The fact that Sam Levingson called Tedros, a man who abused multiple people ON SCREEN, who sex trafficked women, and was a cult leader, the “victim all along” is everything I need to know about him.
FACTS! If you ask me there is no victim of the story just to manipulative pieces of shit. The only people that were actual victims were the people that he hurt besides Jocelyn of course
Levinson, Levinson, Levinson.... Hm, that name; Levy, Levinson, Levin, usually people with those names suggest all kinds of backwardass ideas and they all have the same ethnicity, so odd, big cohencidence
It is some sort of poetic justice to see a break in the "all press is good press", because so much bad was said about this show that nobody wanted to watch it. We want to see our favorite content creators talk about it, not actually see it ourselves.
There are some shows that seem more interesting to hear discussed than to actually watch, and this seems to be one of those. It's not just "I disagree with its message," or with how it did things, it also, really didn't seem potentially fun to watch.
Favorite? A bunch of no names are flooding our algorithms every time a competitor of Netflix or TH-cam comes out with a show.. but then again I'm sure it's just an extremely lucky profitable coincidence for TH-cam. I mean, what small time creator isn't a professional public speaker, film major, and a veteran at editing. That's definitely normal for sure. And the fact that they're all riddled with ads, usually two at a time, all fully monetized? Damn! Lucky break for a top competitor of the exact parent company these creators are extremely invested in Ah yes, flawless editing, fully monetized, no awkwardness, and completely ad safe content, and pushed to the front of the algorithm despite having an extremely low number of subs, and videos with low views. Definitely the hallmarks of no name channels that are "just getting started" And what do you know, they all share the same opinion in unison. Interesting lol. But all sarcasm aside, the series outdid every other show for the month it was on, so your point really doesn't stand
@maxxmarino6500 allow me to break to you the following: youtube is run by an algorithm, meaning it will recommend to you 1. Trending topics and videos, and 2. Content you usually watch, both by people you're subscribed to and people you're not. And because it's an algorithm, it's not perfect. It's a robot that doesn't understand nuance. And so not every video on your recommended is gonna be something you want to watch. You're welcome. Happy watching. And maybe let go of the entitlement to being catered to.
The Weeknd and Sam Levinson ruined what could've been a FANTASTIC cautionary tale about the industry. Instead of being a cautionary tale, they showed Hollywood for what THEY view it as... cults, drugs, sex, abuse, and manipulation. That's what they care about. That's it. They didn't properly touch on Jocelyn's mental health issues, her creative direction clashing with her team, or her rivalry with Dyanne.
Basically this show was "suppose" to show how dark and twisted the industry is and how shallow everyone in it is. They decided to say "what better way to show it is to portray everyone as idiots and ignorants and the main character as a strong woman that actually is super smart guys"
right it's either an insiders perspective to the industry or some kind of smokescreen playing into public anxieties about hollywood and "the industry."
@@joseroa5243 I'm still confused about the "strong woman" part they’re trying to show. Cause, It's true that manipulative actor and actresses who would do anything to achieve their goals exist. But the abuse of Jocelyn by her mother seemed pretty real to me and Xander also experienced it (he was forced to sign a contract to never sing again). The mental breakdown she had when they try to film the music video is also very real. It made the plot twist of "actually she's the manipulator and Tedros is the victim" very unbelievable when there are absolutely no foreshadowing (except Xander's talk about Jocelyn controlling everything). Plus Tedros actually canonically has committed real crime. It feels icky when she declared him as "the love of her life" and not get backlash. In conclusion, this show sucks.
This is probably one of the worst shows of 2023 so far. Also, it made me disgusted that they revealed Chloe to be underage, RIGHT after showing her naked. They could have easily made her early 20s, since her being a minor didn't even affect the plot.
Even more frustrating is nearly every character in Euphoria is underage and naked at some point of the show and it's still wildly popular and well received. I don't know why. People should be more disturbed.
And then having Tedros be exposed for being a pimp and whatever he did to Chloe.... Joss is like 'HERE'S THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!' and the crowd goes wild. Do you think Rihanna could bring out Chris Brown like that and her fans would be... Happy?
And then they proceeded to have Chloe continue to be naked -ish even AFTER the audience finds out that she's underage and groomed. By that time, we already knew she was a minor. I feel like Sam makes himself so obvious on purpose, how has he not been investigated?
It literally did effect the plot. It showed how cult leaders like Tedros pray on young, niave girls. I agree they should've covered her up more but her age did say something overall.
@@paulthomas963 i doubt it would of been worse than the shit show we got. I could very easily see sam convincing HBO to let him take it over given his successes with euphoria season 1
penguinz0 said the show was worse than Velma and I agree. While Velma was an unpleasant and unlikeable character, the way The Idol framed Tedros as the real victim and vilified Jocelyn, while treating her as a sex object, is downright fucking deplorable. Also, the fact Sam Pervinson and The Weekend wanted to throw out a female's perspective, which could've made the show good, is blatant misogynistic behavior on both their parts.
Okay but even though it’s not the only point of the show I’m curious as to how Sam Levinson turns everything into just overly sexual material involving underage characters and just generally graphic sex. It seems like almost like a fetish thing seeing attractive female actresses in vulnerable sexual situations usually getting humiliated.
A fetish.. Nah. Its clear he hates women, and to me this is his way of getting f back at them. I feel like his indentity coils probably highlight that, I can imagine an affluent narc gay white man being jealous of the pretty blonde girls who could easily get the man they want. So the best way to make yourself feel better? Make them villans (Jocelyn) or sluts (Cassie).
'tonally inconsistent and illogical plot twists' yes. part of me thinks the plot twists were placed to try and hide the giant plot holes and empty characterization. i am fascinated by the fact that $75 million was thrown at this garbage fire.
The tonal inconsistency is crazy. In one moment, Joyce’s handlers are humorously debating Tedros’s race, and the next we endure long, gratuitous shots of open wounds on Joyce’s body. Like wtf.
Watching this made me think of the show Maid; that was imo a successful depiction of how abusers can fool you to keep you coming back and a successful way to manipulate the audience. It starts with the very clear fact that her boyfriend is abusive, and then as the series progresses we learn more about his backstory, see his vulnerable side, see him stepping up as a loving caring partner in times she needs him most. So by the time he repeats his abusive behavior the viewer is let down because despite the fact being repeated constantly that abusers won’t change, we were starting to root for him because we wanted to see him move past his trauma and become a better boyfriend. The Idol gives no vulnerability and the only backstory we hear is apparently a lie (which we only learn in the final scenes), so there is no rooting or expectations for any of the characters, they all just seem like annoying people and the “gotcha” moment at the end doesn’t stick, it’s just confusing
The Idol illustrates much that is wrong with contemporary show crafting, corporations, marketing, society, and greed. It's terrible. Nice video! Almost had me with the title.
