Episode 02 – “Double Fantasy”
The show is still a hot mess as we move on; Jocelyn is a hot mess as well. She doesn’t believe in herself and can’t get out of the world of hurt she’s in. And for some reason, she thinks that being around Tedros, who does fill her head full of cryptic, yet positive reinforcement and empowerment, is enough to keep her stable. But we see it as all false. We also see, I feel, a better episode than the premiere, that is until Tedros shows up.
Joce’s continued meltdown happens over the course of her video shoot of the single. Her head is not into it. We know she doesn’t like the song, but at times she can’t even properly lip-sync the piece. It takes several takes to get through it and the video director is no support in the process. Without going through the tawdry details, let’s just say that Joce injured herself the night before and those injuries are revealed to be hurting her as she tries to go through the shoot. Her feet are also bloodied from dancing in inappropriate shoes over & over unless those are all part of her mishap the night before as well. The icing on the cake was when she finally nailed a take but the camera was out of focus making that one good take an unusable one. We know this all totally breaks her down when she cries out to her deceased mother. The shoot is shut down without being completed.
Jocelyn’s resolution to the problem is to get down with Tedros, of course. A little party plays out when she invites him over to the mansion, except he brings his little posse with him and as a result, we learn just a bit more about Tedros. He manages a clique of artists signed under his label so, he is a manager of sorts but also plays out as a master, a mentor, and a what(?) guru to them all. A shallow description of a character if there ever was one. One in his posse is Izaak (Moses Sumney), a guy Leia met at a club in episode one, who links up with her at the party. She didn’t know he was a part of Tedros’ team and fished for information about Tedros. It all leads to Izaak bedding Leia, who doesn’t seem too pleased post-coitus with Izaak or with Tedros’ influence on Joce.
Episode 3 – ‘Daybreak”
Is the situation any better the next day? Well, hell,no! Not only does Tedros move into Joce’s, so does his little clique. By this third episode we’ ve established Jocelyn’s troubles, proclivities and issues and how Tedros wormed his way into her life with all his positivity & understanding. But now, what?
Even though Tedros is a limp character, he does have one skill, to be able to read a person quickly and play off that and use that to his advantage and his only. He quickly listened to Jocelyn and fed her back what she wanted to hear. He picked up that not only the song, but the whole album was not defining Joce. She didn’t like what was being churned out and voiced it and only Tedros would take action to turn it around. That was something her entire team was not willing to do because once ‘the machine’ is running you can’t stop it. But because of Tedros, she does just that, she stops it.
Halfway into “Daybreak” she is invested in Tedros’ plan and his cult. Leia and Xander are in the house too but Leia tipped off Chaim (Hank Azaria) and Destiny (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) of what was going down. They play their little meet-and-greet with Tedros coolly but they know that it’s all bad. But by then Tedros is in total control. He fires some of her staff, he enforces his will and his group blindly obeys. Why? It is a strong weakness of THE IDOL that Tedros, at least as of yet, is not a well fleshed out character to help us answer that question. In one regard, I understand Tedros. He is out to crack Jocelyn open and have her expose her true core being and upon doing so have her write songs that reflect those truths exposed. I artistically can understand that. Around the dinner table one night, he embarrasses her and forces her to expose some truths to get that process rolling.
And thus, revealed is the hairbrush. Her mother used to beat her with a hairbrush. That scene was one of the best of the series. But showrunners took it too far because the showrunners just wanted to be controversial. The table side scene was solid enough to get Tedros’ intent across and Jocelyn’s taking of the bait and talking of the abuse. It was fine that he even got her to go get the hairbrush but then a little montage of him beating her with it, a lot harder than her mother ever could, and try to comfort her after was just not needed. He babbles some bullshit that the beauty on the other side of all the pain will be worth it. That poor choice of dialogue there just diffused the impact of the whole thing for me. But now, Tedros has broken her, can she rebuild herself better because of it?
Episode 4 – “Stars Belong to the World”
There have been times throughout that Jocelyn has spoken out and challenged Tedros, and even called him out for being stupid. Each time he’d just give some stupid-ass look and let it pass only to double down on his crap talk the next conversation and his clique, including Xander, would take it blindly. But Jocelyn, slaps Tedros for harassing Leia. Joce is toughening up. Good for her, but by now I am getting tired of the whole thing; really tired of it by the time Tedros puts a shock collar on Xander. The only good thing about that moment was the revelation of more truths, as Xander spells out the cruelties at the hands of Jocelyn & her mother. It is Joce that insists he is shocked again and again.
The best part of the episode was Destiny and Chloe. Destiny is in the house and learns of the mess, the aggression, and the abuse that abounds there. But she plays low-key. All so cool on her part. Destiny loves the artistic expression materializing all around her just not the methods taken to bring it all out. And Jocelyn doesn’t like Tedros holding all the control. She gets back at Tedros by inviting her ex-boyfriend over and having sex with him. She got the artistic push she needs from Tedros, but now she wants her control back and we need to end this tale. One more episode does it.
Episode 5 – “Jocelyn Forever”
Yeah, I glossed over some finer details and plot points, but this needs to be over and it does with Jocelyn taking back control of her life & career. Early in the ep, she calls Tedros out as a con & a fraud and we know that the episode is going to build up to this scenario of her saying she is done with him and defrocking him and just giving him a dose of his own medicine. Have at it! The only weird thing is the total 360 she does with Tedros in the snap of a finger. Yes, I commented on how she was never afraid to question and talk back to Tedros, but the changeover is quite abrupt here. I mean, bad transition, bad scripting, bad editorial choices kind of abrupt. Anything to wrap this up though, I guess.
But not before one more bad action. Tedros had Xander set up a photo and spin lies that Joce’s ex raped a girl at the party. All this comes out when the record producers are over at the house to talk about the upcoming tour and while Jocelyn showcases her opening act, Chloe, Izaak and Ramsey. Tedros is bought off by Chaim who also sees that a scathing article is written about him to further damage Tedros. Then, we are six weeks late and the first gig of the tour is loading in. We learn that Jocelyn skyrocketed and that the tour is going to be huge. We also learn that Tedros, under his real name, is granted a backstage pass. So, how is it all going to play out? Who gets the last dig, the last insult, the last hurt in, Tedros or Jocelyn? Hold up, though, Destiny gets to give Tedros a piece of her mind first. Then, Jocelyn gets her moment.
The next moments have been argued as confusing to interpret. The hairbrush returns. In the make-up area in the bowels of the stadium, Tedros notices it and sees that it is a brand-new brush even though Joce states it is the same one that her mother used to beat her with. If it isn’t old enough to be her mother’s, then the story about the abuse & the brush is a lie. And if it’s a lie then it proves that the traumatic tale didn’t spawn new music from Joce. It means she created it without the means of Tedros’ process; giving him yet one more sting to say he wasn’t needed, but that she liked him around. That is the best shock the series could give us and should have left it at that.
It didn’t though. This story, these showrunners, didn’t know when to pull back and say let’s leave it at that. It pushed a little further and for that, I feel is largely where it faltered. The make-up area scene was enough to get the message right, that she was in control all along and still. It should have ended with her walking out onto the stage to a roaring crowd and her stardom. But they didn’t quite do that. They had her make an opening announcement to the crowd, her family, and introduce Tedros to them as the love of her life, then whispering to him, that he is hers, now go stand out of the way. it only reinforces what had already been stated a scene earlier, only this time there was no subtext to decipher.
THE IDOL is complete, no second season is required. It was hard to watch at times, not because of the frank sexuality or violence, but because it was just poorly told. As Destiny says, it is what it is, move onward and we do.
