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  • Lily-Rose Depp and Abel Tesfaye star in the final scene in The Idol, onstage at SoFi stadium.
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    The Idol Season Finale Recap and Analysis: Is it “Jocelyn Forever” or Jocelyn’s Swan Song?

    The following recap contains spoilers for the season finale of The Idol, Episode 5, “Jocelyn Forever” Editor’s Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist. Episode 5 of The Idol, “Jocelyn Forever,” takes […] More

  • Jocelyn with her eyes closed in The Idol Episode 4
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    The Idol Episode 4 Recap: “Stars Belong to the World” Flips the Script & Power Dynamics Entirely

    The following recap contains spoilers for The Idol Episode 4, “Stars Belong to the World” Episode 4 of The Idol, “Stars Belong to the World,” opens with a montage of day laborers—the housekeepers, groundskeepers, and security guards who keep Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) palatial mansion from becoming a cesspool. The sheer manpower on display indicates the […] More

  • Abel Tesfaye plays Tedros and Lily-Rose Depp plays Jocelyn in The Idol. In this shot from the opening of "Daybreak," they ride together in the backseat of plush, red-seated convertible.
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    The Idol Episode 3 Recap: “Daybreak” — Seeking a Substantive Thesis on Artistic Authenticity Beneath the Pulp

    The following recap contains spoilers for The Idol Episode 3, “Daybreak” “Daybreak,” the third episode of HBO’s polarizing The Idol, zooms ahead with Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) and Tedros (Abel Tesfaye) getting down and dirty in the backseat of a convertible. Leia (Rachel Sennott), Jocelyn’s increasingly distraught assistant, is driving—relegated to a proverbially disgruntled third wheel. […] More

  • Jocelyn discusses the music video for "World Class Sinner" with her team on set.
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    The Idol Episode 2 Recap: “Double Fantasy”

    Aptly titled “Double Fantasy,” Episode 2 of The Idol is all about mirrors, substitutes, and double-crossing. Leaning deeper into its erotic thriller undertones, and slipping intermittently into soap opera territory, the episode ramps up the melodramatic narrative quite a bit. There are still promising signs of multilayered storytelling, but glimpses of genre artifice lurk just […] More

  • Jocelyn poses in front of a panel of drawn faces in The Idol premiere
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    The Idol Premiere Recap: An Honest Aesthetic Exploration

    Tilted “Pop Tarts and Rat Tales,” The Idol’s highly-controversial series premiere opens with a tight, claustrophobic shot of Jocelyn, played by Lily-Rose Depp. She is being directed by an unseen photographer to emote and follows his dictates (“pure sex,” “vulnerable,” “emotional”) by morphing her mien with mesmerizing accuracy. Immediately, we are welcomed into a world […] More