‘The Idol’ Viewers Were Here For One Character’s Change In Demeanor While Being Scandalized By The Rest Of Episode 2

Few people would ever accuse (or praise) the The Idol of being anything less than an intentionally controversial hot mess. The second episode more than doubled down on the softcore-porn vibe with nudity galore and a particularly unsettling sex scene (a followup on the confusing counterpart of the pilot) between Lily-Rose Depp’s Jocelyn and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s Tedros. (I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that a different kind of choking was involved.) As viewers learned about the latter, he is apparently leading some kind of sex cult, and he’s succeeding at getting Jocelyn into his clutches. By the end of this week’s edition, he’s arranged to move into her mansion as her career is falling into tatters around her.

And that’s where the character of Dyanne comes back into focus. The back-up dancer character, who is portrayed by K-pop star Jennie Kim from Blackpink, already captured more YouTube views for one scene than the premiere initially racked up for HBO. Jennie later revealed that the choreography came pretty naturally, and it seems that everything that Jocelyn can do (dancing, singing, and “f*ck”-ing), Dyanne can do better.

In retrospect, this HBO tweet had some fun with what was to come: “Everyone needs a Dyanne.”

As it turns out, Dyanne was the reason why Jocelyn ended up at Tedros’ club. She’s also apparently coming for Jocelyn’s career, and by the end of the episode, she’s laid down a track for a record executive (played by Jane Adams) who sent Jocelyn home after her on-set meltdown.

Here’s a budding theory (about that leaked photo) that actually might not be too far-fetched, considering all that we are learning about this cult.

Amid all of the well-founded tweets complaining about the Jocelyn-Tedros sex scene, another refrain is becoming clear: people are enjoying the revelation that Jennie is portraying a villain. So, I imagine that a great deal of people who continue to tune in will do so solely for the Blackpink star.

HBO’s The Idol airs on Sunday nights at 9:00pm EST.