Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for The Idol Episode 2.There’s a lot of discourse taking place when it comes to the newest Sunday night show on HBO,The Idol. The new series, which is creatively driven bySam LevinsonandAbel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, has faced quite a few controversies since its inception, many of which deal with the show’s direction which is not one to hold back on its sexualization. Behind all of that,The Idolhas since given us two episodes to take in where there’s been plenty of sensual scenes from voyeurism to asphyxiation. Yet, when the camera isn’t fixating on all of this,The Idolhas quietly woven in an interesting story. While Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) and her tethering pop stardom remain at the forefront,the second episode introduced us to a twistthat sets up a far more interesting narrative than originally thought.
Over the first two episodes, there has beena surplus of charactersbrought into this chaotic world, many of which are a part of Jocelyn’s team. Dyanne (Jennie Ruby Jane), who is one of Jocelyn’s backup dancers, may not have seemed harmful after the first episode, but the development that played out in the second episode suggests she’s as much of an antagonist as Tedros Tedros (Tesfaye). With Dyanne being in on whatever plan Tedros has (it’s still unclear what this cult is all about),The Idolhas given us a character that we were led to believe has good intentions but in reality, everything we have seen from her has been a calculated approach with the hope of dethroning Jocelyn.
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Jocelyn Meets Tedros Because of Dyanne
The aforementioned harmfulness that seemed to exude fromDyanne in Episode 1more than likely was a part of the bigger plan. Again, we meet Dyanne as a friend of Jocelyn’s, who extends the invite to Tedros’ club in a way that makes it seem like she’s looking out for her. We’ve all had a friend who has seen us down on ourselves and invited us out for a night on the town. That’s exactly what Dyanne does here. Seeing that Jocelyn is nearing a breaking point with the loss of her mother and the stress being placed on her, Dyanne (and presumably Tedros) see that this is the time to strike. It’s at that moment at the club the two co-leads first meet, but looking back on it, it was a planned tactic. We don’t know through two episodes what Tedros’ intentions are with Jocelyn. Is he trying to disrupt her music career? Is it simply having the power over someone that he seeks? Whatever the case may be, seeing Dyanne be a part of Tedros’ small community in Episode 2 makes that first encounter with her have a much different tone.
We can start to question just how far back Dyanne’s sabotaging ways have gone. We don’t have much to go on, but we know that Jocelyn views her as a superior dancer to her, as she tells her flat out during the first episode. Similarly, she sees Chloe (Suzanna Son) in a similar light when she tells Tedros after overhearing her singing how powerful and talented her voice is. Perhaps this speaks to the plan he is concocting if he truly is seeking to break Jocelyn down, so he can build her back up in his own vision. By surrounding her with people who he believes (and she believes) are superior to her in one way or another, she will begin to question herself.
Dyanne’s Villian Turn Further Speaks to This Tedros Plan
Due to her prowess when it comes to dancing, Dyanne catches the eye of Nikki Katz (Jane Adams) who asks to hear her song as she begins to find an alternative route if and when Jocelyn flames out. We know Tedros is pleased to hear that Dyanne has finally caught Nikki’s eye as he tells her back at the club. If Dyanne is being set up to replace Jocelyn as the next mega-pop star, then Jocelyn’s demise may occur sooner than it appeared. Seeing that Jocelyn views Dyanne as a friend, seeing her overthrow her would surely be enough to throw her fully into the arms of Tedros. By that account, it makes sense why Tedros would view Dyanne so highly among his cult as she has the talent and charisma to break Jocelyn to a point where he can reel her in. Now that Nikki seems to see this, as well, it’s only a matter of time before Dyanne gets a real opportunity to prove her potential in front of the record label.
WhileThe Idolis far from a perfect show, the turn that we’re seeing in Dyanne is one that creates a lot of tension and drama. The seeds have been planted for this one-time friend of hers to be the one responsible for having Jocelyn reach her breaking point. The show still remains directionless in terms of what exactly Tedros’ endgame is here, but seeing Dyanne be a part of his following (and clearly just as involved with him as Jocelyn is after hearing her mention sex) finally gives us a clue as to what Tedros is trying to do inThe Idol. There’s plenty of intrigue created by that small moment as we now can narrow down what he’s trying to do with Jocelyn. Whether it’s to break her so she resorts to him or to feel empowered over her, using Dyanne as the driving force right under her nose suggests his calculations are all meant to hurt Jocelyn. Even having Izaak (Moses Sumney) become intertwined with Joss’ best friend and assistant, Leia (Rachel Sennott) further supports his plan. Surrounding those under his influence around Jocelyn will be enough to reel her in at some point in the near future.
The first two episodes ofThe Idolare available to stream on Max. New episodes ofThe Idolrelease every Sunday night on HBO.
