It’s the episode viewers were all gearing up for and like the rest of The Idol, something wild was bound to unfold in the finale.

The episode opened with Jocelyn very much in control of her surroundings, practising her new song with producer Mike Dean and Tedros’s group of former loyal devotees. Tedros is clearly drunk and increasingly confused as his presence isn’t acknowledged and Jocelyn continues to ignore him. Jocelyn tells him to leave but he doesn’t and Jocelyn proceeds to tell the people in the room about Tedros’s foiled plan of being in her life.

She explains that he enlisted the help of one of her “random back-up dancers” and noticed that Jocelyn followed Dyanne on Instagram, then stating that Tedros had always been obsessed with her, even obsessing over her in prison. He had Dyanne bring Jocelyn to his club and Jocelyn says that Dyanne must have told him about her love of Prince, which led to them getting to know each other.

“You’re a f**king conman and a fraud,” Jocelyn tells Tedros in front of everyone, before Chloe (Suzanna Son) states that Tedros has been “manifesting this forever”. Jocelyn understands that Tedros wanted her to recognise the talent of the artists he discovered and she has, she says, but she wants him to now leave.

The next day, Finkelstein (Eli Roth) wants to have a meeting about Jocelyn’s upcoming tour and upon having the surprise phone call, Jocelyn gathers Tedros’s singers around her and tells them that she wants them to put on “the best f**king show they’ve ever seen”. She wants them to be her opening act on the long-awaited tour and when Finkelstein, Chaim (Hank Azaria), Nikki Katz (Jane Adams) and Destiny (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) all arrive, they do indeed put on a show.

But at the same time, Leia (Rachel Sennott) is fielding stressed calls from Ray (Karl Glusman), who has been accused of raping someone at Jocelyn’s party. He needs Jocelyn to make a statement corroborating his story. Of course, the evidence being used is the photo that Xander (Troye Sivan) was ordered to orchestrate by Izaak (Moses Sumney) on Tedros’s behalf. Xander tells Leia that Jocelyn already knows about this and that’s the reason she hasn’t been answering his calls.

Although Jocelyn and the viewers know that a jealous Tedros has fabricated this entire story to get Ray out of the picture, we hear how Ray has been removed from his upcoming superhero film and his acting career has seemingly ended.

Tedros then urges Xander to get up and sing a song for the group and afterwards, Jocelyn takes Tedros to one side where he tells her that Xander’s singing is a miracle. “He’s got his voice back,” he says.

Jocelyn storms back into the room and orders Chaim to give Tedros any amount of money he needs to get out of her life forever. As we see Jocelyn perform her new single for Finkelstein, we also see how Chaim gives Tedros a cheque for $500,000 but he doesn’t take it and Chaim says that he has to do ‘Plan B’, heavily insinuating that Tedros could be murdered after all.

What happened to Leia in The Idol season finale?

Finkelstein applauds Jocelyn and the group after their performances, saying that the tour is back on.

But simultaneously, we also see that Leia is packing up her things and leaves a note for Jocelyn on her bed. Clearly disturbed by what’s gone on with Ray and how Jocelyn doesn’t care about his career being upended by false accusations, Leia doesn’t feel comfortable with her best friend.

Although Xander did lie to Leia about Jocelyn knowing about Ray and it’s something that Jocelyn was brought to tears by, her inaction is clearly enough for Leia.

We don’t see what the note says but judging from the fact that Leia does this pretty swiftly during the day’s events, it’s clear that she has woken up to the actions of those around her and doesn’t want to be part of Jocelyn’s entourage anymore.

What happened to Dyanne in The Idol season finale?

HBO

We then flash to Magistrate Records’ office where Nikki is having a meeting with Dyanne and informs her that because of one of the writers on World Class Sinner, there’s a legal problem with Dyanne’s first single.

She explains that the single can’t be released and although Dyanne has a full team of legal support, she’s told that Magistrate has done all they can. Nikki then seems to joke that this problem could be good inspiration for her writing a new song, something which Dyanne is clearly annoyed by.

