A Stars Belong to the World Recap:
A few thoughts on this opening sequence. Why are there security guards with machine guns everywhere? Does Jocelyn have a stalker, or does Tedros need protection? These maids need a raise! Cleaning up spilled coke and dildos is surely not in their job description. They also have a point about Tedros’ Napoleon complex. At least he’s actually doing a good job shaving Joss’s legs in the tub. Izaak. Morning yoga. Leopard print boxer briefs. Lucky Leia! We need to make Izaak’s yoga routine the show opener from now on!
Fast forward to Destiny and Chaim. Their Tedros investigation has now revealed his government name is Mauricio Costello Jackson. No, he’s not Italian. As expected Mr. Jackson has a wild past which includes kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, holding her hostage, and torturing her for 3 days. During his trial he was hit with even more charges from other people!
Back at the house Leia is giving Tedros a run-down of Joss’s schedule, and he’s 86ing everything important.
- 10:30 AM: Concert update call with Andrew Finkelstein. Canceled.
- 1:00 PM: Appointment with Dr. Sugarman. Canceled.
- 2:00 PM: Half Magic meeting for Joss and Leia’s upcoming makeup line. Tedros is surprised they’re collaborating on something and tells Leia that the meeting is more important for her than Joss, and they work for Joss. Double canceled!
Then he tells Leia she needs to grow a bigger set of balls if she’s going to work for him. Since when does Leia work for Tedros? He asks if they’re here for Jocelyn, and she responds, “I definitely am. I am absolutely here for Jocelyn. I know that I am.” Ooh, shots low key fired!
Legendary producer Mike Dean arrives in a cloud of bong smoke. (No, literally.) He proceeds to walk around the mansion clapping to test the acoustics. He finally settles on a spot and sets up his studio.
Jocelyn comes in to start working with Mike. She tells Tedros she likes not having to make any decisions for herself because she trusts him. He tells her to put it in her new song. “I don’t wanna decide things for myself on my own. Finally for the first time, I’m alone. And you got me havin’ good times with a bad boy. Seems I’ve got a choice to make. Be my voice, and I choose you to fill the void. “ The lyrics are actually fire, but do we want to give Tedros credit for inspiring them? Nope.
Back to Destiny and Chaim. She thinks “we should kill this motherfucker,” but Chaim says no. Instead he sends D to the house. Mission: Find Tedros’s weak spot. Code Name: Black Panther. Once Destiny, err, Black Panther is inside, she calls Chaim from the bathroom and tells him not to text her so there’s no paper trail. If something goes down, she’ll call. Smart!
When D exits the bathroom, Chloe appears in the hallway like one of those creepy kids in a Steven King movie. She literally skips excitedly towards D and says, “Destiny is my favorite name!” Of course it is. D asks Chloe what she does. She replies that she hangs out and plays piano so D asks her to play for her. D gives Chloe singing advice, then starts gathering intel on Tedros. Apparently Chloe was a heroin addict living on the streets. Tedros saved her life and gave her a place to stay at his club. When D asks Chloe how old she is, she almost slips. “Sev-err-18.” Interesting.
Destiny calls Chloe a “pure heart” and advises she not let anything or anyone get in the way of her gift because people will want to take her voice from her. D makes her promise to “stay true to that crocodile song. If it feels wrong, it’s wrong.”
Meanwhile we’re shown footage of Dyanne on her way to sell her soul to Joss’s label. The juxtaposition is genius!
Back in the drug den, err studio, everyone is smoking, snorting, making out, and partying. Tedros tells everyone to shut up so they can hear the new song. As usual he picks on Leia.
Destiny finds her way into the studio and listens to the song. She suggests the “yea” isn’t believable for such a raw song. As usual, D’s right. Tedros said he has “just the trick.” Out comes a scarf to blindfold Joss. Then he hikes up her dress and starts touching her as she sings in front of everyone. Leia is super uncomfortable. The producers and engineers look at each other in disbelief. Tedros’s cult is unphased. Destiny is keeping a low profile behind her sunglasses, but calls Chaim from the bathroom to tell him there’s weird, kinky, scary shit going down.
Later that night Leia tells Isaak it’s weird that everyone’s just sitting around watching Joss get assaulted. Leia feels no one is taking care of Joss, not even Destiny or Chaim. Isaak tells her it’s just Tedros’ process and it works. According to Tedros, there are two types of people: Ones that support you. Ones that are obstacles. Leia counters that Tedros is just using Joss in front of other people like she’s not a human being. Isaak replies, “Well, she’s not a human being. She’s a star. And stars belong to the world.” And so we have the title of the episode!
One week later Destiny calls Chaim from the bathroom with a rundown. There’s 3 to 5 crazy talented kids who each have their own sound. Cut to a montage of goth trap artist Ramsey singing on top of Joss who’s laying on the floor. Then singer-songwriter Chloe is banging away on the keys singing a haunting melody as usual. And lastly, Izaak and his sultry soulful self is grinding on Xander. Leia looks annoyed, mainly because Tedros’s arm is around her.
