‘Empire,’ Season 4 Episode 8 Recap: In ‘Cupid Painted Blind,’ Andre Has A Breakdown

This week’s episode of Empire started with a type of intervention. Last week, we ended with Jamal beating up Warren after learning Warren was working with the Dubois the whole time because he is Diana’s nephew.

Empire Season 4 Episode 8 Recap

Jamal is preparing to be arrested on charges of assault, battery, disturbing the peace, destruction of property, and fleeing the scene of the offense. The Lyons plan to spin the story to make it seem like Warren threw the first punch, although none of them have any idea where he is.

The Lyons are now attempting to find out what Diana’s plan to hurt Andre is, now that she has already crushed both Jamal and Hakeem’s souls. They ask Andre if he has developed a close relationship with anyone, but Andre says no. This is particularly strange, since Andre did mention to his family last week that he was seeing someone, although he didn’t say Pamela’s name.

Cookie has another flashback from prison, this time of Poundcake having her baby, and remembers she and the other women talking about how easy it is to realize you would do anything for your child, even kill if necessary.

As usual, Cookie and Lucious enlist the help of the perennially shady Thirsty, who compiles pictures and details of all of Diana Dubois’ bodyguards, and realized one of them is missing and that he must thus be protecting Warren while he recovers from his injuries.

Meanwhile, Tiana is working on a new song with Shyne. Hakeem suddenly bursts in to bark at his ex-girlfriend.

“You should put some AutoTune on that mess,” he says to Tiana — who immediately slaps him.

“I am so sick and tired of your spoiled, entitled ass,” she says, and tells him to go get back with Anika. She storms out, as she should, and Hakeem starts whining to Shine. “This life ruins everything.”

Shyne thus takes Hakeem to the suburbs of New York City and reveals he has several children from what looks like multiple women who are not in the music industry. Shyne says this is how he’s been capable of maintaining peace in his life.

Andre meets up with Pamela and accuses her of colluding with Diana to hurt his family. Pam responds by asking would she share with him her deepest secret (that she murdered someone last week to defend herself) just to manipulate him and help a woman she doesn’t even know. She breaks up with Andre and leaves as he breaks a glass in anger.

We then realize Thirsty was watching this entire exchange, and he calls Lucious to arrive there. Andre tells Thirsty and Lucious Pam’s name and that she’s a cop, but adds he is no longer with her.

Cookie then does her part by stealthily leaving Empire with a gun in hand a picture of Warren’s bodyguard. The fierce Mama Lyon goes to visit a bedridden Warren and forces him to tell the police he started the fight between him and Jamal. Warren agrees immediately, but Cookie demands more: she asks him how Diana hopes to attack Andre.

Cookie has another flashback to prison: This time, she asked the guard who fathered Poundcake’s baby what happened to her, and he is then shown attacking Cookie and sending her to the hole as punishment for meddling in others’ affairs for a week. Turns out Poundcake had been there for an entire month, and when they both were released, Poundcake told Cookie the guard made her sign away her parental rights. The beautiful baby she loved so much is now lost, and Cookie vows to fight to get Poundcake back her infant.

Jamal is sitting at home, drinking his sorrows away while listening to the song he and Warren recorded together. Hakeem comes to visit him, and he erases Warren’s part from the track and replaces it with new lyrics of his own. The two younger Lyon brothers thus bond in a lovely way and their spirits are momentarily lifted. (Not for long, obviously!)

Meanwhile, Andre is alone in his apartment, calling Pamela and imploring her to return so he can try to convince her again that he means well. Pam already happens to be approaching his apartment, and she shows up and angrily yells at him again for accusing her of not trusting him despite her revelation that she killed someone. “Do you have any idea what that feels like?”

“I do know how it feels,” says Andre before confessing to planting the bomb in his father’s car in Las Vegas to try and kill him.

Pamela retaliates with another startling revelation of her own: “I got you. I have a confession, too, Andre. I’m not NYPD. I’m Vegas Metro, undercover.” And that’s not all. She says she’s been after him for quite some time. She knew about the car bomb — and the poor guy who built it — and then tells him he’s got to be the dumbest criminal in the history of crime.”

Andre and Pam both reach for her gun but she gets it first and points it at Andre before reading him his Miranda rights. Andre jumps on her to get the gun out of her hand, and after a scuffle on the ground, Andre squeezes Pam and kills her.

Cookie and Lucious arrive to see what has happened, but then something crazy happens. We see flashbacks of Andre and Pamela hanging out together, and after every scene she just suddenly vanishes without any explanation. Apparently, in the scene at the cafe, people were staring because he was yelling at the air. So we can’t help but ask the obvious question: was Pam real?? Or was Andre just imagining her like he saw Rhonda’s ghost several times after she died.

We’ll surely learn the answer to this and so many more questions next week on the fall finale! Tune in Wednesday at 8 pm EST on FOX to find out!