and impregnate, by threatening to foreclose on her family's house so that her cancer-ridden father won't be able to get his medication.
  • Break the Cutie: Happens to Amanda after she is raped by Professor Cannon in Season 1. It eventually culminates with her committing suicide at the end of Season 2 (which is confirmed in Season 3).
  • Calling the Old Man Out:
    • Jim does this to Katheryn on Amanda's behalf, ordering her to talk to their daughter after her suicide attempt in Season 1.
    • In "No More Hiding," Benny calls Hanna out on her behavior toward Candace, pointing out that she herself has a past filled with sexual immorality.
    • In Season 2, David does this to Veronica on Jeffrey's behalf when he learns that Veronica is blackmailing their son into dating women.
    • Hanna calls Tony Watson, Benny's absentee father, out for not being part of Benny's life.
    • In "Amanda's Room," Benny is disgusted to find his mother in bed with another man and gives her an earful for it, but Hanna sternly tells him it's none of his business. In the same episode, a drunk Wyatt calls his parents (particularly his mother) out for keeping alcohol around the house when it's clear he has a problem with alcohol.
    • In "In Crisis," Wyatt gets into a fistfight with Jim before proceeding to call Jim out for his various affairs with many women over the years, and for blowing him off when he (Wyatt) tried to call him about the priest who was molesting him at camp when he was a child (Jim was with Celine, but he lied and told Wyatt he was busy).
    • In "Oscar," Landon calls out David for not doing enough to help Jeffrey against Veronica. In the same episode, Benny confronts Tony over why he wanted him taken off life support.
    • In "Enough is Enough," Jeffrey finally stands up to Veronica after he learns that she arranged for him to impregnate Melissa so he'd be forced to marry her.
  • Car Meets House: In "Vetted," Quincy drives his car into Hanna's house, where it explodes moments later. It's definitely NOT Played for Laughs.
  • Childhood Friends: It's stated that Wyatt and Jeffrey have been friends since they were kids.
  • Cloud Cuckoolander: Amanda, as she descends deeper into insanity.
  • Comatose Canary: Benny spends most of Season 2 in a coma after being hit by a drugged-out Wyatt behind the wheel of Jeffrey's black Sedan at the close of Season 1. In Season 2's "The Awakening," he wakes up.
  • Con Artist: Candace. Hanna even describes her as such to a Child Services worker in Season 3 while pushing for custody of Candace's young son, Q.
  • Control Freak: Veronica, oh so VERY much.
    David: Who are you?
    Veronica: I'm in control.
    • Jim, as well. He will do absolutely anything to get his way.
  • Crusading Lawyer: D.A. Jennifer Sallison, who happens to be one of Jim's past lovers and later vows to bring down the Cryers and the Harringtons for covering up Wyatt's vehicular manslaughter. She succeeds in arresting them in the Season 3 finale.
  • Dark and Troubled Past:
    • Hanna, a devout Christian woman, has a history of sexual immorality that includes sleeping with Tony Watson, a married man, to have Benny and having a one-night stand with another man to give birth to Candace.
    • It's revealed that both Wyatt and Amanda were molested when they were children years ago; this most likely contributed to their individual issues.
  • Death of a Child: As of "In Pursuit of Pray," Q has been shot when War and his gang fought Benny and Mitch.
  • Delicate and Sickly: In Season 4, Q is revealed to have lupus and asthma.
  • Disappeared Dad:
    • Tony Watson, Benny's father who, years ago, wanted nothing to do with his son after learning Hanna was pregnant with his child.
    • The Season 2 episode "Norman Hewens" reveals Jim to be this to Celine's two sons, Carlos and Jimmy.
  • The Dog Bites Back: At the end of "The Heart of a Man", Jeffrey stabs Veronica with a knife at the Cryers' after she continues to bitterly berate him for not being the man she wants him to be.
  • Drowning My Sorrows:
    • In "A Tragic Day," Wyatt hits the booze hard after Amanda's death.
    • In "A Talk with Jim," Jim and Katheryn share a glass of liquor in the aftermath of Amanda's death.