Destiny continues that her main goal is just to observe Tedros for now, not change him. She wants to see how he moves so she knows how to manage. He’s crafting something specific with Joss, but his methods are sketchy. He likes to get stuff out of people and test their limits in a torturous manner. Then we see footage of Joss arguing with Tedros multiple times.
Finally we’re taken back to Dyanne’s meeting with Nikki at the label. They want to make her an offer she can’t refuse. Her first single will be World Class Sinner, and she’ll have access to every division. The label will oversee the record and pair her with top producers. She’ll have features on all the major streaming platforms. She’ll have legal support, merchandise, marketing campaigns, and a world tour at the best venues around the globe. So exciting, but why does Dyanne look kinda sad about it?
Cut to Joss on a call with Talia that sounds therapy-like. She asks Joss how she’s doing since the last time they saw each other was at the video shoot gone wrong. Joss admits she was in the middle of a big wave of grief that day, but she’s better now. Talia reminds her she’s “only human.” Joss responds that people keep telling her that as if she’s not human. (Well Izaak did say “stars belong to the world.”)
When Talia asks if Nikki and Finkelstein are concerned about the tour, Joss says the tour’s still moving forward. Talia admits she heard Joss calling out for her dead mother during the video shoot and questions if she can handle a tour right now. Joss quickly changes the subject.
Meanwhile Xander is singing in the shower. Tedros overhears and stands in the shadows like a creep. Why do I feel like he’s done this before? He pops up behind Xander and scares TF out of him. Tedros asks why he doesn’t sing anymore. Xander tells him he tore his vocal cords a couple years ago. Tedros mentions Joss told him about that, but points out he was singing just fine in his room. So he’s either fully healed or lying.
Xander asks what else Joss has told him. Tedros goes on to say Joss’s mom outed him so he quit their Rock House series and later quit singing due to a vocal injury. Tedros questions why Xander still moved in with Joss and her mom despite all that. Xander reveals he didn’t know Julianne was the one who had outed him until later. When Tedros encourages him to sing again, Xander responds, “You ask Jocelyn how she feels about that?” Tedros asks what Joss has to do with that. All we get from Xander is a “Well, umm” before the scene shifts. Way to leave us hanging.
Tedros and Mitch wake everyone up and make them line up. Tedros explains the meaning of family, going into the root of the word like we’re in a linguistics class.
Meanwhile Joss walks downstairs on a mission with an electric collar in her hand. Does anyone else notice she’s dressed like a modern version of Sharon Stone’s character in Basic Instinct? She hands it to Tedros who tells Xander to step forward. Xander hesitates. Tedros says he uses the collar to “unlock” people. Joss calls Tedros over, and whispers to him that she doesn’t think Xander deserves this. Deserve what? What did Xander do?
Xander uses this as an opportunity to bolt upstairs. Unfortunately Izaak and Mitch chase after him. Tedros says Xander betrayed her, but Joss feels this is extreme. Xander betrayed Joss? Is anyone else confused? Tedros counters that his own servitude and devotion to Joss is extreme, and unsurprisingly Joss eats up the compliment. Izaak and Mitch carry Xander back in, tie him up, and put the collar on him. Tedros interrogates Xander about the alleged lies he told him. According to Xander, Joss asked him not to tell anyone her mom was beating her. He also reveals Jocelyn’s mom made him sign a contract that he wouldn’t sing again. Joss says they’re all lies, and Tedros shocks him repeatedly.
Then something interesting happens. Xander says Joss took years from him. Joss controls everyone and everything around her, and now she’s doing it to Tedros. She’s worse than her mother. It looks like a few lightbulbs start going off for Tedros, but he shocks Xander again at Joss’s request over and over again. Eventually Xander just gives up and says he’s lying so Tedros will stop shocking him.
Back to Joss in the studio singing about “Give me your love. Tough love. My kind of love.” Destiny suggests Joss could use a little more grit, but Tedros thinks the song is fine the way it is. Joss tells Tedros that he did a lot of blow and needs to get some sleep. Tedros is confused AF and says he didn’t do any blow and slept. Look at her trying to control him. Mmhmm.
At some point he finally leaves Joss and Destiny alone. D asks Joss how much she knows about Tedros’s past because she noticed he has some prison tats. Joss tells D she’s aware he went to prison a couple of times, but he doesn’t like talking about it with a lot of people. Shocker. She goes on to say Tedros had a crazy ex-girlfriend who was attacking him so he hit her back in self defense, but the girl made it seem like he punched her first and was abusing her.
But wait, there’s more. Joss tells Destiny about a group of female musicians Tedros was working with who tried to extort him for money. They banned together and told the cops he was their pimp which led to him getting sent to prison for 6 years. Does Joss seriously believe Tedros is the victim here?
Izaak comes to untie Xander and wash him off. How long has he been like this? As Izaak washes Xander, he tells him he’s going to let him go, but he needs to do something for Tedros.
Before we get to that, Tedros wakes Joss up and tells her she has to go public about the abuse to sell tickets to her tour. Later Joss goes on social media and reveals she was abused by her mom for 22 years from the time she was 3 years old. She wraps up her tearful message with “I promise you there’s a new Jocelyn coming.”