Walked back to the lift, Dyanne is left to get in by herself and simply leaves Nikki saying: “It was Jocelyn, wasn’t it?”

While that’s the last we see of Dyanne, the whole situation with her being quickly absorbed into a music label and then let down is an embodiment of a wider industry problem of small artists being boxed in and disappointed after signing.

Whether or not Dyanne could make a return if season 2 were to go ahead is another thing to think about, but she very well could be a match for Jocelyn, clearly embodying much of the same talent as the pop star.

Do Jocelyn and Tedros get back together in The Idol season finale?

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Later, in an empty car park, we see Chaim drive up to Vanity Fair reporter Talia (Hari Nef) who tells her that he has a bigger story, stating that Jocelyn is in a lot of trouble and could use the help. We then flash to six weeks later where Jocelyn is about to take the stage at LA’s SoFi stadium.

Chloe, Xander, Izaak and Ramsey are practising while Finkelstein, Chaim and Nikki talk about the past few weeks. Chaim states that Jocelyn has had three hit single in six weeks, they’ve sold out the tour and they’re on the brink of turning the rest of the group into global superstars. We also learn that Finkelstein’s employees staged a walk-out claiming that Jocelyn’s music is misogynistic, which Chaim said resulted in approximately $200 million worth of free advertising for Jocelyn and her new single, Fill the Void.

We also learn what’s happened to Tedros. They excitedly talk about how Talia’s article destroyed Tedros and that she got quotes from sex workers that he used to “pimp out”. Finkelstein also says that the IRS are going after Tedros. But we then see Tedros approach the stadium asking if an artist pass has been left for him. While it’s not under Tedros’s name, it’s under his government name of Mauricio Jackson and surprisingly, he’s let through to see Jocelyn in her dressing room.

He’s met by Destiny who is expecting him and tells him that she doesn’t care about his past or the fact he is or was a pimp, but says that if he hurts Jocelyn, she will kill him. She leaves and Jocelyn walks in telling him that she missed him. In the dressing room, Tedros notices the same hairbrush Jocelyn said previously was the one her mother used to beat her with. When he asks her if it’s the same one she’d mentioned before, she says “I did” and looks blankly at him through the mirror. But he says “it’s brand new” and she only smiles.

Tedros chuckles, meaning that he now understands that Jocelyn had lied about that all along. He looks nervous as they drive to the stage but Jocelyn takes his hand. When she finally appears on stage, she welcomes her fans and thanks them for being her family. But she then says she wants to introduce them all to the “love of my life”, much to the confusion of Nikki, Chaim and Finkelstein. She brings Tedros on stage and kisses him, before saying: “You’re mine … forever. Now go stand over there.”

Does Tedros die in The Idol season finale?

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Despite many intimations that Tedros would die in The Idol season finale, Tedros doesn’t die at the end of the series. While both Chaim and Destiny have threatened him, he lives to fight another day, albeit very much in Jocelyn’s shadow now that the power dynamics have drastically shifted.

With his reputation in tatters but Jocelyn standing by him in a very public way, we’re sure Tedros’s life won’t go back to how it was. Jocelyn’s entourage are deeply confused as to why Tedros returns and why Jocelyn has welcomed him back into her life.

Well, leading actress Depp said in a HBO featurette unpacking the finale: “Jocelyn is a very calculated and strategic person. She knows exactly what she wants and she’ll stop at nothing to get it. What we realise at the end is that Tedros is her muse and that she got what she needed out of him.”

She continues: “I think a lot of the audience will watch a few episodes and think this guy is taking advantage of her,” she continued. “By the end she realises that she knows exactly what he’s doing and she knows exactly what she’s doing.”

The Idol creator Sam Levinson also explained: “Throughout the season, Jocelyn has been searching for inspiration. She’s looking to go to an uncomfortable place, and it’s just ultimately looking for that next song, that next album. Tedros becomes the conduit for that creative unlocking.”

He added: “[Jocelyn] needs to devour those around her to feel like she’s got something to say,” added Levinson. “We also see how desperate Tedros has become. This pimp from the Midwest who shows up in Beverly Hills ends up being the victim.”