We are at the point where I wouldn't be surprised if the reason there are dozens of shots close up focusing on characters is just to provide as much source material as possible for reaction GIFs and memes.
Yeah it’s definitely intentional and I’m noticing it more in other films and shows too. Remember when fans of Spider Man NWH watched it after it came out on streaming, and noticed the pauses in dialogue for audience reactions? Same sorta thing.
so the show that was originally supposed to be about how idols get taken advantage of and how predatory hollywood is made the idol the one taking advantage and being predatory? very very ironic
The "holier than thou" stuff matters, though. Explicitly nude scenes involving underage characters. Vilifying an abuser and painting him in a sympathetic light. Making the main victim of the show a surprise con artist who was supposedly in control the whole time despite no groundwork being laid for that the entire show, and direct evidence pointing to the contrary, namely thru the character's habits and other people being witnesses to her past abuse. It tells the narrative that real victims should not be pitied or taken seriously. That the bad guy always has some sort of sympathetic story that should negate his past actions. It matters. Especially when it is very clear that Sam Levinson and The Weeknd didnt intend for this to be satire. They did not want this narrative to be sympathetic towards the victims. At best it's horribly executed shock value, which makes for terrible TV. At worst, it's malicious.
You're reaching. They are both wrong. Simple as that. Bad writing is bad writing. Being edgy to be edgy without justification because plot points are brought up once then never seen again. You saying what the attempt was doesn't erase the fact that the show didn't convey that because it was unorganized
@@moxiemaxie3543 and how does what you said negate what I said and imply that I'm reaching? Both can be correct. It can both be an ethically wrong show and a poorly made one.
"It tells the narrative that real victims should not be pitied or taken seriously". This! This is the message I got from it too. And even if you don't watch the ending and the twist (which I didn't) the whole idea that suffering is good also drives in the point that victims shouldn't be pittied, because that abuse makes them more creative or interesting.
I'm not gonna waste my time criticizing it, Since that is exactly what the Hollywood Beast would want. I'm just glad I didn't waste 5 hours watching it and had TH-camr's do that for me instead.
I think sam wanted to tell the world "weirdos aint weirdos, they just manipulated and victims of their underaged masterminds sociopaths girlfriends. We are just sad people, we aint dangerous, we just sad"
I just think the show boils down to one thing: Sam and Abel basically just wanted to make their wet dream a TV show. I agree, having sexually graphic or taboo subjects in your art/film/work is fine as long as there is an intent for it, be it to progress the plot or even some form of cinematic symbolism. I just think they wanted to get as many raunchy nudes scenes of Lily as possible, because they knew it would sell well and create buzz. She’s beautiful, they wanted to exploit that. Edit: This show had so much potential to actually be an amazing critique of the way Hollywood and record labels use their stars in unsavory ways, to exploit them basically. I believe that was the original concept when the show had a different showrunner. Then Sam comes in and turns it into the very thing it was originally trying to criticize. Rachel Sennott’s character was actually the only decent person in the entire show.
I can’t imagine how disappointed a lot of the main stars must be. Lily signed on for Amy’s vision of a 2000’s pop girl and her struggles, a la Britney Spears, and most of the initial filming seemed to be going along with that vision. Then, production was delayed and reshoots were shot with Sam & Abel at the wheel which seem completely opposite of Amy’s vision. By that time, it was too late to back out & I wouldn’t doubt if she was contractually obligated to see it through, regardless of her feelings about the new material. Seeing the finished work at Canne’s must have been a shock and then they have to sit there, smile and answer journalist’s questions like they actually enjoyed the finished project. Horrifying. Also, I heavily doubt YG would’ve let Jennie sign on for this show if they knew this was what the finished project would be; the initial project would’ve still been provocative for a kpop idol but an interesting step for her career. Whereas this finished show is wayyyy off the rails from expected. The cut clips they’ve released show a lot more of Jennie. I wonder if YG made them cut some of her scenes due to the revisioned show in order to protect her image (bc they wouldn’t let her sign a HBO contract without a clause allowing them some sort of control over her image, lbr).
workers on the set also revealed sam would be making last minute changes to the script the day of and cause delays, so they had no idea what they signed up for even if they read the script the day before.
it was revealed that jennie became an actress in this show AFTER sam levinson joined, and she also accepted the role without yg's knowledge she knew what she was signing up for
The way gone girl set up the twist was so effective that the reader is able to go from supporting one character and hating the other for half the book to immediately reversing that entirely within the span of a few pages. And it doesn't even happen like within the last few pages, it happens like 3/4 of the way through, which is partially what makes it so effective--by the very last twist at the end, you already know who is really The Bad Guy...and you know that none of the characters can get out of what she's set up. Without all of the foreshadowing, explanation, and like late-page character exposition, the end would not be as unsettling as it was, because that's what made it believable in the first place (as outlandish of a plot it technically is)
i loved this video and the thesis is interesting but my only contention is that Sam Levinson takes himself far too seriously to make a show which HE believes is a fully cynical ploy to attract controversy with no substance underneath. I feel this because of his past projects (eg euphoria) and the general tone of the show. What i think happened is that the Weeknd & Sam L. though they wrote a profound piece and was hoping that it would incur outrage from the puritanical audience and boost its press, but will ultimately be well received by the general audience who watch it. I don't know what could have possibly made them think that, but many writers nowadays settle for "subverting the audience expectations" instead of writing a meaningful story.
The funny thing is, this show isn't even interesting enough to be considered camp. There are a few ridiculous lines and scenes, but most of the show is filled with immaterial garbage.
I swear Abel and Sam ruined the entire show when they took over because if they hadn't got rid of the original director/producer and kept her idea of a 2000s pop singer and her struggles, this show would have actually been good. Like i can't believe that we could have gotten a fictional Britney Spears story instead of this show.
23:44 it's like velma all over again. I havent seen it either but ive seen all the video essays about it. I hate levinson, i knew he was weird from watching euphoria, especially season 2, i couldn''t even finish it..
Yes. It’s good to see the community/fandom fully turning against him. Season 2 was such garbage & really failed to carry over the threads & things people cared about . Not to mention the bts drama with how Barbie Ferreira was treated. Hopefully Idol is a nail in the coffin.
