The Idol's Jocelyn and Tedros Dynamic Echoes A Disturbing Dating Reality

For the first 3 episodes of The Idol, viewers watched on in anguish as Tedros, the scummy club owner, manipulated his way into Jocelyn's life and her career. He took over her music production, then he and his friends moved into her home and appeared to be grooming her as well.

There’s no doubt that Tedros is a manipulator and a liar, but episode 4 completely changed the way fans saw the relationship dynamic between Tedros and Jocelyn. For many, the situation echoes something far too real as Jocelyn’s dark side came to light.

Tedros never had the control he thought he did.

The most recent episode saw the real Jocelyn step into the light, and take back her power. And whilst this was quite the unexpected twist for the show, it's pretty common in real life.

She let him take control, call the shots, and abuse the people around her because it was what she wanted. She doesn't care, she seems to enjoy the abuse.

When Jocelyn found out that Tedros had been disloyal, that it had all been a setup, her reaction was not what anyone would have expected. She was upset, thought about it and then she invited her ex to the house and slept with him whilst Tedros pounded at her door and eventually collapsed into a tearful, defeated ball. The sudden power shift was frightening.

Jocelyn was never the weak, vulnerable one. Her actions over and over again proved that she was broken and depressed, and genuinely did not care about anything that Tedros did or anyone he hurt. The chaos he created would be blamed on him because the perception was that he was a menace and a degenerate.

Submissive does not equate to a lack of control, and Jocelyn has proven this. She pushed Tedros to continue torturing Xander with the electric collar because it was what she wanted, and she enjoyed it. This was a turning point for many viewers, who would have felt protective over Jocelyn until this moment, because she was the victim, right?

Wrong.

This kind of deceit and manipulation has happened time and time again in the real world, a testament to the fact that what we see is not always the reality. This does not excuse any of Tedros’ actions. He seems to be a genuinely terrible and manipulative person, but he certainly doesn’t have the control everyone thought he had in the beginning.

The Idol has come under fire for many of its scenes and portrayals, and as controversial as the series may be, it deserves credit for bringing to light a very real, and very disturbing dating reality, as depicted by Jocelyn and Tedros.