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The Idol

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Photo: Photograph by Eddy Chen/HBO

We meet Jocelyn, a pop star whose mother has died a year earlier and who may or may not have had a psychological breakdown thereafter. She’s since taken eight months off and is ready to reintroduce herself with a single called “World-Class Sinner,” but she isn’t sure she likes it. (It sounds sort of like a Dua Lipa/Charli XCX castoff.) Jocelyn is a perfectionist, hard on herself, and desperate to succeed at any cost, and she also likes to masturbate while choking herself (something we see her do twice in the first two episodes alone). She meets Tedros Tedros (yes, that’s his full name), a club owner, manager, and possible cult leader of several fledgling artists, all of whom seem to be under his control financially and emotionally. — Rachel Handler, “All Your Burning Questions About The Idol’s Cannes Premiere, Answered”

  1. Episode 5 Jocelyn Forever
    The Idol Finale Recap: Jocelyn on Top “You’re mine. Forever. Now go stand over there.”
  2. Episode 4 Stars Belong to the World
    The Idol Recap: Jocelyn’s House of Horrors “Shock him again.”
  3. Episode 3 Daybreak
    The Idol Recap: All That Trauma Truly an awful episode of television.
  4. Episode 2 Double Fantasy
    The Idol Recap: Team Dyanne Dyanne’s coming for you, Jocelyn.
  5. Episode 1 Pop Tarts & Rat Tales
    The Idol Series-Premiere Recap: Frosted Like a Pop-Tart The Idol on HBO is about a pop star bored by her own music.

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  10. lingering questions
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