I'm really enjoying all this Idol essays in youtube, thank you for giving us your perspective. Also I think the Wolf of wallstreet is a disgusting film
You are not offended by the subject because you are not a woman. Or a survivor of domestic or sexual abuse. The tone of the show is not the only thing on dispute. It’s condescending, send a very clearly worded message about abuse and how an abuse victim is ultimately the mastermind of her own plight. There is nothing more clearer than that.
Modern Writters (or at least the ones loud enough to force their scrip into movies) Script what they "assume" is deep, but their insight is flimsy that they assume a doing what other movies done but "reverse" is somehow deep. As I've read once, the biggest sin in a scrip or a story is to write "and then", somehow this entire series it's just a strings of "and then" with nothing that connect one side to another.
excellent & incisive analysis of the show, which seems like an exercise in plausible deniability, rather than a meaningful exploration of the subjects it’s attempting to talk about.
I know literally all about this show despite having watched exactly zero minutes of it. Glad all my favourite youtube reviewers got to eat good off of it, though!
@@shilalove3631 You're really defending the guy who casts women who resemble his mom and has them looking naked all the time and/or engaging in sexual acts and also has an obsession with sexualising underaged girls huh
I think the show should've just stopped at episode 3, and they actually told us straight to our faces in the show that they like the attention even if negative when Jocelyn was talking abt her leaked nude at the dinner table with the cult xd
As a survivor, I seriously appreciate the trigger warnings at the beginning of your video 💜 I feel like a lot of people would be shocked to find out how many creators DON'T give them or even alert to flashing lights for their epileptic viewers.
I gotta say that section with the emperor palpatine clips edited over the idol clips was one of the most entertaining things I've seen in a while. bravo on that it's hilarious
It’ll be interesting if this show ultimately kills Abels career. The guy was on TOP when this thing dropped, he had a whole ‘mysterious artist’ thing going, his music is all over the radio. It’ll be hard to take him seriously as that guy again, not without picturing Tardfus and his stupid face rat tail. And acting and screenwriting doesn’t seem to be in the cards as a career swerve.
I sincerely hope that people don't watch this show in the future and put a positive spin on it. I like to believe that won't happen, since the show isn't even memorable or interesting to begin with.
Once I saw you made a video on this I said YAY outloud lol I wasn't even excepting you to do a video on this since I think you normally cover movies but So happy :D
It's true I'm like white knuckling in my refusal to watch this show-but then it comes up again in discourse and I'm like "well, I got to see what all the fuss is about." still a hard no though.
I'm glad you broke it down like this. Everyone was talking about how wild and insane it was. I genuinely was mad at everyone who talked about the idol for taking five hours of my life that I'm not getting back. It was just real boring to me and that's the worst thing any show can be for me.
9:59 / feel like you just described gaslighting? Feel like Abel is such a gaslight he’s even trying to do it to the audience + critics. Making people doubt their own judgement.
I swear Abel and Sam ruined the entire show when they took over because if they hadn't got rid of the original director/producer and kept her idea of a 2000s pop singer and her struggles, this show would have actually been good.
I feel like the engagement angle is why “And Just Like That” received a second season. People seemed to dislike it so much and rag on it on social media.
I have just commented that too !! That show ended up being hate watched & therefore gained a second series. It was a truly horrendous show and whilst I was dumb enough to watch them, I refuse to watch the second series, lol! I want to watch to see how this series is, but can't!
take notes the diffrence between tedros and Dracula is that dracula is creepy but is oddly alluring as well. Teddros is NOTHING like dracula. he dosnt even have game or is even good at manipulating. In dracula we see how hes a victim of loosing love and you feel bad for him. in Teddros case there is nothing to suggest a dark fairy tail because HE HAS NO SUBSTANCE
The Weeknd comparing his character to Dracula is so beyond dumb. They have nothing in common and he'd know that if he was capable of reading a book. What an embarrassment of a TV show.
I mean she could control her emotions and they displayed that once. Then her friend was saying how she controls everyone (but I thought he was referring to Joss' mom), to me that is an argument that they sewed through the show evidence that Joss was such a mastermind, but not enough evidence in my case. For me, by end of the show it felt like she suddenly found her balls and Tedros lost his for some reason. Aint none of this show was cooked enough to make me think there was some Shakespearian play going on the whole time.
Can someone please solve for me a plot hole that makes me feel like I’m taking crazy pills? Why does no one seem to remember (re: abuse hairbrush) that Tedros already thoroughly handled the hairbrush earlier in the season when he *literally beat* Jocelyn with it? Am I missing something? He’s already held it and used it! How could he only notice its brand-new condition in the last episode for the twist? I was left totally confused by the twist because of this.
One reason why I don't ever watch Euphoria is because of Sam Levinson and also why I quite american horror story because of Ryan Murphy. Let's not hope The Idol gets a second season. I would like to hear your perspective on 13 Reasons Why and Euphoria.
maybe, just maybe Jocelyn isnt the villain, but the creators and the cast are, since they stole at elast 5 hours of life of everyone who engaged in it in anyway. Time you never get back, in which you could do anything... Even if it was just watching something, anything else.
It gives me major ick that the show was supposed to be the female perspective of abuse/cruelty of female celebrities and they made her the villain for 0 reason outside of shock value. Like are you fr lmfao
The Idol is a show about narcissism, or adjecent personality disorders. If you dont know about the twisted dynamics narcissism defines the show just doesnt make sense. Tedros and Jocylyn both are narcissists. Basically what is happening Jocylyn is self harming by letting Tedros abuse her. One message of the show is that deep psychological issues and toxic relationships are often a lot more complicated than judged from the outside. Many people here want a cultural commentary about Hollywood, how empty and superficial it all is. And when they get the story about what is below this emptyness by two of the biggest artistic geniuses of our time, they just come to the conclusion "oh its dumb". Probably not my friends.
You know im reminded of the joke about the Human Fighter ™️ in dungeons and dragons. A million memes all laugh about how its boring, uninspired, doesnt add much to a game, etc. And people really who want to be human fighters and have a story to tell are pushed away from it because they don't want to be seen thay way, so they make something more "interesting" that doesn't hit as hard because there's no passion, its not they story they want to tell. The Idol feels like that to me. Maybe they wanted to make a sleazy exploitation project, but didn't want the associations that come with such projects, so they tried to shoehorn in a bunch of "elevated" elements that end up falling flat because no care was taken. Maybe they were embarrassed about the show they actually wanted to make, or didn't believe in their own vision and just needed the validation from others. Or they really just like seeing women exploited, which is a whole different problem.