  • Due to the Dead: Shockingly and intensely averted in the episodes "A Tragic Day," "April 7, 1979," and "In Crisis." After Amanda is found dead and most of the characters return to the Cryer Mansion, Wyatt gets drunk and lashes out at his mother, Jeffrey, David, and later Jim; Celine refuses to be of any help and gets into a physical altercation with Katheryn; Veronica would rather talk about Jeffrey and insists that Melissa stay with Jeffrey despite David's objections; Katheryn bitterly blames Jim for their daughter's death and curses the day they first met; and Wyatt reveals he's going to confess what actually happened with Lizzie (the girl he accidentally killed at the close of Season 1) to Sallison.
  • The Dutiful Son: Benny, to Hanna.
  • Dysfunctional Family: All three families on the show fall into this category.
  • Dysfunction Junction: This trope's name could very well be an alternate title for the show.
  • Electric Torture: In "A Southern Brawl," Candace subjects a captive Jim to this to make him transfer 7.4 billion dollars to her bank account.
  • External Combustion: A hitman hired by Veronica rigs David's car to explode. David was extremely injured while Erica's body was charred.
  • Evil Is Petty: Jim and Veronica both qualify.
  • Evil Matriarch:
    • Veronica is the insanely bitchy head of the Harrington family. It's best exemplified with The Reveal in "Enough is Enough" that she set Jeffrey up with Melissa so he would get her pregnant and be forced to wed her.
    • Katheryn qualifies to a lesser extent, given her Jerk with a Heart of Gold nature.
  • Evil Teacher: Professor Cannon, Amanda's law professor who rapes her (and before doing so, calls her "stupid" when she resists his unwelcome advances).
  • Fake-Out Make-Out: In "A Southern Brawl," when hotel security knocks on the door and demands they open the door, Veronica opens the door, pushes David against a wall, and starts kissing him to cover up the fact that, moments earlier, she had been whaling on Maggie for supposedly sleeping with her husband (which he didn't).
  • Fat and Skinny: Katheryn (short and a little on the pudgy side) and Jim (tall with less body fat than his wife).
  • Faux Affably Evil:
    • Professor Cannon, Amanda's law professor, rapes her and is shown to be very chatty afterwards, ecstatically commenting on her "performance" and even asking her if she wants something to eat. All while Amanda just sits on the bed, shell-shocked from the ordeal.
    • Jim certainly qualifies. He's capable of putting on a gentlemanly and courteous face, but end of the day, he's a grade-A asshole.
    • Veronica, as well.
  • Good Parents:
  • Gratuitous Spanish: Celine. In "Norman Hewens," when her and Jim's son, Carlos, shows up and they start speaking in Spanish, an exasperated Jim ends up demanding that they both speak English.
  • Hello, Attorney!: Veronica may be a stone-cold bitch, but she is a lawyer and pretty darn attractive.
  • Heroic Blue Screen of Death: Hanna experiences one when Q is shot dead.
  • I Can Explain: When David and Maggie were about to leave the hotel room after sorting things out (earlier, Maggie got drunk and tried to seduce David, but he resisted her advances), they are immediately visited by Veronica. David tries to tell his wife that nothing happened between him and Maggie, but Veronica refuses to hear him out and assumes she's being cheated on.
  • Ice Queen: Veronica. This quote from Jim highlights this trope:
    Jim: (while Veronica's in the room) Is it just me, or did it just get really cold in here?
  • I Need a Freaking Drink: In the Season 3 episode "The Power Dance," Wyatt grabs some alcohol when he sees the previous text messages from Candace, Celine, and many other women on his father's cell phone.
  • It's All About Me:
  • Jacob and Esau:
    • Wyatt and Amanda, to Katheryn and Jim, with Wyatt being the favorite and Amanda The Unfavorite to Katheryn and vice versa to Jim.
    • Benny and Candace to Hanna, Benny being the favorite and Candace The Unfavorite.
  • Jerkass: A MAJORITY of the cast belong in this category, so much so that there ought to be a trope called "World Of Jerkass." Jim and Veronica, however, stand out.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
    • Candace is very rude, sassy, and manipulative, but she genuinely cares for her brother Benny and her friends Amanda and Jeffrey.
    • Wyatt is quite rude to most people, but it's shown he has more of a conscience than his father does. In Season 3, however, he sadly evolves into a plain-old Jerkass after finding evidence of Jim's extramarital affairs.
    • Katheryn is very mean to her husband, her daughter, Candace, and Celine, but she genuinely values her friendship with Hanna, goes out of her way to have Benny moved to a better hospital and later pays his medical bills to get back into Hanna's good graces after she quits her job at the Cryers' mansion; and recognizes how her own abusive behavior towards Amanda resulted in Amanda's death.
