WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH EMPIRE

Every Wednesday night, millions of people settle in to watch empire

So why aren't you?

As the show continues to destroy TV records and gather viewers like an unstoppable juggernaut, it's clear people are watching — and loving — the show. Still straddling the fence on this one? With only three episodes left in the scintillating first season, here's a quick primer on all the soapy goodness you're missing out on.

 Cookie

You really only need one reason to watch this show: Taraji P. Henson. Despite an Oscar nomination and years of acting success, her portrayal of Cookie Lyon is something of a breakout role. She's a complex diva, who barks out lines like, "The streets ain't made for everybody — that's why they made sidewalks." Her flashy wardrobe of skin-tight mini dresses and plush fur coats are just show-stopping accents for the compelling woman underneath the getup.

 It tackles real-world issues

TV shows, especially one like Empire, will always dramatize real-world situations. However, at the core of its high-flying plotlines are people dealing with painful realities. Eldest son Andre suffers from bipolar disorder, while Lucious is coming to terms with an ALS diagnosis.
Middle son Jamal constantly fights with his homophobic father, while also worrying whether his sexual orientation will affect his rising career — and if his career will affect his relationship (spoiler alert: yep). These frank discussions are what ground an otherwise melodramatic show.

 The music

With Grammy Award-winning Timbaland as the show's music supervisor, each episode of Empire is packed with bangers. Despite the Internet's LAUGH over Hakeem's rap single "Drip Drop" (mostly due to the very unsexy title), it consistently produces catchy tracks with pop appeal.Some critics say the tracks sound a little dated, but the show's rising caché means it'll only get better and work out the kinks over time.

 Never-ending love triangles.

One of the great hallmarks of a soap opera are the characters' ever-evolving messy love lives. Just when you think your favorite couple has sorted out their issues, a bomb explodes right in the middle of it all.
While Empire isn't a true blue soap, it bears all romantic twists and turns of one. Lucious and Cookie have a buried love that always threatens to bubble to the surface. Jamal's love life gets thrown out of whack by outside circumstances. Hakeem and Tiana's hookup is complicated by industry pressure and a secret on Tiana's end. Even Andre and his wife have bizarre elements that resemble the power structures of Claire and Francis Underwood.