I guess I agree with everything you’ve said and I think the decision to focus more on plot/writing/characters while criticizing the show makes sense, BUT I also feel often times in show/movie criticism in particular we forget about all the non-flashy or obvious accomplishments of said media. The people working the cameras, music, costume, even casting, all of the people doing the post-production and so on. In think generally speaking in shows like this goes a lot of love from places we don’t think about at first and it’s kinda sad how the most loud voices (PR, writing and so on) can discredit all the work that has gone right. Aaanyway, maybe something to think about for the next video. 😊 (That being said, the editing on your videos is always really flawless and the work which goes into cutting all the scenes from other movies and so on shouldn’t be underplayed as well.🫶🏻) Much love from Berlin xx
As a massive Weeknd fan, this show hurt me. Not just because it’s absolutely abysmal but because it ruined The Weeknd’s first major acting performance. The Weeknd more so than most artists besides maybe Kanye and Kendrick Lamar fits the movie/ tv show industry incredibly well. His music videos are essentially short films, all telling the story the idol wishes it was, especially with after hours. Sadly he did not bring along that creative team or vision to the Idol.
I dont know if that makes sense and i do know that many people really dislike Sam Levinson and his work. But i personally found all three of his shows/movie that i watched incredibly cathartic (?). Euphoria because i struggle(d) with drug addiction for years, Malcolm and Marie because i was in a very bad and toxic relationship and the movie in some ways really reminds me of the evenings i had with my ex boyfriend and the idol because the dynamic (at least until the weird twist that she was actually the mastermind) really send shivers down my spine because it seemed so similar to my experience. I get that Sam Levinson seems to be a kind of bad person but his work has done a lot for me to be honest.
i was really looking forward to watching the idol ( cause i’m in love with sam levinson and marcel rev cinematography since euphoria and malcom&marie and also in love with lily rose depp and her aesthetic ) but this show really let me down for all the reasons you listed on your essay. i still enjoyed the gorgeous visuals and lily rose depp ( and her on point acting ) and also thought the artists’s music (except for the weekend’s) was astounding, especially suzanna son’s performance… it really struck a cord with me. so even though the plot was mostly garbage i think i’ll go back to it for the musical and visual aspects of it.
also, just wanted to say that you really are a gigantic bowl of fresh air in terms of the kind of content you are making… the only type of content i watch on youtube is those kind of analysis type video and it was starting to get boring with everyone saying the same asinine stuff and using the same thumbnails and phrasing for the titles of their videos… but i feel like you’re really out there and offer a different point of view so… thank you for that. i guess what i’m trying to say is i just discovered your channel and i really love it and your way of seeing things so keep up the good work.
I can always count on great views and observations from your media analyses, meeptop and this video manages to do exactly that! Thank you so much. I do think the show could be criticised fairly on its depiction of female trauma and how it's used to ineffectively tell a story about a character who's hardly resembling an actual human being at times who's seemingly manipulated purely to be used by others, and for us is ultimately used just for spectacle visually (look at the male gaze that's apparent in the show) and narratively (the whole story feeling like traumaporn). I mostly enjoyed watching the show as it had great acting (not you, Abel), at least one really solid scene per episode (which reinforces your scene-by-scene statement) and pretty visuals to look at, but god, the ending was so bad. Which shouldn't have been surprising at all, but it still bummed me out tbh lol
The fact that Sam Levingson called Tedros, a man who abused multiple people ON SCREEN, who sex trafficked women, and was a cult leader, the “victim all along” is everything I need to know about him.
FACTS! If you ask me there is no victim of the story just to manipulative pieces of shit. The only people that were actual victims were the people that he hurt besides Jocelyn of course
Levinson, Levinson, Levinson.... Hm, that name; Levy, Levinson, Levin, usually people with those names suggest all kinds of backwardass ideas and they all have the same ethnicity, so odd, big cohencidence
@@purest_evilSteady now, Ye.
@@chicagoevryday too close to the sun???
@@purest_evilyikes. No.
It is some sort of poetic justice to see a break in the "all press is good press", because so much bad was said about this show that nobody wanted to watch it. We want to see our favorite content creators talk about it, not actually see it ourselves.
I feel like the only people who watch this is the media influencers and reviewers lol
There are some shows that seem more interesting to hear discussed than to actually watch, and this seems to be one of those. It's not just "I disagree with its message," or with how it did things, it also, really didn't seem potentially fun to watch.
Favorite? A bunch of no names are flooding our algorithms every time a competitor of Netflix or TH-cam comes out with a show.. but then again I'm sure it's just an extremely lucky profitable coincidence for TH-cam. I mean, what small time creator isn't a professional public speaker, film major, and a veteran at editing. That's definitely normal for sure. And the fact that they're all riddled with ads, usually two at a time, all fully monetized? Damn! Lucky break for a top competitor of the exact parent company these creators are extremely invested in
Ah yes, flawless editing, fully monetized, no awkwardness, and completely ad safe content, and pushed to the front of the algorithm despite having an extremely low number of subs, and videos with low views.
Definitely the hallmarks of no name channels that are "just getting started"
And what do you know, they all share the same opinion in unison. Interesting lol.
But all sarcasm aside, the series outdid every other show for the month it was on, so your point really doesn't stand
All I’ve seen of this p or n w/a bad … script(?) is by YT and it’ll stay that way lolol
@maxxmarino6500 allow me to break to you the following: youtube is run by an algorithm, meaning it will recommend to you 1. Trending topics and videos, and 2. Content you usually watch, both by people you're subscribed to and people you're not. And because it's an algorithm, it's not perfect. It's a robot that doesn't understand nuance. And so not every video on your recommended is gonna be something you want to watch. You're welcome. Happy watching. And maybe let go of the entitlement to being catered to.
The Weeknd and Sam Levinson ruined what could've been a FANTASTIC cautionary tale about the industry. Instead of being a cautionary tale, they showed Hollywood for what THEY view it as... cults, drugs, sex, abuse, and manipulation.
That's what they care about. That's it. They didn't properly touch on Jocelyn's mental health issues, her creative direction clashing with her team, or her rivalry with Dyanne.
Basically this show was "suppose" to show how dark and twisted the industry is and how shallow everyone in it is. They decided to say "what better way to show it is to portray everyone as idiots and ignorants and the main character as a strong woman that actually is super smart guys"
They were too busy showing her in sex scenes
But don't you know, she's the villaaaaawn
right it's either an insiders perspective to the industry or some kind of smokescreen playing into public anxieties about hollywood and "the industry."
