History Series / Swarm

** At the end of "Taste", Dre approach's Ni'jah's table at an afterparty, grabs a rather large chocolate off the table and sensually bites into it a few times as the audio distorts. She then looks mortified and walks away as the crowd around her begins remarking that she just bit Ni'jah's face.

** The penultimate episode, "Fallin' Through the Cracks", [[spoiler:drops the pretense entirely. While the name is censored throughout the episode, it's pretty obvious that the characters are saying "Beyoncé" instead of "Ni'Jah." One interviewed fan is shown wearing what looks like authentic Ivy Park clothing (which is designed by Beyoncé) and his poster of the actual Music/DestinysChild is blurred out behind him. Likewise, the "Beyoncé" is blurred out of a "The Beyoncé Experience" concert ticket found in Marissa's home, with the tour date on the ticket matching the actual date that that Beyoncé concert was in town.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Her fellow strippers save Dre from Reggie, assuming that they're walking in on an AttemptedRape situation, and shoot him before he can strangle her to death. She rewards them by fleeing with the gun and leaving them stranded at his house with his dead body. [[spoiler:It's later revealed they were arrested for supposedly murdering him during a robbery gone wrong.]]

* {{Pixelation}}: The man who asks to jerk off while watching Dre eat is censored this way.
* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure: Hailey mentions to Dre that Music/{{Halsey}} is her favorite singer; Dre doesn’t know who she is.

** In the episode about Ni'Jah giving birth to twins, Dre runs into a stripper's boyfriend called Sir.[[note]]Beyonce's son is called Sir Carter[[/note]]

* UnrealiableNarrator: It becomes pretty clear that Dre will weave any tale so long as it gets her closer to Ni'jah. What isn't immediately apparent until the 3rd episode, "Taste", is that our perspective is being coloured by Dre's.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Marissa, Dre's sister, after her boyfriend cheats on her.]]

* FormulaBreakingEpisode: “Fallin’ Through the Cracks” [[spoiler:is a DocumentaryEpisode that focuses on Loretta Greene’s investigation into Dre’s murder spree and the events that led up to it. It doesn’t feature Dre personally and we see different actors portraying the characters than the ones we’ve seen before — and the episode more or less confirms that the show ''Swarm'' the audience has been watching is basically a true crime recreation of the "real-life" events as helmed by Creator/DonaldGlover.]]

* GainaxEnding: The season 1 finale [[spoiler:has Dre, after a full season of killing any person who dared criticize Ni'Jah in any way (including loved ones), finally go to a Ni'Jah concert and try to storm the stage. Dre is then apprehended by security only for Ni’Jah — having the face of Marissa — to accept Dre and take her to her limo, finally achieving her life goal of acceptance by her idol. Maybe.]]
* GenreBusting: The series is a combination of horror, thriller, BlackComedy, psychological drama, and [[spoiler:{{Mockumentary}}]].

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Dre is still at large by the end of the series and hasn't been arrested.]]

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Her fellow strippers save Dre from Reggie, assuming that they're walking in on an AttemptedRape situation, and shoot him before he can strangle her to death. She rewards them by fleeing with the gun and leaving them stranded at his house with his dead body.

* ShowWithinAShow: In a bizarre example, there is not only a documentary on the supposed story of Dre and the murders she commited, but the Prime video series gets mentioned as based on them too. So apparently it's also a show in the ''documentary'''s reality as well.

** The ''very'' white-passing Hailey's fandom of Music/{{Halsey}} might be one to Halsey in general, and the fact that she's ButNotTooBlack.

* {{Pixelation}}: The man who asks to [[ADateWithRosiePalms jerk off]] while watching Dre eat is censored this way.

** There are references to her having a wealthy rapper husband and a famous if underrated singer sister. They also have a mysterious "elevator incident"

** The show's bee motif is a reference to Beyonce's FanCommunityNickname, the Beyhive.

* TakeThat: The ''very'' white-passing Hailey's fandom of Music/{{Halsey}} might be one to Halsey in general, and the fact that she's ButNotTooBlack.

** There are references to her having a wealthy rapper husband and a famous if underrated singer sister.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Her fellow strippers save Dre from Reggie, assuming that they're walking in on an AttemptedMurder situation, and shoot him before he can strangle her to death. She rewards them by fleeing with the gun and leaving them stranded at his house with his dead body.

* LifeOrDeathQuestion: "Who's your favorite artist?" If the person in question doesn't answer Ni'Jah,

* ArcWords: Dre repeatedly asks people who their favorite artist is across the trailers.

* BugBuzz: Loud insect buzzing can be heard across the trailers as Dre is shown unraveling mentally.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Ni'Jah is a fictitious version of Music/{{Beyonce}}. They wear similar clothing; there are references to her having a wealthy rapper husband and a famous if underrated singer sister. The show's bee motif may also be a reference to Beyonce's FanCommunityNickname, the Beyhive.

* ShoutOut: In the scene where Dre is fleeing a party, she runs past two guys. One claims to recognize her as "the [[Creator/SanaaLathan chick]] from ''Film/LoveAndBasketball''".

* TwentyMinutesIntoThePast: The series was released in 2023, though it is set between 2016 and 2018.

* BerserkButton: [[spoiler:Criticizing Ni’Jah in any capacity is a surefire way to get on Dre’s bad side, at the very least. Similarly, mentions of her late sister Marissa make Dre uncomfortable at best and violent at worst.]]

* {{Cult}}: Dre (initially under the name “Kayla”) briefly stays with one led by Eva (portrayed by Music/BillieEilish). She seems to bond with the girls [[spoiler:at least until she realizes that Eva took her phone and made her miss the Ni’Jah concert. It doesn’t end well for Eva and several other women in the cult.]]

* FormulaBreakingEpisode: “Fallin’ Through the Cracks” [[spoiler:is a DocumentaryEpisode that focuses on Loretta Greene’s investigation into Dre’s murder spree and the events that led up to it. It doesn’t feature Dre personally and we see different actors portraying the characters than the ones we’ve seen before — and the episode more or less confirms that the show ''Swarm'' the audience has been watching is basically a true crime recreation of the “real-life” events as helmed by Creator/DonaldGlover.]]

* GainaxEnding: The season 1 finale [[spoiler:has Dre, after a full season of killing any person who dared criticize Ni’Jah in any way (including loved ones), finally go to a Ni’Jah concert and try to storm the stage. Dre is then apprehended by security only for Ni’Jah — having the face of Marissa — to accept Dre and take her to her limo, finally achieving her life goal of acceptance by her idol. Maybe.]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[spoiler:Dre attempts to kill Reggie, the guy who insulted Marissa after her death. However, because Reggie is a very large man and Dre seems most successful at killing people when she ambushes them (which wasn’t the case here), Reggie nearly strangles her to death. If it weren’t for her stripper co-workers returning to the house and shooting Reggie dead, Dre would’ve died there and then.]]

* SucksAtDancing: Dre gets a job as an exotic dancer. Her twerking and pole dance moves leave a lot to be desired. Combined with her choice of music (a song by Ny'Jah about a dead baby) and unpleasant attitude toward customers, she earns very little. She improves.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Ni'Jah is an {{Expy}} of Music/{{Beyonce}}. They wear similar clothing; there are references to her having a wealthy rapper husband and a famous if underrated singer sister. The show's bee motif may also be a reference to Beyonce's FanCommunityNickname, the Beyhive.

* SucksAtDancing: Dre gets a job as an exotic dancer. Her twerking and pole dance moves leave a lot to be desired. Combined with her choice of music (a song by Ny'Jah about a dead baby) and unpleasant attitude toward customers, she earns very little.