    • Hanna, too! She's generally a kind, grandmotherly woman to most people, but she's very hostile towards her own daughter Candace and Benny's father Tony.
    • Benny is generally an all-around Nice Guy, but at times, he can become rather rough and aggressive.
  • Kick the Dog:
    • In "The War Room," Veronica gets a hotel employee fired from his job after he insists she follow proper hotel procedure by showing some ID so he can open the door to David's hotel room. After another employee opens the door, she turns to the now-former hotel employee and snidely tells him "Good luck with the job hunt."
    • In "A Southern Brawl," Veronica blames Jeffrey for her and David's soured marriage. What a bitch!
    • In "Vetted," Jim makes sexual advances towards Maggie, who spurns his advances and leaves his office in a huff. In the same episode, he gives a cruel speech to Celine about their past relationship and how she's made herself out to be a weak person by going along with revealing his illegitimate sons to Dianna Winchil.
    • In "Sheep's Clothing," Jim has sex with Celine, after which he gives her a hateful speech about how he no longer loves her and that the only reason he slept with her was so he could make himself feel better, and also vows to pay very little child support for his illegitimate son Carlos, whom he refers to as "that bastard," before leaving and telling Celine "Go to Hell."
  • Knight Templar Parent: Jim is one to Wyatt, going to insane lengths to cover up his son's involvement in the vehicular manslaughter of a young girl.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: Midway through Season 2, Jim has Candace abducted by the Malones in an attempt to get her out of his life for good. Season 2 ends with Jim being abducted by Candace's acquaintances on the night before he's expected to officially announce his candidacy for Governor.
  • Luke, You Are My Father: In "Norman Hewens," Carlos, a worker at Jim's campaign office, reveals himself to be one of Jim and Celine's sons.
  • Madness Mantra: As she slips deeper into insanity, Amanda takes up singing "Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe."
  • Mama Bear: Hanna is one towards Benny, best shown when Tony shows up at the hospital hoping to have Benny taken off life support, she shields Benny and tells Tony, "Over my dead body."
    • When she hears about Veronica arranging Wyatt to be raped in prison in "Promises Kept," Katheryn is not pleased to hear about it and decides to take matters into her own hands.
  • Manipulative Bitch: Candace and Veronica can spin deceit and lies with the best of them.
  • May–December Romance: Jim and Candace, although you can't really call it a "romance." Jim has just turned 50, and Candace is around the same age as his daughter.
  • Moral Myopia: Veronica is livid when David hits her once in "Team of Rivals" and swears brutal vengeance, ignoring the fact that she pushed him and Jeffrey over the edge several times.
  • Mrs. Robinson: In the second half of Season 3, Veronica, a middle-aged woman, instigates an affair with Benny, who's stated to be 23, to get back at David for his supposed affair with Maggie.
  • My Beloved Smother: Veronica, to Jeffrey.
  • My God, What Have I Done?:
    • Wyatt has this reaction when he finds out he accidentally hit and killed a young girl with Jeffrey's Sedan while high on drugs.
    • Katheryn's realization of how her abusive and demanding behavior pushed Amanda to suicide in Season 3.
  • Never My Fault:
    • In "A Southern Brawl," Veronica blames Jeffrey for her and David's marital troubles, not even considering how her own bitchy and increasingly psychotic behavior pushed David away from her.
    • Candace, with regard to Amanda's suicide in Season 3 when Jim and Katheryn hold her captive and question her about why Amanda took her own life.
    • Veronica does it again in "The Road to Hell" when she blames Hanna for Melissa's suicide, ignoring the fact that she heaped tons of abuse on her and kicked her out of her house.
  • No One Should Survive That!: Wyatt receives his inheritance and immediately consumes copious amounts of drugs and booze. He's assumed dead for most of Season 4 mainly because the police who are investigating his room don't bother to call the paramedics.
  • Nosy Neighbor: Pearl, Candace's neighbor from across the street, is suspicious of what she is doing having several visitors (i.e. Quincy, Jeffrey, etc). She has cameras in her house and threatens to call the police when she spots a potential threat.
  • Odd Friendship: Hanna and Katheryn.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • Jim's reaction in the very first episode when he learns Candy Cane, the prostitute he slept with, is his daughter's new friend, Candace Young.