@@joseroa5243 I'm still confused about the "strong woman" part they’re trying to show. Cause, It's true that manipulative actor and actresses who would do anything to achieve their goals exist. But the abuse of Jocelyn by her mother seemed pretty real to me and Xander also experienced it (he was forced to sign a contract to never sing again). The mental breakdown she had when they try to film the music video is also very real.
It made the plot twist of "actually she's the manipulator and Tedros is the victim" very unbelievable when there are absolutely no foreshadowing (except Xander's talk about Jocelyn controlling everything).
Plus Tedros actually canonically has committed real crime. It feels icky when she declared him as "the love of her life" and not get backlash.
In conclusion, this show sucks.
This is probably one of the worst shows of 2023 so far. Also, it made me disgusted that they revealed Chloe to be underage, RIGHT after showing her naked. They could have easily made her early 20s, since her being a minor didn't even affect the plot.
Even more frustrating is nearly every character in Euphoria is underage and naked at some point of the show and it's still wildly popular and well received. I don't know why. People should be more disturbed.
And then having Tedros be exposed for being a pimp and whatever he did to Chloe.... Joss is like 'HERE'S THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!' and the crowd goes wild.
Do you think Rihanna could bring out Chris Brown like that and her fans would be... Happy?
And then Sam does that stupid aftershow chat and says 'Tedros is the actual victim'
OH MY GOD
And then they proceeded to have Chloe continue to be naked -ish even AFTER the audience finds out that she's underage and groomed. By that time, we already knew she was a minor. I feel like Sam makes himself so obvious on purpose, how has he not been investigated?
It literally did effect the plot. It showed how cult leaders like Tedros pray on young, niave girls.
I agree they should've covered her up more but her age did say something overall.
I just wanna see Amy’s version
From the leaks it looks so early 2000’s girl pop and so fun
I guess its lost media at this point, Sam & Abel will never see the gates of Heaven for that
We literally missed a fictional take on what happened to Britney, everyone.
@@falconeshieldthat would have been amazing.
@@paulthomas963 i doubt it would of been worse than the shit show we got. I could very easily see sam convincing HBO to let him take it over given his successes with euphoria season 1
it looked like a disney show in the leaks
penguinz0 said the show was worse than Velma and I agree. While Velma was an unpleasant and unlikeable character, the way The Idol framed Tedros as the real victim and vilified Jocelyn, while treating her as a sex object, is downright fucking deplorable. Also, the fact Sam Pervinson and The Weekend wanted to throw out a female's perspective, which could've made the show good, is blatant misogynistic behavior on both their parts.
Velma was worse.
Okay but even though it’s not the only point of the show I’m curious as to how Sam Levinson turns everything into just overly sexual material involving underage characters and just generally graphic sex. It seems like almost like a fetish thing seeing attractive female actresses in vulnerable sexual situations usually getting humiliated.
It’s definitely a fetish.
If they would let him make porn, he would.
oh you're on point here
@@LoneWulf278that’s a very disturbing fetish then
A fetish.. Nah. Its clear he hates women, and to me this is his way of getting f back at them. I feel like his indentity coils probably highlight that, I can imagine an affluent narc gay white man being jealous of the pretty blonde girls who could easily get the man they want. So the best way to make yourself feel better? Make them villans (Jocelyn) or sluts (Cassie).
'tonally inconsistent and illogical plot twists' yes. part of me thinks the plot twists were placed to try and hide the giant plot holes and empty characterization. i am fascinated by the fact that $75 million was thrown at this garbage fire.
Yeah and the fact that HBO cancelled so many good shows and animated shows to give the money to Sam levinson for this hot garbage.
The tonal inconsistency is crazy. In one moment, Joyce’s handlers are humorously debating Tedros’s race, and the next we endure long, gratuitous shots of open wounds on Joyce’s body. Like wtf.
Watching this made me think of the show Maid; that was imo a successful depiction of how abusers can fool you to keep you coming back and a successful way to manipulate the audience. It starts with the very clear fact that her boyfriend is abusive, and then as the series progresses we learn more about his backstory, see his vulnerable side, see him stepping up as a loving caring partner in times she needs him most. So by the time he repeats his abusive behavior the viewer is let down because despite the fact being repeated constantly that abusers won’t change, we were starting to root for him because we wanted to see him move past his trauma and become a better boyfriend. The Idol gives no vulnerability and the only backstory we hear is apparently a lie (which we only learn in the final scenes), so there is no rooting or expectations for any of the characters, they all just seem like annoying people and the “gotcha” moment at the end doesn’t stick, it’s just confusing
God I love Maid. Such a great show. Thanks for reminding me that good shows DO exist.
Yes! Maid was excellent.
Yes when he was becoming abusive again I catched myself saying, but he can do better again!
And then had to remind myself no! He's a bad guy 😂
I *love* that in their attempt to be subversive and thought-provoking, Sam Levinson and The Weeknd created boring, unmemorable garbage.
Your opinion. It was a great show!
@@cfnmediasam get off your alt account
Every time I hear that ping noise, I know he's coming. I don't check under my bed for the boogeyman, I check for Tedros Tedros.
One of these days I'm going to hear that snort in my nightmares
It's sooo bad 😂
The Idol illustrates much that is wrong with contemporary show crafting, corporations, marketing, society, and greed. It's terrible. Nice video! Almost had me with the title.
Basically what happens when you give power to shit writers.
We are at the point where I wouldn't be surprised if the reason there are dozens of shots close up focusing on characters is just to provide as much source material as possible for reaction GIFs and memes.
Yeah it’s definitely intentional and I’m noticing it more in other films and shows too. Remember when fans of Spider Man NWH watched it after it came out on streaming, and noticed the pauses in dialogue for audience reactions? Same sorta thing.
so the show that was originally supposed to be about how idols get taken advantage of and how predatory hollywood is made the idol the one taking advantage and being predatory? very very ironic
The "holier than thou" stuff matters, though. Explicitly nude scenes involving underage characters. Vilifying an abuser and painting him in a sympathetic light. Making the main victim of the show a surprise con artist who was supposedly in control the whole time despite no groundwork being laid for that the entire show, and direct evidence pointing to the contrary, namely thru the character's habits and other people being witnesses to her past abuse. It tells the narrative that real victims should not be pitied or taken seriously. That the bad guy always has some sort of sympathetic story that should negate his past actions. It matters. Especially when it is very clear that Sam Levinson and The Weeknd didnt intend for this to be satire. They did not want this narrative to be sympathetic towards the victims. At best it's horribly executed shock value, which makes for terrible TV. At worst, it's malicious.
