Thank you, Destiny (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) because on her spy mission to “catch” Tedros (The Weeknd) in his strange plan to babysit Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) summed up The Idol series in a phone call: “There is some kinky-ass shit in this house,” she reports to Chaim (Hank Azaria) and seemingly takes on the role of narrator for viewers of this series. “This shit is weird, scary shit.” Do not say!
But let’s be fair to her, Destiny managed in a few phone calls to know more than us about “Tedros”: his real name is Mauricio Costello Jackson and he spent six years in prison for sexually abusing and exploiting women, in addition to being sued for kidnapping and torturing an ex-girlfriend after holding her hostage for three days. And she hasn’t even gotten into whatever it is he might be doing as a club owner in Los Angeles. Still, she credits him with discovering a “very talented” group of followers. Destiny also suggests the most effective way to end the problem (theirs and ours), which is to “kill” Tedros. For now, Chaim refuses, but HBO executives have heard her and the series will end next week, at least three episodes earlier than originally announced.
While we wait, more damage is done. Opening with the cover of Jealous Guy is a hint to Tedros that he is feeling in control of everything and everyone, which is not exactly the case, as we know (he still hasn’t caught what Destiny is doing and it could be that even Jocelyn is not so vulnerable as it is sold). But it took us a while to realize because when we return to ‘TedJoss’ headquarters we find him bossing everyone around, including Leia (Rachel Sennott), whom he manipulates by remembering that although she is posing as a friend, she also takes advantage of Jocelyn. And so we entered the recording process, with Mike Dean and Tedros conducting the orchestra. He is clearly one of those obsessed with the legend that Donna Summer recorded Love to Love You, Baby, by playing herself in a studio. He quotes the song in the first episode and keeps pushing Jocelyn to orgasms every time she has to sing, it’s confusing. It gets even worse for Mike Dean who doesn’t play anyone but himself to see an artist being sexually abused in front of everyone and just laugh.
But other than us, only Leia reacts. Destiny plays the accomplice in disguise because she doesn’t come out. And the explanation Leia (and we) get is that “stars belong in the world”, so rules don’t apply and nothing can stop creativity. But that’s not even the weirdest part anymore.
The ‘lost’ adopted by Tedros are all musicians waiting for an opportunity and in their spare time, with home, food, and drugs at ease, “serve” Tedros in a kind of Manson Family cult. After Xander (Troye Sivan) gossiped about Jocelyn (revealing her mother’s abuse), he became the target of the strange leader. Tedros lies in wait and hears Xander sing, which leads him to confront him about lying about it. Did he lie? For who? Why? Since when? Why was it important to say that he had “torn his vocal cords”? Easy to find out, public torture with the electronic collar. Xander reveals that it was Jocelyn’s abusive mother who made him sign a contract not to sing professionally, it seems, at the request of Jocelyn herself who – look at the revelation – “controls everything around her and everyone”, including Tedros. According to Xander, she is “more disgusting, fucked up, and depraved” than her tormentor. Since it is Jocelyn who orders Tedros to continue the torture, and he complies, we can consider Xander’s sincerity. Thank goodness he keeps us from going on with the scene, recanting and saying he lied and that Joss is a cutie. Too late, he would say.
In addition to witnessing all of this and hearing a foolish Jocelyn tell Destiny the criminal narrative of Tedros as if he were a victim, we know that the businesswoman has everyone in her hands because there are minors participating in the mess, ex-addict Chloe (Suzanna Son). And she keeps this letter quiet for now. But before that, knowing that Jocelyn is about to embark on a huge world tour and tickets have not been in the running, Tedros convinces his girlfriend that sharing publicly with fans about her abuse will help. His strategy is lesson 1 of today’s digital marketing, obviously, it works.
Meanwhile, Nikki (Jane Adams) is such a badass in the entertainment world that at a meeting of more than 30 record executives, she sits at the table instead of the chair. She signs Dyanne (Jennie Kim) to take Jocelyn’s place. For some, achieving stardom is not challenging at all.
Back at Jocelyn’s house, the party gets underway and when Dyanne appears out of nowhere, Chloe accidentally mentions that Tedros and the new star were sweethearts and that he was the one who asked for Jocelyn to be brought to him at the club. Finally, the singer sees a red light, which gets stronger when immediately after Dyanne comments that she has been signed and that the song World Class Sinner will be her first single. A shaken Jocelyn feigns approval but immediately calls her ex-boyfriend Rob (Karl Glusman) for a quick stop by her house. In fractions of seconds, he materializes on the spot, leaving an insecure Tedros (the opening Jealous Guy). Rob doesn’t shy away from anything, whether it’s the drinking challenge, wrestling, or the cussing about couch auditions to get roles. Jocelyn also ignores Tedros and when she is alone with Rob she assures him that she is fine and thank you, nothing vulnerable and the two obviously rekindle their romance. Outside the room, Tedros hears it all, crying under the photo of Prince (is there a cover of When Doves Cry on the way?)
Although Jocelyn has signaled that she is in control, we see that Xander is now serving Tedros because she blatantly sets up a compromising photo for Rob and we say goodbye not knowing how it will be used. The final episode promises to be intense!
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