For all the furore over The Idol, you have to hand it to the creators: it was a stroke of genius to cast Blackpink’s Jennie Kim as the duplicitous Dyanne.

Did she know that the show she signed up for would end up re-written, re-cut and vastly different from the one it was originally intended to be? Who knows! But she’s taken a pretty small role and run with it. Now, by episode three, it looks like the double-crossing dancer could end up on top. (Well, as much as any young female artist can be in the exploitative music industry reflected in the show...)

But how has she progressed from backing dancer to the main event in just three episodes, and who’s nefarious rule is she under? Let’s break it down…

Dancing into the role

We first meet Dyanne as Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) rehearses for her big comeback single, World Class Sinner. But Jocelyn’s mind isn’t on the routine and Dyanne is asked to step in to show her how it’s done. After telling Jocelyn that they’re hitting the clubs tonight, she reassures her: “You’ve got this. We’re all here because of you”.

However, as Dyanne takes Jocelyn to a place owned by the creepy Tedros Tedros (so sleazy they named him twice), we learn in episode two that she’s not only part of his cult, but she engineered their meet-up, helping Tedros to worm his way into Jocelyn’s world. “Is she a better fuck than me?” Dyanne asks Tedros, in keeping with the show's broadly bizarre dialogue. “No one’s a better fuck than you,” he comforts her, but she's not happy. “You didn’t tell me it was a set up," she says. "You said it would be good for the club… and you made music with her.”

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Then, telling him about her previous 20-second audition with Nikki [Jocelyn’s agent] in which she was told to lay down a track immediately, she adds: “And guess what? Nikki wants to sign me”. Tedros responds gravely. “Great, now I can finally get that return on you. Have Nikki call me to negotiate.”

The real idol?

After Jocelyn’s disastrous video shoot for World Class Sinner, she has a breakdown and the song and the set are abandoned. However, in episode three we see Dyanne in exactly the same film set, in the same skimpy outfit, performing the same dance routine, suggesting that Nikki has taken the song off Jocelyn and handed it to her newest client: Dyanne. When will this be revealed to Jocelyn?

While Dyanne believes that she’s on her way to music stardom, it’s likely that she’s just another cog in the dark machinations of pop world, as she’ll no doubt find out, at any given time, she too will end up completely expendable.

The Idol continues weekly on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.

Laura Martin is a freelance journalist  specializing in pop culture.

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