Viewers of The Idol were left thoroughly confused last night as Lily-Rose Depp's lead character, Jocelyn, did an apparent U-turn from brainwashed pop diva to empowered Machiavellian. The controversial series, which was dubbed “trauma porn” by a Rolling Stone exposé ahead of its release, crashed and burned with a fifth and final episodes that offered more questions – in its myriad plot-holes and inconsistent character portrayals – than answers.
So what went down? For those who don't have the heart to make their way through last night's episode (and we don't blame you), or – just as likely – watched it but are still left scratching your heads, we break it down in granular detail.
The Idol finale explained
The episode opens with a scene where an unusually joyful Jocelyn aka “Joss” (Lily-Rose Depp) records her new song at her home, together with Mike Dean – played by, er, Mike Dean, The Weeknd's IRL producer and friend). We learn its lyrics are inspired by her relationship with Tedros (The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye). When a drunk-or-hungover-or-both Tedros rocks up, Joss tells him to leave, calling him a “f**king con man and a fraud”: “I'm done with you.”
She then relays to him – and everyone else in the room, which includes Joss' assistant Leia (Rachel Sennott) and former co-star Xander (Troye Sivan) – her knowledge of how he manipulated her into joining his cult. Joss later performs her new song for record label exec Nikki (Jane Adams) – at the record label office – who loves it.
The next day, after Joss gets a call from Andrew Finkelstein (Eli Roth) – aka “Fink”, the Live Nation exec, – the team of music artists, including Chloe (Suzanne Son), Izaak (Moses Summey) and Ramsey (played by singer-songwriter Ramsey) prepare for a high-stakes showcase in front of Joss' record label executives. Joss wants them to be her support acts at her upcoming concert, but they must impress her team before this can happen. However, when Joss leaves the room, Tedros meddles by instructing her team “sex sells”, suggesting they employ their sexual energy in order to impress the execs.
The outcome is fittingly pretty awkward, as the record label team Fink, Nikki, Destiny aka D (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), and Chaim (Haz Azaria) arrive for the showcase while Joss is still upstairs preparing. The sexual display is not received well by the team (Fink visibly squirms, and is clearly only there for Joss), while Tedros makes Nikki feel awkward, calling her “Judas” for signing his ex and cult member, Dyanne (Jennie Ruby Jane), without consulting him. Despite the kerfuffle, D convinces them to stay around – soon after they are blown away when Chloe performs for them – which is, of course, all part of Joss' plan is staying upstairs at the beginning. Despite their initial beef, Nikki applauds Tedros on bringing together such talent – and tries to convince him to continue working with him to sign on further talent.
Meanwhile, as this is happening, Leia (Rachel Sennott) is receiving calls from Joss' ex boyfriend Rob (Karl Glusman) who is freaking out after he is accused of raping someone at Jocelyn's party in the fourth episode. We know this didn't actually happen, but occurred after he was set up by Xander and another cult female member who tricked him into taking a photo, with the latter climbing into his lap while Xander took photos.
While still at the showcase, Nikki receives the news that Rob is going to be digitally rendered out of his scenes in his upcoming superhero movie, as a result of the controversy, and we see Joss cry a single tear for him – while Tedros and Xander revel in their successful plan to set him up. As Joss confronts Tedros heatedly about Rob, her team scheme about how they can monetise the talent of Chloe, Izaak and Ramsey, who have all performed at this point, to a positive reception. Joss tells Chaim to pay Tedros however much he wants to get him out of her life – but when he offers Tedros a cheque for $500,000, he refuses taking it, leading Chaim to declare “Plan B” (at which point we're all wondering whether Tedros is going to be murdered…).
As we await the climactic moment of Joss' big tour, some seriously hairy moments go down. First, it turns out assistant Leia is making tracks: she leaves a note on Jocelyn's bed telling her she no longer wants to be part of her entourage. The action cuts to a scene at the Magistrate Records' office, where Nikki tells Dyanne – and her team of lawyers – that there's a legal problem with her first single, so she's not allowed to release it. "It was Jocelyn, wasn't it?", Dyanne asks Nikki in the lift after the definitive verdict. It looks like Joss got revenge after Dyanne betrayed her after taking on “World Class Sinner”, the song that was supposed to be Joss' big hit. Later, there are hints that Joss is in trouble: Chaim meets a Vanity Fair reporter Tali (Hari Nef) in an empty car park, telling her he “has a bigger story" as he tries to convince her to write a story about Tedros, rather than Joss (is this Plan B, we wonder?).
Six weeks on, Chaim, Nikki and Fink celebrate the success of Joss' upcoming tour – which has sold out stadiums within three weeks. Although there's been controversy around her music, particularly her new single “Fill The Void” – with Fink's employees walking out over claims it's misogynistic – Chaim reasons it's led to “$200 million of free advertising".
In the grand finale, we see Tedros outside the stadium trying to talk his way into an artist pass. Initially, he's refused – but then he's let into Joss' green room, while we wonder what's going on (after all, he's just been taken down by Tali's article). There's then a seriously ropey conversation over a hairbrush that Tedros picks up as Joss prepares to go on stage: “Did you say this was the brush your mom beat you with? It's brand new.” The implication is that Joss has lied about the abuse.
The final scenes, in front of a live audience of 70,000 (The Weeknd fans will know it was filmed over two of his real-life concerts) sees Joss introduce Tedros to “the love of [her] life” and kisses him on stage, as her team is visibly shocked. “You're mine forever. Now go stand over there,” she tells him – and Tedros follows her command. So there you have it: the full recap. The episode has received numerous one-star reviews from the likes of The Guardian, with critics refusing to buy the “twist” premiere that the whole thing was masterminded by Joss' character – and a lot of fans left confused by their hairbrush detail.
All five episodes of The Idol are available to stream on Now TV and Sky Atlantic.
