“The Idol” has finished airing all 5 episodes, but I have one question I can’t help but ask. What did all this mean?
The season finale of the series by Sam Levinson, Reza Fahim, and star Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) said surprisingly little about pop music and power dynamics. Well, maybe not shocking. Nothing in the first four episodes suggested there was some kind of great revelation in the 11th hour, but more than a crushing ending in which the cryptic character known as Tedros Tedros is both exposed. Girls could hope that he might get something he’s creepy and eventually be forgiven by Lily-Rose Depp’s heroine, Jocelyn.
Indeed, if you wish, you can argue that there is a transfer of dominance in their relationship. In the finale, Tedros’ backstory as a pimp was publicly exposed in a Vanity Fair article commissioned by Jocelyn’s manager Chime. Tedros is club-lost and apparently he’s under investigation by the IRS, but Jocelyn gives him a pass to his tour dates at SoFi Stadium. Backstage, he was warned with strong words by her other manager, Destiny, before being hugged by Jocelyn.
“It wouldn’t mean as much without you,” she says. And she introduced him as “the love of my life” to some 70,000 cheering fans on stage.
Officially, we’re supposed to read this as Jocelyn in control. In her dressing room, he sees a wooden hairbrush that her mother claims beaten her. “It’s brand new,” he said, realizing she had cheated on him. She calls her fans “angels” and that’s exactly what he called her. And after they flirt in front of the audience, she tells him: “You are mine forever.” Now stand there. “
Should we believe it was all a ruse on Jocelyn’s part? Could it be that she used her own abusive experience to manipulate him? I think that’s what Mr. Levinson and Mr. Tesfaye mean, but it’s more confusing than anything else. If Jocelyn was a real pop star, putting her side by side with a man who took a woman hostage and ended up in prison would have hurt her career. it’s not power. It’s a man’s idea of what power is like for a woman.
But let’s go back for a moment. For most of this episode, Jocelyn seemed intent on kicking Tedros out to the ground, and the ending was predictable, but at least more satisfying than this one.
Angered that their meeting was not natural, but the product of his conspiracy, she called him “a con man and a con man.” She has plans to take over his empire of young talent by making them all tour openers. When her team arrives at a meeting to see if the effort will come to fruition, Jocelyn has all the skimpy singers perform for the label. Skeptical at first, everyone was impressed with its vocals and honed performance. Not so much for the extravagant and belligerent Tedros.
At this point, it’s unclear what it will take for Jocelyn to kick the apparently useless Tedros out of the house. But we get an answer when it’s revealed that her ex-boyfriend Rob has been accused of sexual assault. The accusation was made thanks to a photo orchestrated by Xander in the last episode, which put Rob in the throes of being one of Tedros’ supporters.
When Jocelyn hears the news, she immediately realizes that it was Tedros’ work, and finally orders Chime to take care of her. The chimes respond, and Hank Azaria bites into a monologue about Little Red Riding Hood. Meanwhile, Jocelyn will perform a sexual interpretation of the dance to the new song as a proof-of-concept for the tour.
But with Tedros gone, Jocelyn returns to her boring life. she swims she trains She smokes reluctantly. Fast forward to six weeks later. With the tour already underway, a disgraced Tedros is once again invited to join his ranks, much to the dismay of Suit officials who thought they had eliminated Tedros for good.
So I return to the question of what “The Idol” wanted to achieve. In an interview with The New York Times before the series aired on HBO, Tesfaye said his pitch was “about celebrity culture and how powerful they are.” But we’ve never really seen Jocelyn exercise her celebrity powers. Tedros may be hers “forever,” but it is clear that she still feels her debt to him, as evidenced by her welcoming of his return. .
So I believe what Levinson and Tesfaye thought they were creating was a messed up love story in the style of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread.” In the 2017 film, Anderson plays a switcher whose demanding mentor is dominated by his beloved student. But it’s his 130-minute film that makes us understand much more about the central couple than his five-hour “The Idol.”
That is the biggest mistake of “The Idol”. After all this, I still don’t know what drives Jocelyn and Tedros. music, maybe? But I can’t believe they even care that much.
liner notes
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Based on 3 singles, how do you put together an entire tour in 6 weeks? It’s work, and Jocelyn is a little preoccupied.
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What other songs is she planning to sing on set? One of the show’s biggest oversights is that we have no idea what Jocelyn was as an artist before her crisis.
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One moment, Nikki is trying to recruit Tedros, the next, she’s laughing off Tedros’ death. It’s utterly baffling character behavior. (Likewise, I still don’t understand why Xander is loyal to Tedros, unless it’s assumed that Xander is literally brainwashed.)
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Justice for Leia, a character with the only meaning. I wonder what was written in her note to Jocelyn.
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Nicky briefly mentioned that Andrew Finkelstein’s employees stepped out to protest Jocelyn’s misogynistic music. This seems like a bit of an attempt to recognize a potential backlash against a series that has already come and gone.
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Will there be season 2? Unless Jocelyn and Tedros become Bonnie and Clyde, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like. But don’t think about it, Mr. HBO.
