Pop sensation Abel Tesfaye (aka The Weeknd) and writer/director of the hit show Euphoria Sam Levinson have worked together to create the self-proclaimed “show of the summer”. Was it as outrageous as the duo and the internet claimed it to be? Sadly, no. The Idol had so much promise: from the chilling concept to Levinson’s eye for visual flair to Tesfaye’s dazzling and bold musical choices to the star-studded ensemble, The Idol should’ve been a daring, enjoyable, and wildly successful show. However, while The Idol definitely has its memorable moments, it was overall an underwhelming viewing experience.

Controversy has stuck with The Idol since its inception. Levinson is a quite polarizing creator, as there are many who find his directorial vision stunning (especially in Euphoria) and many who despise his maximalist, self-conscious, overly sexualized direction. While Euphoria has broad appeal, Malcom & Marie and Assassination Nation are fairly divisive. One staple in many of his projects is the excessive nudity, and that is once again the case in The Idol. Personally, I found it a little overdone, since most of it did not add much to the overall plot or even the scene it happens in. That being said, while it at times did border on the line of being straight up softcore porn, nothing in the show was as graphic and offensive as some headlines have made it out to be. In fact, all reports from the set show they did follow guidelines and all actors were on board, so the sexuality depicted was nothing too drastic. 

In addition, the controversy carried over into the production of The Idol. Rolling Stone reported before the series released the reason for the complete overhaul of the show was due to Tesfaye being upset with the direction The Idol was going in. They reported he did not like how it was leaning into the female perspective and brought on then-producer, Levinson, to come in and redirect essentially the whole show. Since then, members of the cast have publicly stated that was not the case and no on-set drama was involved, as HBO themselves stepped in to say they wanted the new direction. Regardless of whatever went down, though. you can absolutely feel the budget restrictions, the rewrites, and the fast reshoot nature of the production bleed through in the final product. 

The Idol kicks off with a pretty engaging and overall fun time in its debut episode. It wastes no time and dives into a engrossing satirical scene of what the average day of a major pop star can look like. The cross-cutting between our lead of the show, Jocelyn (Depp), and her staff does a great job of giving you a feel for who these people are and what they are here to do. I appreciated the commentary on how a celebrity is controlled by their label as we watch Jocelyn do things she clearly does not want to do but is obligated to do because of those who are surrounding her. As someone who records dance, I also adored the choreography during the World Class Sinner music video rehearsal. These types of scenes were exactly what I wanted from The Idol, attacking these topics head-on in a funny but also creative style. However, the episode takes a tonal shift once Jocelyn goes to a club. We are introduced to club owner, cult leader, and overall weirdo Tedros (Tesfaye). Tedros is presented as a super high energy, outgoing, and insanely creepy guy. He is immediately off-putting, but shouldn’t he be? Knowing his future actions, why would they make this character likable and want the audience to be on his side? Overall, episode one was surprisingly solid. It had eye-popping visuals, an engaging story, and a cast of interesting characters.

The positives generally stick around for episode two as we follow Jocelyn to her big music video shoot for World Class Sinner. This episode focuses on how grueling a musician's life can be. We see firsthand how Jocelyn gives everything her all and how it’s just not enough. These scenes really open up her character and give you a reason to feel for her and dislike everyone around her who is taking advantage of this desperate soul. 

Alas, The Idol takes a major nosedive after this episode's conclusion. The next two episodes focus a lot more on the cult activities between Tedros and his followers with the occasional scene with Jocelyn and her career. These scenes are where you can feel the budget restrictions, the lack of focus, and the quick reshooting schedule come into play. While these episodes did have their moments, they were almost entirely a snoozefest. However, the third episode is a meme-filled goldmine, and nearly every line is GIF-worthy (especially Tedros’s). The dialogue is so awful that it just works. 

Thankfully, episode 5 is a return to form for the show and is a great episode in its own right. Unfortunately, it is the final episode of the season (and very possibly the show) and is not a particularly good finale. I loved watching the crew get together to just jam out and I appreciated how they took their time and let each artist have their moments to shine. The visual style, the sound design, and the rawness of it all was simply captivating. But this episode is burdened with being the finale, so everything wraps up far too fast. After a climactic turning point in Tedros and Jocelyn’s relationship, we just… jump to 2 months later? We miss what I imagine would be plenty of entertaining scenes regarding the ongoing conflict between the two in favor of a time skip. After this time skip, we get this odd plot twist that’s not substantiated very well and leaves the series off on a strange note. Had this show had another episode, episode 5 could’ve been a perfectly adequate episode to set up a perfectly adequate finale, but as it stands it’s just too rushed to be a satisfactory ending. 

As mentioned earlier, The Idol is at its best when focusing on Jocelyn’s musical career endeavors. These sequences are the most engaging; her music video shoot, the introduction photoshoot, and the opening act jam session in episode five are easily the best scenes in the entire show. While Jocelyn is an intriguing character, the flare of her warmth is lost in the final three episodes. Despite her character’s messy writing, Depp nevertheless managed to turn a surface-level character into a standout with her ability to be vulnerable, inviting, and energetic. This is a very physically demanding role and she knocked it out of the park.

Her co-star, on the other hand, gives a very odd performance. Tesfaye is trying, and it’s just up to the viewer if they can take him seriously. He isn’t supposed to be a likable or redeeming man. Tedros is written as a joke, and for me the joke works. He is despicable and often does very bad things. At times I admitally just see The Weeknd on screen and think of how funny it is that this musician I love is saying these wild statements. To me, Tedros is funny, but wasn’t that the point? Tedros is played as a goofy but horrific person, and he is meant to be revolting so it somewhat works.

The rest of the cast is decent. Da’Vine Joy. Randolph is the obvious standout, commanding the screen whenever she shows up and proving why she is a world class actress. Hank Azaria and Eli Roth have some good one-liners and some bad ones, and their performance depends too heavily on the quality of a pretty inconsistent script. Rachel Sennott is unfortunately given nothing to do with her empty character. She is presented in a very annoying and unlikable way despite being one of the few characters who is actually trying to look out for Jocelyn. Few actors in this show are particularly noteworthy, but few are bad either. 

One of the best parts of the show has to be the original tracks created by The Weeknd and Mike Dean. The aforementioned World Class Sinner truly does sound like the hit the show makes it out to be. So often in shows and films that depict the music industry, their hit songs are not actually bops, but The Idol absolutely delivers in this department. Depp’s vocals, the production, and the infectious hook ensure the songs get stuck  in your head for weeks. One Of The Girls, Double Fantasy, and Popular are all great tracks outside of the core story of the show, while tracks like Crocodile Tears, Family, and A Lesser Man get their time to show inside of the episodes themselves.

Overall, was The Idol the “sick and twisted” experience that we were promised? Based on many people’s reactions online, maybe, but to me it missed that mark by a lot. It had its moments: when the show focused on the criticisms of the musical world in the first two episodes, it was pretty good! There are also some fun scenes like the jam session of episode five, some good jokes here and there, and lots of great songs. Unfortunately, the slow-paced nature of the show, the underwritten script, the overall lack of visual innovation, and the letdown of the promised madness definitely left me underwhelmed. I won’t lie, the online experience of The Idol was riveting — from viral scenes to hilariously bad lines to its many meme-worthy moments, it was certainly an event every Sunday — but it otherwise felt like a bit of a letdown. Was it memorable? Absolutely! But it only occasionally showed signs of being the chaotic, raw exposé on the entertainment industry we were promised.

6/10