The entertainment world is made up of parasites and idiots, according to The Idol, so a pathetic figure like Tedros (The Weeknd) appears out of nowhere and takes over the lives of those we are presented as “the greatest pop artist of the moment”. It’s so ridiculous, so poorly shot, acted, and stitched together that the series surpasses any previous shoddy reference, perhaps only paralleling 1995’s Showgirls. The sex is gratuitous, crass, and not as sexy as it could be or porn as it tries. It’s a string of awkwardness that, for me, undermines the credibility of showrunner Sam Levinson, as well as Weeknd‘s (although I still like his voice and music), and cast. However, as a member of the torture cult, grateful that there will be few episodes, I remain masochistic in commenting on the absurdity of HBO giving its platform (and money) to a project of such poor quality.

We find Tedro and Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp, naked, obviously)) in bed and arranging to go shopping. In addition to taking advantage of the convertible on a street that is generally not possible to speed in Los Angeles for more sex in slow motion, just to take the view of Leia (Rachel Sennott) and make us sick right away, they stop on Rodeo Drive with an embarrassing number of (few) people waiting, camera in hand, for a Jocelyn (again in an undercover outfit) to feel adored. But in the Weeknd‘s world that’s how it is, we have to accept it.

Inside the store, it only gets worse. More obvious product placement than we see from the Valentino brand is interspersed with more graphic sex, a sequence of nonsensical dialogues, and more crude sex. Tedros already starts his abuse, calling Jocelyn’s wardrobe tacky (I thought we were going to join his cult because finally, someone speaks the truth to her!) and so “he” is choosing with her what to take. At the same time, we see that Leia has already asked Chaim (Hank Azaria) for help – who is armed – but we will see that it did not help much. Leia commented on the resignation of the chef that Jocelyn accepted after Tedros’ imposition, but sorry, the chef is beautiful but touching the hostess’s belly to praise her fitness is really worrying. Even more, it makes me angry that Tedros is right for the second time in five minutes!

When Tedros is confronted by Chaim and Destiny (Da’vine) it seems that he also manages to deceive them, but the consent of the two to keep him comes from the recognition that it will be complex to get him out. To make Leia even more exposed, even Xander (Troye Sivan) doesn’t cooperate because not only does he reveal important behind-the-scenes information to Tedros, he has the most ridiculous complaint that his ‘brilliant’ ideas are always blocked by the record company, ideas like using the photo of Jocelyn with cum in her face as the cover of the next album. I’m angry! I have to give it to Nikki (Jane Adams) but I finally get one from Tedros, who loves it.

To make matters worse, Xander the gossip reveals that Jocelyn’s relationship with her mother was “unique”, which leads to a tense dinner in which the artist reveals that her mother beat her with a hairbrush until she bled and “be inspired”. We’ll come back to the question, to get the little bit out of the way that’s still in the way.

We see in yet another awkward sex scene that, while Tedros acts on Jocelyn, Dyanne records the clip in place of Jocelyn, who is already fired and doesn’t even realize it. She is surrounded by her boyfriend’s entourage, an odd trio who explain that Tedros is the “yes man”, forbidding anyone to deny danger or challenge. We get the suggestion that Jocelyn has more control than she seems, and we confirm the error at the dinner I mentioned earlier.

She stands up to Tedros putting him in his place when he questions her about her artistic choices, but again, a point for him because Jocelyn claims she wants to make “music that inspires” people, and from what we’ve seen, her wardrobe and lyrics (remember the song from Freak?), it’s a challenge to agree with her. However, apparently, there are a lot of people telling her that music “saved lives”. Upon listening, it could be that Jocelyn realized how ridiculous her belief is, even with Leia and Xander reinforcing her value. That’s when Tedros turns the tables by getting Jocelyn to tell those who didn’t know how her mother kept her focused on work: with hairbrush spanking. The process was used for everything, from professional disobedience to personal disobedience and Xander is repeating his complicity. Not only did he not stop or report the abuse before, he passed the baton to Tedros, who instructs Jocelyn to pick up the hairbrush and use it on her again.

We say goodbye with Jocelyn submitting 100% to Tedros after a beating. What do you mean, HBO?

With the label’s strategy to go with Dyanne, Jocelyn’s mother’s secret revealed, there are only two questions: Tedros’ origin and his connection to Jocelyn’s future replacement star. Even though the trailer hints that Chaim and Destiny will contemplate a plan to murder the suspected nightclub owner, we know that Jocelyn will perform her sold-out show for the Angels (it’s in the season trailer), which makes us enter the torturous game of suffering to see how much more ridiculous The Idol can be. The worst part is that it seems to have barely started! Too bad the spectacular soundtrack is always associated with this rubbish.

Search

Search