Later everyone’s partying. Leia is cleaning. Tedros picks up a water gun filled with tequila and sprays her. She walks off, defeated once again by Tedros. Joss scolds Tedros for embarrassing Leia in front of everyone then walks off.
Chloe’s on molly and starts spilling the tea when Dyanne walks in! Chloe reveals Dyanne likes Tedros and she hopes she isn’t mad at Joss. “When Tedros told Dyanne to bring you to the club, uh, she didn’t think he would have sex with you.” Cut to Joss looking confused that she doesn’t know her backup dancer/friend as well as she thinks she does.
Dyanne comes over and hugs Joss who now has tears running down her face. Dyanne reveals Nikki asked her to step in to perform World Class Sinner, and now Magistrate is offering her a deal with the track as her first single. “Oh wow,” is all Joss can say. Dyanne said she hasn’t said yes yet because she wanted to check with Joss first. How loyal. Joss keeps crying and tells Dyanne she wouldn’t want to stand in her way. “I’m really happy for you. I’m going to get you a drink.”
On the other side of the party, Joss texts, “Hey Rob, it’s Joss. Can you come over. I need you.” OMG, are we FINALLY meeting “Heartthrob Rob!”
Yes!
Cut to Rob (Karl Glusman) walking into the mansion with his curly hair outfitted in a hoodie, jeans, and boots.
Tedros tells Destiny to take a hit of his coke so they can get to know more about each other. She takes a hit, looks up and points out Joss’s ex to Tedros. He practically runs into the house.
Tedros offers Rob a shot and starts unraveling. He asks who invited him, when did Joss text him, and even what time she texted him. Tedros keeps taking shots and starts gagging. He tries to play it off and squares up with Rob, acting wild as hell. Meanwhile, Mike Dean is in the corner playing piano and giggling, soundtracking this one-sided duel.
Joss comes running in excitedly and jumps into Rob’s arms. Rob asks Joss if she’s met “the Kung Fu Master here?” Girl literally looks at Tedros and says, “No. I don’t need to.” Tedros, she is playing in your face! Now Xander’s words are probably sinking in.
Rob and Joss go back to her room. Apparently he was away filming a superhero movie. He asks why she didn’t tell him about her mom abusing her. Of course Joss doesn’t want to talk about that. Rob reveals Joss was ignoring him for the past month. (Wait, have they only been broken up for a month? She moved on with Tedros fast!) He even tried calling Leia who told him she couldn’t get a hold of Joss. (Well Leia’s not lying. Tedros has been running the show.)
As Rob smokes on the balcony, Joss comes out of the shower and asks if he cares about her or if he loves her. He tells her to put some clothes on. She calls him “no fun” and goes back inside. Meanwhile, Tedros starts banging on the door in a panic. The music playing in Joss’s room drowns him out, kinda.
On the other side of the door, Joss has changed into lingerie that she originally bought to visit Rob in Germany. But apparently he slept with his co-star and broke her “delicate little heart.” Rob reminds her that it was her who said it was boring to be monogamous. They kiss and Rob tells her there’s plenty of guys she can have sex with who won’t ask her any questions. She tells him, “But they’re not you.” He replies, “That’s right. I actually know you.”
He says he remembers how tender she was with her ill mother so this must all be difficult for her. Joss promises she’s in a “good place” now. (Umm, sure.) They start hooking up. He’s leaving for a press tour in 5 hours and asks her to come with him. She declines. He adds, “You know what I love most about you? When you want something, you find a way to get it.” Well we all pretty much knew that.
Tedros is still sitting teary-eyed in the hallway staring at the Prince portrait. Someone check on this guy.
As Rob is leaving, Xander and Sophie greet him. (Is she one of the cult girls?) Xander asks Rob if he can take a photo with his “best friend” Sophie because she’s a “big fan.” Umm, sure she is. Rob sits on the stairs and Sophie hops on his lap in her thong bikini with Xander snapping away. Rob is instantly uncomfortable and tells Xander to shut it down. He quickly bolts, telling Xander to delete the photos. Hold on, is this the favor Xander had to do for Tedros? Guess we’ll find out in next week’s finale!
Well this episode of The Idol certainly had a bit of everything. Secrets were revealed. Songs were sung. Tears were shed.
Joss always has a manipulative vibe about her, but this week it was in full effect! One minute she’s lying to Tedros and having him zap away at Xander, and the next she’s acting like she doesn’t know him when Rob shows up. Tedros looked like he was in shambles with his sensitive self.
Destiny came through with the intel on Tedros during her reconnaissance mission. It’s actually more of a surprise that Tedros’s real name is Mauricio Costello Jackson than he was in jail. Go figure.
Xander definitely garnered tons of sympathy in this episode. Can you image learning your best friend’s mom is the one who outed you as a teenager. One has to wonder if Xander’s talent outshone Joss so her mom took it upon herself to end his career. Learning more about all the trauma Joss’s mom put him through, it’s a wonder he sticks with Joss after all these years.
Now that Tedros sees who Joss really is, one can only wonder what they’re going to do with those photos of Rob. On to the finale!
