SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from the third episode of HBO’s “The Idol,” titled “Daybreak,” now streaming on Max.
The third episode of “The Idol” is here, and it further pushes the show’s already-salacious story, with a disturbing scene at the end that illustrates how thoroughly Jocelyn is under Tedros’ control.
“Daybreak” opens with the rat-tailed Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye) taking Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) out for a shopping spree and performing oral sex on her in the backseat of a convertible driven by her assistant Leia (Rachel Sennott). As he picks out skimpy clothing for Jocelyn to try on, Tedros threatens a sales associate: “Let me catch you looking at her again, I’ll fucking drag you down Rodeo. I’ll fucking curb-stomp you.”
We see Leia call Chaim (Hank Azaria) to express her concerns about Tedros’ growing power over Jocelyn. In a flashback to the morning, the audience sees Tedros giving commands to Leia. When she rebuffs him and insists that she needs to speak with Jocelyn, he fires back, “Leia, are you fucking retarded? What did I just say? I’m running the show now.”
Also in flashback, Jocelyn enters and shows off her flat stomach to her chef Andres (Gerardo Celasco), who caresses her abs. This provokes the ire of Tedros, who slaps him hard across the face. Jocelyn does just as she’s told, and fires him.
Meanwhile, Live Nation rep Andrew (Eli Roth) is preoccupied with Jocelyn’s tour, and decides to convey that in — even for “The Idol” — a truly shocking description: “I’m shitting more blood than a kid at Epstein’s island,” he tells Chaim.
Back on Rodeo Drive, Jocelyn and Tedros get hot and heavy (and loud) in the dressing room. He spanks and slaps her, and insists he’ll come inside her. Jocelyn doesn’t want that, and pushes him off — prompting Tedros to masturbate (again, very loudly) in the store.
But that’s not all — at home, Tedros once again performs cunnilingus on Jocelyn, her moans echoing over footage of her backup dancer and so-called friend Dyanne (Jennie Ruby Jane) filming the music video for “World Class Sinner.”
Eddy Chen
Tedros gets some alone time with creative director Xander (Troye Sivan), asking what his vision would be if he was given (an unironically pronounced) “cartay blanchay” (that’s carte blanche). Xander, while hitting his lime green vape, suggests making Jocelyn’s bukkake photo her next album cover, much to Tedros’ delight.
Meanwhile, Jocelyn spends time with Tedros’ followers-slash-friends in the recording studio. When she refuses to sing with Izaak (Moses Sumney), Chloe (Suzanna Son) expresses concern: “If Tedros heard you say that, you’d be in big trouble. You’re not allowed to say no.” OK, ominous.
At dinner, Jocelyn proposes a toast, during which she insists she’s the happiest she’s been in a long time. “Tedros, thank you for teaching me how to have fun again,” she says. “To finding your family,” he retorts. Tedros asks Xander to share his pitch for the album cover. Jocelyn entertains the idea, suggesting they post the photo with the caption “New music coming soon.”
She says she’ll consider the idea but doesn’t commit, which angers Tedros. They go toe-to-toe in a tense standoff, with Jocelyn asking, “Why are you talking to me like I’m new to the music industry? I’m not. You are.” Despite that sick burn, Tedros, of course, comes out on top, insisting that Jocelyn share the secrets she’s keeping from him.
Eddy Chen
Her surprise announcement: The mother whose death derailed her was abusive. She would hit her with a hairbrush “anywhere people wouldn’t notice,” Jocelyn says, adding, “She did it as a form of motivation, I guess. Kind of like a dog.”
Tedros doesn’t squander the opportunity to armchair psychoanalyze her, asking if she feels she’s stuck in her music career because she misses the motivation her mother’s beatings gave her. He asks Izaak to escort Leia away from the table, pronouncing Leia “tired,” and sends Jocelyn to fetch the hairbrush as he assembles the “family” inside.
He kisses Jocelyn as she cries and warns her, “This is really gonna hurt. If you push through the pain, it will be beautiful.” Xander and Chloe look on with tears in their eyes as Tedros beats Jocelyn repeatedly with the brush, as her mother used to.
The episode ends the next morning with Jocelyn expressing her gratitude to Tedros: “Thank you for taking care of me.” She’s fully under his spell now, and it seems things will only get worse next week. In the preview for Episode 4, Jocelyn tells him, “I like not having to make decisions for myself. Because I trust you.”
Jocelyn, you in danger, girl.