The Idol Season 1 was supposed to have six episodes in total, but it was revealed that creative differences had taken the show in a slightly new direction. As a result, the season would be one episode less.
Even without knowing about the behind-the-scenes happening with the production, anyone who watched The Idol Season 1 Episode 5 could feel a massive shift in the show’s tone as everything felt unfocused and rushed.
The first half of the episode saw Jocelyn go all out to try and reign in her life and career that’d been falling apart.
To do that, she needed to get from under Tedros’ influence and then put on a showcase for The Suits, who made sure the cogs in the machine that is her career rotated were well greased, and no teeth were missing.
That whole scene at the house must have been the only thing that felt true to the show.
We knew that Tedros suffered from a severe inferiority complex, and having Jocelyn need and depend on her was a huge ego boost. When she suddenly cut him off, it felt like a kick to the balls.
You wanted to find a way into my life? You wanted me to hear your artists? I did. I like them. They can stay. You, on the other hand, can go.
He started exhibiting signs of someone under the influence of drugs (I don’t think he was on anything because he needed this to go well) just because he wasn’t included in the conversation.
In our The Idol Season 1 Episode 4 review, we iterated that for all his faults, Tedros had a special gift of finding talented people and nurturing that talent, albeit using some unorthodox means.
The Suits got to experience it firsthand as everyone put in their best foot forward to try and impress Finklestein so that he’d be willing to support them going on tour.
There was no denying that everyone in that group was talented. Chloe was a marvel with the vocals, giving everyone chills with her performance.
Izaak’s voice was pure sex and relaxation as he sang to the soul, while Ramsey was a pop girl superstar in the making.
Xander finally found his voice, and anyone who has listened to a single Troye Sivan song knows he delivers every time.
Finally, Joss brought her A-game in serving sex, performance goddess, and singing.
The showcase had The Suits tripping themselves, asking why these kids had never been signed by anyone else.
Nikki acted as if she cared about Tedros and his people. Still, one could see her mind overworking trying to calculate the zeros at the end of her paycheck after she had these people generate generic TikTok sounds after generic TikTok sounds.
A lot happened in that room as news broke that Rob had been accused of raping someone.
Our first and only impression of Rob when we met him on “Stars Belong to the World” was that of a sweet-natured guy trying to keep his head down and make superhero films. But even the sweetest of guys can have their imperfections.
While I’m sure he has his imperfections, it was clear that was a setup by Tedros to ruin him because he was jealous.
Cancel culture is a common topic, and the show toyed with the idea without going through with it. So much could have been done with that storyline, yet it was discarded just like that.
The only good thing was Xander telling Leia to shut up because she is the most annoying character in the show. Even with Tedros right there!
Leia: Can you just please–
Xander: Shut the fuck up.
Maybe they were trying to communicate what was to come in the final episode of The Idol Season 1.
Impressed with what they’d seen, the suits left Jocelyn’s house, and everything that happened after was truly embarrassing.
First, Nikki met with Dayanne and, in not so many words, told her that Nikki was over her.
That was so out of character for her. Between going to Jocelyn’s and returning to work, Dayanne’s talent had not disappeared. She was still as talented as always, and for someone who sees money, Nikki was wasting a lot of it.
She didn’t seem to have loyalty to anyone, and that is a dangerous person to have on your side.
Next, we found The Suits blabbering about some things that had happened, and if anything quite embarrassing existed, this was it.
It is another level of laziness to try to catch the viewer up with some things that happened off-screen by having multiple characters more or less narrate it without class.
It was annoying to hear Nikki, Chaim, and Fink talk about what had happened to Tedros in the months following an article published.
It felt like someone was rushing to end this story, but they were obliged to complete it semi-properly.
Everything the trio narrated was enough material worth their episode (the one they cut) and would have been entertaining to watch. Nothing is more satisfying than watching some narcissist get humbled by life and other people.
Next, we saw Joss preparing for her tour with everyone, including Xander, and it felt like we had missed a lot there. Were they going to act like Xander and Joss did not hurt each other? Was everything just forgiven?
Later, a brooding Tedros would find his way through the arena to Jocelyn, and something truly baffling would happen.
Let’s call a spade a motherfuckin’ spade. You are and were a pimp. It is what it is. We all gotta do what we gotta do to survive. But the question is, what are you going to do now? I am not like these other bitches. If you muff up and you hurt her I will hunt you down like the motherfuckin’ dog you are. And I will kill you.
Destiny [to Tedros]
Jocelyn was in love with Tedros!
How and when did that happen? These two bankrupt people were incapable of love, let alone love each other. It felt like we were doing 100 miles per hour in a 20 miles per hour zone.
The Idol had made a lot of noise before it premiered, but “Jocelyn Forever” would not keep the hype.
It felt disconnected, rushed, and unentertaining. Whatever decision HBO makes about the second season will be inconsequential since this is not a show I think anyone is excited to see come back.
The only good thing to come out was proof that Lily Rose-Depp was a talented actress.
It wasted a great cast of talented singers, dancers, and performers.
It had many shortcomings, including poor handling of mental health as a subject, lackluster and unartistic sex scenes, awful cult lyrics for music, and a terrible original score.
You know, I’m telling you, there’s a gold mine in mental illness. This thing is worth a fortune. I’m fuckin’ serious. Look at Jocelyn. All you have to do is admit it, and then people feel sorry for you.
Nikki
Maybe these shortcomings were too many.
Over to you. What did you think? Hit the comments section.
Denis Kimathi is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on Twitter.