The Idol Episode 3 Bath Scene is a Reference to a Disturbing Real-Life Story

Sam Levinson and The Weeknd's The Idol is already one of the most controversial series of the year, with people lambasting the project for an insane amount of nudity and explicit content. The first two episodes have already caused thousands of viewers to stop watching the show, and now it looks like even more people are going to drop it after seeing the final moments of Episode 3.

The latest episode of The Idol ends with a scene that's hard to watch, and knowing that it might be based on a real-life story makes the action completely unbearable. In the scene, The Weeknd's Tedros beats Lily-Rose Depp's Jocelyn with a hairbrush in front of her friends, arguing that she will feel better after suffering physical pain.

Viewers were horrified at Tedros and hoped that this humiliating experience would help Jocelyn realize what kind of person he really was. However, in the next scene, Jocelyn thanks Tedros for beating her up, which led people to criticize Levinson and the other writers for questionable character development.

But as it turns out, the creators might have used a real-life story as inspiration for the script, so the characters' actions are in fact quite realistic. After seeing the Episode 3 scene, some fans recalled a real-life Chicago pimp, Iceberg Slim, who mentioned a similar tactic in his autobiographical book Pimp: The Story of My Life.

In the book, Slim revealed that one of the older pimps in his neighborhood suggested that he beat up one of his workers very badly, just to comfort them later with a hot bath or something like that. This way, the worker would feel cared for and be more obedient, forgetting that Slim had mistreated them just a few hours later. Sounds familiar, right?

It looks like Levinson updated Slim's story for his show, making it clear that Tedros' tactics are working, even if they are disgusting to watch. Knowing this, fans are now infinitely more invested in watching The Idol, wanting to see how Jocelyn will get back at her tormentor in the finale.

'They 100% should've made the first 3 episodes available to critics. Best episode so far, and unequivocally renders much of the criticism nonsense,' one fan pointed out, 'It's unequivocal that the show is presenting Tedros [as] a manipulative bastard.'

The Idol Episode 4 will premiere on HBO on June 25, 2023.

Source: Reddit.