You're reaching. They are both wrong. Simple as that. Bad writing is bad writing. Being edgy to be edgy without justification because plot points are brought up once then never seen again. You saying what the attempt was doesn't erase the fact that the show didn't convey that because it was unorganized
@@moxiemaxie3543 and how does what you said negate what I said and imply that I'm reaching? Both can be correct. It can both be an ethically wrong show and a poorly made one.
@@moxiemaxie3543u just repeated what they said with less words big dawg, agree with both of u tho. lukewarm take: this show is ass
I agree. I don't see how pointing that out and having a problem w that stuff is a shallow way of critiquing the show.
"It tells the narrative that real victims should not be pitied or taken seriously". This! This is the message I got from it too.
And even if you don't watch the ending and the twist (which I didn't) the whole idea that suffering is good also drives in the point that victims shouldn't be pittied, because that abuse makes them more creative or interesting.
I'm not gonna waste my time criticizing it, Since that is exactly what the Hollywood Beast would want. I'm just glad I didn't waste 5 hours watching it and had TH-camr's do that for me instead.
I think sam wanted to tell the world "weirdos aint weirdos, they just manipulated and victims of their underaged masterminds sociopaths girlfriends. We are just sad people, we aint dangerous, we just sad"
Yeah the amber heard comparison is apt and absolutely disgusting. Shame on everyone involved.
Omg I never connected those 2. That was a big revelation to me.
It has nothing to do with amber turd
I just think the show boils down to one thing: Sam and Abel basically just wanted to make their wet dream a TV show. I agree, having sexually graphic or taboo subjects in your art/film/work is fine as long as there is an intent for it, be it to progress the plot or even some form of cinematic symbolism. I just think they wanted to get as many raunchy nudes scenes of Lily as possible, because they knew it would sell well and create buzz. She’s beautiful, they wanted to exploit that.
Edit: This show had so much potential to actually be an amazing critique of the way Hollywood and record labels use their stars in unsavory ways, to exploit them basically. I believe that was the original concept when the show had a different showrunner. Then Sam comes in and turns it into the very thing it was originally trying to criticize. Rachel Sennott’s character was actually the only decent person in the entire show.
I can’t imagine how disappointed a lot of the main stars must be. Lily signed on for Amy’s vision of a 2000’s pop girl and her struggles, a la Britney Spears, and most of the initial filming seemed to be going along with that vision. Then, production was delayed and reshoots were shot with Sam & Abel at the wheel which seem completely opposite of Amy’s vision. By that time, it was too late to back out & I wouldn’t doubt if she was contractually obligated to see it through, regardless of her feelings about the new material. Seeing the finished work at Canne’s must have been a shock and then they have to sit there, smile and answer journalist’s questions like they actually enjoyed the finished project. Horrifying.
Also, I heavily doubt YG would’ve let Jennie sign on for this show if they knew this was what the finished project would be; the initial project would’ve still been provocative for a kpop idol but an interesting step for her career. Whereas this finished show is wayyyy off the rails from expected. The cut clips they’ve released show a lot more of Jennie. I wonder if YG made them cut some of her scenes due to the revisioned show in order to protect her image (bc they wouldn’t let her sign a HBO contract without a clause allowing them some sort of control over her image, lbr).
workers on the set also revealed sam would be making last minute changes to the script the day of and cause delays, so they had no idea what they signed up for even if they read the script the day before.
it was revealed that jennie became an actress in this show AFTER sam levinson joined, and she also accepted the role without yg's knowledge she knew what she was signing up for
My guy wanted to make Gone Girl but never learned about foreshadowing 💀
The way gone girl set up the twist was so effective that the reader is able to go from supporting one character and hating the other for half the book to immediately reversing that entirely within the span of a few pages. And it doesn't even happen like within the last few pages, it happens like 3/4 of the way through, which is partially what makes it so effective--by the very last twist at the end, you already know who is really The Bad Guy...and you know that none of the characters can get out of what she's set up. Without all of the foreshadowing, explanation, and like late-page character exposition, the end would not be as unsettling as it was, because that's what made it believable in the first place (as outlandish of a plot it technically is)
The edit with emperor Palpatine had me wheezing
i loved this video and the thesis is interesting but my only contention is that Sam Levinson takes himself far too seriously to make a show which HE believes is a fully cynical ploy to attract controversy with no substance underneath. I feel this because of his past projects (eg euphoria) and the general tone of the show. What i think happened is that the Weeknd & Sam L. though they wrote a profound piece and was hoping that it would incur outrage from the puritanical audience and boost its press, but will ultimately be well received by the general audience who watch it. I don't know what could have possibly made them think that, but many writers nowadays settle for "subverting the audience expectations" instead of writing a meaningful story.
The funny thing is, this show isn't even interesting enough to be considered camp. There are a few ridiculous lines and scenes, but most of the show is filled with immaterial garbage.
"The Idol is impossible to criticize"
Proceeds to swiftly and effectively criticize The Idol (like a boss)
I swear Abel and Sam ruined the entire show when they took over because if they hadn't got rid of the original director/producer and kept her idea of a 2000s pop singer and her struggles, this show would have actually been good. Like i can't believe that we could have gotten a fictional Britney Spears story instead of this show.
I've never enjoyed an unexpected reference to the prequel trilogy more than comparing Jocelyn to Palpatine
23:44 it's like velma all over again. I havent seen it either but ive seen all the video essays about it. I hate levinson, i knew he was weird from watching euphoria, especially season 2, i couldn''t even finish it..
Yes. It’s good to see the community/fandom fully turning against him. Season 2 was such garbage & really failed to carry over the threads & things people cared about . Not to mention the bts drama with how Barbie Ferreira was treated. Hopefully Idol is a nail in the coffin.
I'm really enjoying all this Idol essays in youtube, thank you for giving us your perspective. Also I think the Wolf of wallstreet is a disgusting film
You are not offended by the subject because you are not a woman. Or a survivor of domestic or sexual abuse. The tone of the show is not the only thing on dispute. It’s condescending, send a very clearly worded message about abuse and how an abuse victim is ultimately the mastermind of her own plight. There is nothing more clearer than that.