    • David's expression when he leaves Maggie's hotel room and finds Veronica waiting for him in his own room in "A Southern Brawl."
    • Jeffrey's reaction when he returns to his apartment to find Quincy waiting for him at the end of "In Crisis."
    • Benny's expression when Hanna catches him in bed with Veronica at the end of "Nine Lives."
    • When Benny realizes that Candace lied about her job and again when he realizes that he could lose his home and towing company due to Candace's lies and shenanigans.
  • One Degree of Separation: Jim has an affair with Candace. Candace happens to be the daughter of Hanna, whom the Cryers hire as a housekeeper, and is friends with Jim's daughter Amanda.
  • Only Sane Man:
    • David is usually forced into this role, though that's not to say he doesn't have problems of his own.
    • Hanna is a female example. Sometimes.
  • Papa Wolf: David, towards Jeffrey. When Jim suggests having Jeffrey take the fall for Wyatt's vehicular manslaughter of a young girl, he gets into a heated argument with Jim about the matter. He also sticks up for his son against Veronica after she verbally cuts him down for being gay, and in "Unglued," he REALLY lets Veronica have it for ordering Quincy to beat up Jeffrey.
  • Parental Favoritism: It's all over the place on this show. Jim favors Amanda over Wyatt, Katheryn favors Wyatt over Amanda, and Hanna favors Benny over Candace.
  • Parental Neglect: In "In Crisis," Wyatt angrily confronts Jim about his past affairs with numerous women and mentions that, while he was being molested at camp as a child, he tried calling Jim, only for Jim to say he was busy when, in actuality, he was with Celine.
  • Parents as People: While they're worst parents to a fault, Jim and Katheryn show their mutual concern for Wyatt, who obtained his inheritance for his instant gratification.
  • Pet the Dog: In the Season 3 mid-season premiere "Two Funerals," Jim thanks Hanna for handling the arrangements for Amanda's funeral.
  • Primal Scene: A mild example in "Amanda's Room." Benny returns home from trying to track down Candace to find his mother and Michael making out on her bed. He's very squicked out.
  • Prison Rape: After Jim leaves him in prison, Wyatt is nearly raped by Rico, Norman Hewens' former cellmate, but is saved by a prison guard. A couple of episodes later, he's raped by a new cellmate, Toxic, on Veronica's orders.
  • Rape as Drama:
    • In Season 1, Amanda gets raped by her law professor.
    • It's also mentioned that both Amanda and Wyatt were molested by a priest at a camp when they were children.
    • "In Crisis" reveals that Candace was molested by an old boyfriend of Hanna's when she was a child.
    • "Quincy Jr." ends with Wyatt about to be raped by his new cellmate. The following episode, "A Home for Q," reveals that Veronica arranged for this to happen.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
    • In "Norman Hewens," after Jim prevents Wyatt from going to jail by showing the authorities a news report where the titular character, the Wyatt look-alike, gets arrested in his place, Katheryn gives him an acerbic speech, telling him that he is a horrible person for his past and present actions, and that the lengths to which he goes to protect his children will be detrimental to them sooner or later.
    • In "A Southern Brawl," Candace gives one to Veronica after the latter blames Jeffrey for her and David's problems.
    • Wyatt gives one to Jim in "In Crisis" while confronting his father about his past misdeeds, namely refusing to help him when he was being molested by a priest at camp because he (Jim) was with Celine at the time.
    • In "Unglued," David finds out that Veronica ordered Quincy to beat up Jeffrey and launches into a furious rant at his wife, calling her a "simple bitch."
    • In "Enough is Enough," Jeffrey gives his mother one after she reveals she arranged for him to impregnate Melissa so he'd be forced to marry her.
  • The Reveal: In "Enough is Enough," Veronica reveals that she arranged for Jeffrey to get Melissa pregnant so he would be forced to marry her.
  • Sassy Black Woman: Hanna, Candace, and Veronica all get moments to dish out sass one way or another.
  • Scare 'Em Straight: In Season 3, Jim takes Wyatt to prison and has him switch places with Norman Hewens, leaving Wyatt there so he'll get a taste of what prison will be like.
