I've been going pretty easy on The Idol when compared to a lot of the other criticisms of it. People really hate this show, don't they? I don't really blame anyone for feeling that way, but there were things about the first two episodes that I enjoyed. Lily-Rose Depp does a great job with the character of Jocelyn, despite some odd writing that could've used more scrutiny. For all the eye-rolling scenes featuring Tedros (Abel Tesfaye) that existed solely to stoke Tesfaye's ego, there were ones that effectively criticized the parasitic music industry of today, and I enjoyed those well enough.
However, if you hate this show, I hope it pleases you to hear that "Daybreak" is one of the most torturous, miserable episodes of television I've seen since the Ozark finale. (At least I didn't have to watch Tedros jerk off onto a clothing rack in the Ozark finale, so I guess that's a point in Ozark's favor.)
Right off the bat, we're hit with a double dose of public sex and Tedros intimidating a salesman who's eyeing Jocelyn. (The real hero of this scene is the actor playing the salesman; if it was my job to keep a straight face while Tesfaye tried to scare me with his delivery of "Let me catch you looking at her again," I'd be giggling and also out of a job.) Both the sex and the performance is awkward and embarrassing, and instead of feeling any sort of tension, I was trapped between pity and wanting to laugh.
Perhaps the most telling note I wrote down while watching "Daybreak" was "Did they show this scene out of order or something"? It's an episode that reeks of cut scenes, possibly because of the mid-season announcement that creator Sam Levinson is reducing the series' episode count by one. Leia (Rachel Sennott) insists to co-manager Chaim (Hank Azaria) that Tedros has taken over Jocelyn's life, but we don't see the actual process of his conquest—we just see a couple of after-effects, like him firing her personal trainer. The one that got under my skin the most is Leia's suspicion that he arranged for paparazzi to hound them as they left the store—just show him calling the damn paparazzi! It would do more for this episode than the almost two full minutes of sex I just had to see. I want to believe that Tedros is this nebulous, evil character, but the only way to do that is to accept the show's insistence that he is.
The rest of the episode is spent dicking around at Jocelyn's house, and a good portion of this time is used to reiterate how scary and powerful Tedros is, in case you don't get it. Jocelyn and Chloe (Suzanna Son) have a conversation about her late mother that rings much more hollow than when the same topic was discussed in earlier episodes, and then comes the most painful scene in the entire episode.
After another lengthy conversation about Jocelyn's lewd selfie that kicked off the series, Tedros manipulates her into opening up in front of everyone about her mother's abuse. And this is where The Idol has its make or break moment. This is the moment where The Idol can continue to be about the destructive industry as it pulls back the curtain on Jocelyn's mother, revealing that she was even more abusive than the industry itself.
Instead, it chooses to be a boring and very often cringeworthy drama about this weird little freak taking advantage of this very emotionally damaged girl. Tedros continues to manipulate her and convinces her to use the hairbrush her mother would beat her with during sex, and then The Idol treats its audience to another uncomfortable and overlong BDSM scene (you know, in case it didn't have enough of those). Tesfaye is actually the man singing on the soundtrack here, and the lyrics are full of shit like "I've been manipulated a hundred times/But none of them felt so soft and kind." Because if you don't want to communicate what a character is thinking through blatant exposition, why not exposit through the soundtrack?
The only thing that saves this episode from me just giving up and slapping "Daybreak" with zero stars (I had a better time debating how I should rate it than actually watching it) is that it looks really nice and Depp is putting her all into this character, even if she's saddled with even less to work with than the previous episodes. Will The Idol get its shit together in its final stretch? I had faith that it could really embrace its best aspects, but it instead gave into its worst. It's not over, so I guess the answer to my question is "maybe," but I hope you'll understand if I'm not very enthusiastic about it.
This episode of The Idol is now available on HBO.