The Weeknd is Tommy Wiseau except it's not funny
Oh shit you're right
Time for Tommy to pass the torch
Modern Writters (or at least the ones loud enough to force their scrip into movies) Script what they "assume" is deep, but their insight is flimsy that they assume a doing what other movies done but "reverse" is somehow deep.
As I've read once, the biggest sin in a scrip or a story is to write "and then", somehow this entire series it's just a strings of "and then" with nothing that connect one side to another.
"Pepe Sylvia levels of conspiratorial nonsense."
I'm stealing that!
excellent & incisive analysis of the show, which seems like an exercise in plausible deniability, rather than a meaningful exploration of the subjects it’s attempting to talk about.
I know literally all about this show despite having watched exactly zero minutes of it. Glad all my favourite youtube reviewers got to eat good off of it, though!
Sam Levinson has the writing sensibilities of a 16 year old film bro
Then don’t watch any of his show lol
@@shilalove3631 You're really defending the guy who casts women who resemble his mom and has them looking naked all the time and/or engaging in sexual acts and also has an obsession with sexualising underaged girls huh
7:45 / the emperor palpatine comparison 🤣
That made me crack up hard 😂
I think the show should've just stopped at episode 3, and they actually told us straight to our faces in the show that they like the attention even if negative when Jocelyn was talking abt her leaked nude at the dinner table with the cult xd
I would watch it for Rachel Sennot. Could someone make a supercut of her scenes? Thanks!
Hank Azaria and Dan Levy are also brilliant in this.
@@arabwaluigi5248The performances as a whole are fantastic. The one sore spot being The Weeknd.
I would add Todd Solondz to the “taboo done right” category
As a survivor, I seriously appreciate the trigger warnings at the beginning of your video 💜 I feel like a lot of people would be shocked to find out how many creators DON'T give them or even alert to flashing lights for their epileptic viewers.
Theres no need for a 2nd season unless its an Anthology.
I gotta say that section with the emperor palpatine clips edited over the idol clips was one of the most entertaining things I've seen in a while. bravo on that it's hilarious
It’ll be interesting if this show ultimately kills Abels career. The guy was on TOP when this thing dropped, he had a whole ‘mysterious artist’ thing going, his music is all over the radio. It’ll be hard to take him seriously as that guy again, not without picturing Tardfus and his stupid face rat tail. And acting and screenwriting doesn’t seem to be in the cards as a career swerve.
the genshin soundtrack at 23:38 is sending me 💀🍻
I sincerely hope that people don't watch this show in the future and put a positive spin on it. I like to believe that won't happen, since the show isn't even memorable or interesting to begin with.
Once I saw you made a video on this I said YAY outloud lol I wasn't even excepting you to do a video on this since I think you normally cover movies but So happy :D
It's true I'm like white knuckling in my refusal to watch this show-but then it comes up again in discourse and I'm like "well, I got to see what all the fuss is about." still a hard no though.
great work in this one, meep! i feel like you really put your culture knowhow to use in a LOT of ways in a pretty concise analysis here
I'm glad you broke it down like this. Everyone was talking about how wild and insane it was. I genuinely was mad at everyone who talked about the idol for taking five hours of my life that I'm not getting back. It was just real boring to me and that's the worst thing any show can be for me.
9:59 / feel like you just described gaslighting? Feel like Abel is such a gaslight he’s even trying to do it to the audience + critics. Making people doubt their own judgement.
I swear Abel and Sam ruined the entire show when they took over because if they hadn't got rid of the original director/producer and kept her idea of a 2000s pop singer and her struggles, this show would have actually been good.
i live for the sims soundtrack playing in the background from 14:16
I feel like the engagement angle is why “And Just Like That” received a second season. People seemed to dislike it so much and rag on it on social media.
I have just commented that too !! That show ended up being hate watched & therefore gained a second series. It was a truly horrendous show and whilst I was dumb enough to watch them, I refuse to watch the second series, lol! I want to watch to see how this series is, but can't!
@@Camille_Anderson it’s cancelled
take notes
the diffrence between tedros and Dracula is that dracula is creepy but is oddly alluring as well. Teddros is NOTHING like dracula. he dosnt even have game or is even good at manipulating. In dracula we see how hes a victim of loosing love and you feel bad for him. in Teddros case there is nothing to suggest a dark fairy tail because HE HAS NO SUBSTANCE
The Weeknd comparing his character to Dracula is so beyond dumb. They have nothing in common and he'd know that if he was capable of reading a book. What an embarrassment of a TV show.
I mean she could control her emotions and they displayed that once. Then her friend was saying how she controls everyone (but I thought he was referring to Joss' mom), to me that is an argument that they sewed through the show evidence that Joss was such a mastermind, but not enough evidence in my case. For me, by end of the show it felt like she suddenly found her balls and Tedros lost his for some reason. Aint none of this show was cooked enough to make me think there was some Shakespearian play going on the whole time.
I want to see the idol at least 3 tiers down on the 2023 iceberg
Can someone please solve for me a plot hole that makes me feel like I’m taking crazy pills? Why does no one seem to remember (re: abuse hairbrush) that Tedros already thoroughly handled the hairbrush earlier in the season when he *literally beat* Jocelyn with it? Am I missing something? He’s already held it and used it! How could he only notice its brand-new condition in the last episode for the twist? I was left totally confused by the twist because of this.
My mom had a more positive reaction to the Idol just because she thought it was camp.
That’s the only good way to view it
Last video I’m watching about this show. Bravo
the thumbnail is too funny because Jocelyn is like a pop singer Phantom Menace
One reason why I don't ever watch Euphoria is because of Sam Levinson and also why I quite american horror story because of Ryan Murphy.
Let's not hope The Idol gets a second season.
I would like to hear your perspective on 13 Reasons Why and Euphoria.
Not only was this critique well thought and presented.
Why did the last sentence of this video seem so horribly accurate.
the music at 9:00 is the music from the pizza parlor in club penguin :D
i'm praying to god there's no second season. but if somehow there is, a new director and writer are needed in my opinion.
How dare them compare this to euphoria it’s not even close
really fitting they used depps daughter seeing as depp pulled this shit with amber
maybe, just maybe Jocelyn isnt the villain, but the creators and the cast are, since they stole at elast 5 hours of life of everyone who engaged in it in anyway. Time you never get back, in which you could do anything... Even if it was just watching something, anything else.
I feel for Suzanna Son. Such a talent for who it could’ve been a big step up in her career and now people hardly see her shine.