  • Scary Black Man:
    • Quincy, Candace's ex-boyfriend who did time in prison for multiple homicides. Once out of prison (thanks to Veronica), he breaks into Hanna's house searching for Candace and physically threatens Hanna before leaving, and befriends Amanda, even showing her how to shoot a gun. Candace later claims that Quincy murdered their young son, Q; while this later turns out to be false, it's clear Quincy has no qualms about hurting his son just to taunt Hanna. He also violently strikes Hanna when she tries to stop him from taking Q away, and it's all but confirmed that he has been physically abusive to Q in "Quincy Jr."
    • Warlock, Candace's old friend, qualifies to a slightly lesser degree than Quincy.
    • Veronica is a Scary Black Woman. Yes, she can absolutely terrifying at times.
    • Rico, Norman Hewen's cellmate who tries to rape Wyatt in prison.
    • Toxic, Wyatt's rapist who acts on Veronica's orders.
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: In "The War Room," Veronica, trying to get access to David's hotel room, is met with a hotel employee who insists she follow proper procedure and show him her ID. Veronica calls the owner of the hotel and gets the hotel employee fired.
  • Servile Snarker:
    • Hanna works as a maid for the Cryers and often shows a dry wit.
    • Celine, as well.
  • Show Some Leg: Acting on Candace's advice, Amanda dons a sexy dress and gets a makeover in order to get her law professor to give her a makeup test. Unfortunately, this leads to her getting raped by said professor.
  • Smug Snake: Candace and Jim both qualify.
  • Spicy Latina: Celine, the Cryers' other maid who once had an affair with Jim and wants to get back together with him.
  • Stalker without a Crush: Amanda becomes one to Professor Cannon after the latter rapes her.
  • Straight Gay:
    • Jeffrey is homosexual, but he doesn't exhibit any Camp Gay behavior.
    • Landon, a campaign worker for Jim and David's gubernatorial race and Jeffrey's Love Interest who enters in the second season.
    • Rico, Norman Hewen's cellmate who tries to rape Wyatt in Season 3.
    • And Toxic, Wyatt's rapist.
  • Tantrum Throwing:
    • In "A Southern Brawl," Veronica throws a vase at Maggie while attempting to attack her for supposedly sleeping with David (which he didn't).
    • In "A Tragic Day," after Katheryn fires Celine and Celine refuses to leave, she grabs a vase and throws it at her.
    • In "Unglued," a crazed Veronica throws glasses and chairs around the hotel bar after David calls her a "simple bitch."
  • Tattooed Crook: Quincy, Candace's ex-boyfriend and the father of their son Q.
  • This Is Unforgivable!: In Season 3, Jeffrey makes it clear to his father that he believes his mother to be beyond any redemption for her many misdeeds.
  • Took a Level in Kindness: After he accidentally hits and kills a young girl, Wyatt starts to soften up a bit and become a nicer person than he usually is. But then it all goes out the window in Season 3 after he discovers evidence of his father's infidelity and he hits the bottle hard, and he starts acting like an asshole again.
  • Troubled, but Cute: Wyatt and Amanda both qualify.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In all fairness, if Jeffrey hadn't caused Wyatt's girlfriend, Laura, to break up with him just so he could have Wyatt to himself and then later admitted his feelings for Wyatt, Wyatt never would have taken Jeffrey's car, went to a crack house, got high on heroin, got back behind the wheel, hit Benny (leaving him in a coma for a good portion of Season 2), and killed a young girl.
    • Also, if Candace hadn't convinced Amanda to get a sexy makeover and seduce her law professor into giving her a makeup exam, Amanda wouldn't have gotten raped by her professor (though this isn't to say that Jim and Katheryn contributed to Amanda's issues).
  • Wham Episode: The Season 3 finale "When the Chickens Come Home" has Benny losing trust in his sister; Hanna and Benny parting ways on bad terms; Wyatt and Jeffrey finding the latter's wrecked car and the former informing D.A. Sallison; Oscar revealed to be a have taken Candace's extorted money on David's orders; Professor Cannon and Officer Terrell being killed on Jim's orders; Jim announcing he's going to keep running for Governor; Jim, Katheryn, David, and Veronica being arrested for covering up Wyatt's vehicular manslaughter; and Quincy being killed by Candace and Jeffrey.
  • Would Hit a Girl:
    • In "Dianna Winchil," Jim physically assaults Veronica after finding out she arranged for Wyatt to be raped in prison.
    • David gives Veronica a backhand slap in "Team of Rivals" after he has enough of her horrific actions and warns her to stay away from Jeffrey.

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