Let's be real for a second. When the pilot for Empire dropped on Fox back in 2015, nobody actually expected it to become the cultural juggernaut it turned into. It was loud. It was Shakespearean. It was messy. Honestly, episodes of Empire the TV show felt less like a standard network procedural and more like a high-budget fever dream fueled by hip-hop and family trauma.
You remember the feeling. Wednesday nights became an event.
✨ Don't miss: Why More Than Enough Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir Is Still the Gold Standard for Gospel Music
The show didn't just have ratings; it had a literal movement. By the time the first season wrapped, it was pulling in over 17 million viewers. That doesn't happen anymore. In the streaming era, those numbers look like a typo. But Lee Daniels and Danny Strong hit on something specific: the intersection of the American Dream and the nightmare of maintaining a legacy. At the center of it all was Lucious Lyon, played with a terrifying, charismatic edge by Terrence Howard, and the undeniable force of nature that was Taraji P. Henson’s Cookie Lyon.
The Chaos and Craft of Early Episodes of Empire the TV Show
If you go back and watch the pilot today, the pacing is absolutely breathless. We’re introduced to a dying mogul—or so he thinks—who decides to pit his three sons against each other for the crown of Empire Entertainment. It’s King Lear with a Timbaland-produced soundtrack.
Andre is the eldest, the "suit" with a secret struggle with bipolar disorder. Jamal is the middle child, the soulful artist whose father hates him for being gay. Hakeem is the youngest, the spoiled brat with undeniable talent but no discipline.
The magic of those early episodes of Empire the TV show wasn't just the music, though "Keep Your Money" and "You're So Beautiful" were genuine hits. It was the tension. When Cookie walks out of prison after 17 years wearing that iconic leopard print, the show shifts gears. She wasn't just a character; she was the heartbeat. She demanded her share of the company she helped build with drug money, and suddenly, the power dynamics weren't just about business. They were about survival.
Lee Daniels has often spoken about how the show was semi-autobiographical regarding his relationship with his father. That’s why the scenes where Lucious throws a young Jamal into a trash can for wearing his mother's heels felt so visceral. It wasn't just "good TV." It was a painful, honest reflection of the homophobia often buried within hyper-masculine cultures. It was heavy stuff for a soap opera.
The Mid-Series Slump and the Celebrity Cameo Problem
Success can be a double-edged sword. As the show exploded, the guest stars started rolling in.
- Chris Rock as a cannibalistic drug lord (yeah, that actually happened).
- Alicia Keys as a pop star with a secret.
- Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, and Mariah Carey.
- Even Snoop Dogg showed up.
While the cameos brought buzz, they sometimes distracted from the core Lyon family drama. By Season 3 and 4, the plots started getting... wild. Amnesia? Secret sisters? Car bombings that people just walked away from? It became "peak soap."
But even when the writing felt like it was spinning its wheels, the performances kept it grounded. Jussie Smollett and Bryshere Y. Gray had a genuine brotherly chemistry on screen that made the musical collaborations feel earned. The recording studio scenes were often the best parts of the show because they slowed down the frantic plotting to focus on the art.
Why the Music in Episodes of Empire the TV Show Actually Worked
Most TV shows about the music industry fail because the music is, frankly, terrible. Empire avoided this by hiring Timbaland as the executive music producer for the early seasons. He brought in songwriters like Ester Dean and Justin Mosley. They weren't writing "TV songs." They were writing records.
The show utilized a "diegetic" music style. That’s a fancy way of saying the music existed within the world of the characters. When Jamal sang "Good Enough," he wasn't singing to the audience; he was singing to his father. The lyrics were the dialogue.
- Season 1, Episode 1: "Good Enough" sets the tone for the entire series.
- Season 1, Episode 6: "Keep Your Money" showed Hakeem's potential as a legitimate star.
- Season 2, Episode 1: "Born to Lose" highlighted the political edge the show tried to maintain.
There was a specific grit to the production. It sounded like Chicago. It sounded like the mid-2010s radio. It gave the episodes of Empire the TV show a sense of legitimacy that Nashville or Glee didn't quite capture in the same way. It felt "of the culture."
The Tragic Downfall and the Finale That Wasn't
We have to talk about the elephant in the room. The Jussie Smollett scandal in 2019 effectively derailed the show's final act. It’s impossible to separate the legacy of the episodes of Empire the TV show from the real-world headlines.
The writers had to pivot. Hard.
Jamal, who was arguably the moral center of the series, was written out. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit during the filming of the final season. Because of the shutdowns, the show never got to film its intended series finale. Episode 18 of Season 6, "Keep It Movable," became the de facto ending.
It was jarring.
👉 See also: Alex From Modern Family Now: Why Ariel Winter Really Left Hollywood
Fans were left with a patchwork finale that used behind-the-scenes footage and deleted scenes to try and provide closure. We never got the definitive "who wins the throne" moment that the pilot promised. For a show that started with such a bang, the whimper of the ending was a tough pill for the "Empire Lifestyle" die-hards to swallow.
The Lasting Influence on Modern Television
Despite the messy ending, you can see Empire’s DNA in everything that came after. It proved that a Black-led ensemble cast could pull in massive, diverse audiences on a major network. It paved the way for shows like Star, Queens, and even the more prestige-leaning Succession owes a debt to the Lyon family’s dysfunctional boardroom battles.
One thing people get wrong is thinking Empire was just a "Black version" of Dynasty. It was much more political than that. It touched on the school-to-prison pipeline, the stigma of mental health in the Black community, and the exploitation of artists by major labels.
It was loud, yes. It was often ridiculous. But it was never boring.
The fashion alone deserves a museum exhibit. Paolo Nieddu, the costume designer, turned Cookie Lyon into a style icon. The furs, the gold, the animal prints—it wasn't just costume; it was armor. Every outfit told you exactly who had the power in the room before a single line of dialogue was spoken.
Practical Ways to Revisit the Series Today
If you’re looking to dive back into the Lyon den, don't just binge it mindlessly. The show is best experienced with a bit of context.
- Watch the first two seasons as a standalone arc. This is the show at its absolute peak. The writing is tight, the stakes are clear, and the music is phenomenal.
- Pay attention to the transitions. The way the show cuts between the recording studio and the boardrooms is a masterclass in visual storytelling for television.
- Listen to the soundtracks on their own. The "Empire Season 1" soundtrack actually debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200, beating out Madonna. It holds up.
- Look for the Shakespearean parallels. If you know King Lear or Richard III, the character beats for Lucious and Andre become much more fascinating.
Honestly, the best way to enjoy episodes of Empire the TV show now is to appreciate them for what they were: a high-stakes, unapologetic celebration of Black excellence and the messy reality of the American dream. It wasn't perfect, but it was electric.
To get the most out of a rewatch, start with the Season 1 finale, "Who I Am." It encapsulates everything the show did right—betrayal, massive musical numbers, and a cliffhanger that actually mattered. Then, move into the Season 2 opener to see how they handled the height of their fame. You'll see exactly why the world was obsessed.