All the Unanswered Question We Have After the Finale of 'The Idol'

Breathe a sigh of relief: it’s over. We made it through a full five hours of one of the most confused TV shows we’re likely to see for a long time, all in the hope something – anything! – redeeming might happen somewhere along the way.

So, did the grand finale make it all worthwhile? Did we get the incredible twist that we had been promised? Of course we didn’t. We got the rush job of all endings: nonsensical storyline jumps, weird tangents and abandoned subplots. Did Tesfaye pull an all-nighter on this, just to have something to hand in at the deadline?

Anyway, with more questions than answers, let’s unpack the ending a little bit more:

What was actually going on with Jocelyn?

So, Jocelyn had a breakdown after her mother died of cancer, met slime-ball Tedros (by chance, for her) and embarked upon a sexual relationship with him, despite finding him the club owner “rapey”, but then finds her voice and gets rid of him. Okay, that just about works. But hang on, now it’s revealed that she was the one manipulating him, and he’s been thrown to the curb? Eh, it doesn’t work as well, but at least it’s in the orbit of a twist. So then, why’s he back on stage, and why is she declaring him to be the “love of her life” at the concert at the end? Nope, you’ve lost me.

HBO

What was all that Xander stuff about?

Jocelyn watched as Xander was basically electrocuted by Tedros after he said that Jocelyn’s mother had outed him as a teen, killing off his career so he wouldn’t usurp her daughter with his angelic voice. Tedros was also annoyed that Xander knew about Jocelyn’s abuse from her mum, but that he and Leia did nothing about it. So why was it then implied that Jocelyn made up the abuse, when Xander had already confirmed it in an earlier episode with Leia, and that they had ignored it?

He called Joss “more fucking disgusting, fucked up and depraved than your bitch cunt of a mother,” (why? Why was it never explained what he meant by this?) so then there’s the question of why Xander stayed when he could have escaped; why his loyalty switched to Tedros, and why he then took it upon himself to desecrate George Harrison’s "My Sweet Lord" at the showcase. Why, also, did Jocelyn let him back in her inner circle?

What was Plan C? Would Plan C have been better in retrospect, Chaim?

The Plan B that Chaim had for Tedros was death by…Vanity Fair feature. What about going to the police, guys? Destiny has the intel that Chloe is underage, so on top of all the previous pimping, kidnapping and assault that Tedros served time for, couldn’t he just be locked up again? And why, when he was brought out on stage, would everyone start cheering when they’ve most likely read the article revealing who he really was? It’s because the scene was really filmed at a real life The Weeknd gig to save money on the production, wasn’t it?

HBO

What happened to Heartthrob Rob?

Did Jocelyn ever go public to save him from the false rape allegations? Did Leia? What did her letter say to Joss? What was the point of this miniscule subplot?

What was all that torture stuff about?

Case in point: that weird scene where Izaac was hip thrustin’ and being zapped with an electric dog collar. What in the World Class Sinner was that about? And the whole cult thing in general... have you ever seen a less alluring, charismatic cult leader? What did his followers see in him? Like the “romance” between the two leads, there was zero chemistry. The gang just seemed like a bunch of randomers that had crashed an afters at Jocelyn’s.

Laura Martin is a freelance journalist specializing in pop culture.