The Idol Finale: Jennie's Character Draws Ire for 'Wasting' Screen Time

While Sam Levinson and The Weeknd's The Idol is undoubtedly the talked-about show of the summer, it's not its outstanding quality that people have been talking about. On the contrary, everyone's been hating on the series on social media because of its excess of nudity and violence, with some going as far as to suggest that HBO Max should have cancelled it as soon as it was clear what a trainwreck it was.

The season finale redeemed The Idol, at least to some extent, by offering a compelling plot twist, in which Jocelyn is revealed as the story's real villain, and The Weeknd gets a chance to showcase his acting skills. There was one thing about the finale that disappointed fans, though. It's the fact that Blackpink's Jennie was left firmly in the background.

Before the release of The Idol, millions of BlackPink fans were looking forward to the show, expecting to see their favourite singer make her on-screen debut. However, from the first episode's premiere, it became painfully clear that Jennie was merely used as click bait to attract her fans to the show. Her character, Dyanne, was essentially a glorified extra.

Even when Dyanne was revealed as Tedros' co-conspirator responsible for trapping Jocelyn, fans did not see a villainous arc for their beloved singer that would have allowed her to do some actual acting. Instead, she remained a backdrop for The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp.

Fans felt Jennie's character could have been much more impactful if Levinson had crafted a coherent storyline instead of turning The Idol into a disjointed collection of scenes depicting sex and violence. The fandom's consensus is that Dyanne had huge potential as a sidekick villain.

‘Honestly Jennie's character was also very much disconnected from the entire story. I like her but she wasn't needed [...] making a show about pop stars and not having stakes by adding another hypothetical rival pop star was a huge missed opportunity,’ a fan noted.

Regrettably, Jennie's first venture into international acting was a disappointment. The role she was given could have been played by just about anybody else. Even if she lands bigger roles in the future, her first go at acting will always be remembered as a misfire, if it is remembered at all, that is.

Source: Reddit.