It gives me major ick that the show was supposed to be the female perspective of abuse/cruelty of female celebrities and they made her the villain for 0 reason outside of shock value. Like are you fr lmfao
This show depicted the dark industry well, in its own making and mere existence as an example
why is eli roth in this show?
This kind of thing is his wheelhouse, He loves exploitive dreck.
@@Ghoulstillebc he’s a sadist
Sadism
if there's one thing eli roth will do is be involved with something controversial lol
The Idol is a show about narcissism, or adjecent personality disorders. If you dont know about the twisted dynamics narcissism defines the show just doesnt make sense. Tedros and Jocylyn both are narcissists. Basically what is happening Jocylyn is self harming by letting Tedros abuse her.
One message of the show is that deep psychological issues and toxic relationships are often a lot more complicated than judged from the outside.
Many people here want a cultural commentary about Hollywood, how empty and superficial it all is. And when they get the story about what is below this emptyness by two of the biggest artistic geniuses of our time, they just come to the conclusion "oh its dumb". Probably not my friends.
And just like that, I want to watch Perfect Blue again.
This was the critique I was looking for 👏🏼👏🏼
When The Sims music starts playing 😂😂😂
He gave the Empress cartay blanchay...
The P5 Leblanc background music is everything omfg
Thank you for using Persona 5 soundtrack and Club Penguin .💕💕
You know im reminded of the joke about the Human Fighter ™️ in dungeons and dragons. A million memes all laugh about how its boring, uninspired, doesnt add much to a game, etc. And people really who want to be human fighters and have a story to tell are pushed away from it because they don't want to be seen thay way, so they make something more "interesting" that doesn't hit as hard because there's no passion, its not they story they want to tell.
The Idol feels like that to me. Maybe they wanted to make a sleazy exploitation project, but didn't want the associations that come with such projects, so they tried to shoehorn in a bunch of "elevated" elements that end up falling flat because no care was taken. Maybe they were embarrassed about the show they actually wanted to make, or didn't believe in their own vision and just needed the validation from others.
Or they really just like seeing women exploited, which is a whole different problem.
I guess I agree with everything you’ve said and I think the decision to focus more on plot/writing/characters while criticizing the show makes sense, BUT I also feel often times in show/movie criticism in particular we forget about all the non-flashy or obvious accomplishments of said media. The people working the cameras, music, costume, even casting, all of the people doing the post-production and so on. In think generally speaking in shows like this goes a lot of love from places we don’t think about at first and it’s kinda sad how the most loud voices (PR, writing and so on) can discredit all the work that has gone right.
Aaanyway, maybe something to think about for the next video. 😊
(That being said, the editing on your videos is always really flawless and the work which goes into cutting all the scenes from other movies and so on shouldn’t be underplayed as well.🫶🏻)
Much love from Berlin xx
Perfect lesson about the way we use our time, talking about what we love, instead of broadcasting what we don't.
this is the best critique/analysis of this shit show I've seen out of all the video essays about it.
I haven’t seen the cast of a tv show come out and SEETHE with anger trying so hard trying to defend a show in this long 💀
22:46 The Genshin music caught me off guard for a second lolol
As a massive Weeknd fan, this show hurt me. Not just because it’s absolutely abysmal but because it ruined The Weeknd’s first major acting performance. The Weeknd more so than most artists besides maybe Kanye and Kendrick Lamar fits the movie/ tv show industry incredibly well. His music videos are essentially short films, all telling the story the idol wishes it was, especially with after hours. Sadly he did not bring along that creative team or vision to the Idol.
“Impossible to criticize” and yet you did such a good job of critiquing all that was wrong with this shit show 👏 👏 👏
I dont know if that makes sense and i do know that many people really dislike Sam Levinson and his work. But i personally found all three of his shows/movie that i watched incredibly cathartic (?). Euphoria because i struggle(d) with drug addiction for years, Malcolm and Marie because i was in a very bad and toxic relationship and the movie in some ways really reminds me of the evenings i had with my ex boyfriend and the idol because the dynamic (at least until the weird twist that she was actually the mastermind) really send shivers down my spine because it seemed so similar to my experience.
I get that Sam Levinson seems to be a kind of bad person but his work has done a lot for me to be honest.
7:40 time stamp: best part of the video 😂😂👏🏼
i was really looking forward to watching the idol ( cause i’m in love with sam levinson and marcel rev cinematography since euphoria and malcom&marie and also in love with lily rose depp and her aesthetic ) but this show really let me down for all the reasons you listed on your essay. i still enjoyed the gorgeous visuals and lily rose depp ( and her on point acting ) and also thought the artists’s music (except for the weekend’s) was astounding, especially suzanna son’s performance… it really struck a cord with me. so even though the plot was mostly garbage i think i’ll go back to it for the musical and visual aspects of it.
also, just wanted to say that you really are a gigantic bowl of fresh air in terms of the kind of content you are making… the only type of content i watch on youtube is those kind of analysis type video and it was starting to get boring with everyone saying the same asinine stuff and using the same thumbnails and phrasing for the titles of their videos… but i feel like you’re really out there and offer a different point of view so… thank you for that. i guess what i’m trying to say is i just discovered your channel and i really love it and your way of seeing things so keep up the good work.
@@huntterr9 mmmh was it…?
Just found your channel today. You said EVERYTHING I’ve been thinking omggg
They really thought The idol would be the biggest show of the summer… 💀
What show was bigger?
Hes Dracula? More like The Count from Sesame St
Well, all that may be true, but Able still made Dawn FM, so he gets a pass from me...
I love how everyone who doesn't care for constant graphic, s3xu41 content because we crave more than that are "pearl clutching prudes".
My only question is why Emperor Palpatine in back of the thumbnail 🤔
i found your account today and i love this account
I can always count on great views and observations from your media analyses, meeptop and this video manages to do exactly that! Thank you so much. I do think the show could be criticised fairly on its depiction of female trauma and how it's used to ineffectively tell a story about a character who's hardly resembling an actual human being at times who's seemingly manipulated purely to be used by others, and for us is ultimately used just for spectacle visually (look at the male gaze that's apparent in the show) and narratively (the whole story feeling like traumaporn). I mostly enjoyed watching the show as it had great acting (not you, Abel), at least one really solid scene per episode (which reinforces your scene-by-scene statement) and pretty visuals to look at, but god, the ending was so bad. Which shouldn't have been surprising at all, but it still bummed me out tbh lol
7:21 BRUH WHAT THE FUCK NO WAY I DID NOT HEAR ABOUT THAT FINAL TWIST bruhhhhhhhhh