Being perfectly honest, HBO’s latest series The Idol is a massive mess. That’s not to say it’s devoid of any merit, there are elements of true talent hidden within, but in just a 5 episode run The Idol ultimately has no idea what it’s doing, what it wants to say and how to say it. It is literally and figuratively a ‘trainwreck’. You hate seeing it and it’s awful, but you can’t help but keep looking back as you drive past. It’s a morbid curiosity that kept me coming back and honestly I wish I didn’t.
The Idol comes from the minds of Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and musician mega-star Abel Tesfaye, aka The Weeknd. The story follows fictional pop-singer Jocelyn (Lilly Rose Depp) as she tries to figure out her identity in this seedy industry. Along the way she has to deal with stereotypical pop moguls, mental health issues and the enigmatic club owner/cult leader Tedros (The Weeknd) who worms his way into her life as he tries to mold her into a ‘star’, in increasingly risqué and disturbing ways.
Now when it comes to the music industry and the inner workings of it, you’d think there’d be no one better placed to tell this story than The Weeknd. Clearly a supremely talented singer, songwriter and producer, his first foray into television and film is a strange one. The Idol had garnered a bunch of divisive and negative press before it was even released.
From the Vanity Fair article documenting an incredibly troubled shoot, the controversial figure of Sam Levinson and his alleged actions behind-the-scenes and the rather muted premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. All of this led to a lot of people hating the show before it had even aired. I like to judge content once I’ve seen it, without the mob discourse of Twitter telling me what to think. However I think they might have a point with this one.
The Idol’s plot, or lack of it, is extremely perplexing. While the first episode isn’t brilliant it does a good job at setting up intriguing storylines, but as the series progresses, the plot seems to get lost in its own provocative nature. It’s almost like Levinson and Tesfaye thought, “What’s the most crude, sleazy and pervy stuff we can show on TV and claim it to be art?”. I’d say a good 60% – 70% of this series is taken up by nudity and explicit scenes.
Now I know I’m beginning to sound like someone’s grandad who just hates on all the violence in movies and sex on TV (Family Guy anyone?!), and to be honest I usually don’t mind this kind of stuff. But when it comes to The Idol, there is too much and then there is this! It’s incredibly objectifying, borderline misogynistic (considering the show was created by men!) and ultimately feels completely unnecessary to the story and the actions of the characters.
That being said, there are traces of gold to be found in this shitshow. As with Euphoria, Marcell Rev’s work behind the camera is really striking, with some flashes of brilliance throughout. I also really enjoyed a couple performances, the stand outs being Hank Azaria as Jocelyn’s sort of father-figure/manager and Da’vine Joy Randolph as his sharp-witted, tough-as-nails assistant.
Seriously, she stole every scene she was in! I’d also like to point out that the best parts of the show are when we get to hear new tracks from The Weeknd, which typically sound great and really fit the vibe of the series, along with some nice cameo appearances from music super-producer Mike Dean who comes in with some funny delivery.
The writing in this show is honestly one of it’s most puzzling aspects. It goes from seriously clever and entertaining dialogue to some of the worst, offensive screenwriting I’ve ever seen. The prime example of this comes in the form of The Weeknd’s sleazy club owner Tedros. Let’s just say that it’s a good job The Weeknd can fall back on his impressive music career after this, because his performance here is a real dumpster-fire.
His actions and choices mostly come across as cringey and forced, which I think is mainly down to the way his character is written as there are some glimmers of decent acting and delivery from Tesfaye. It’s an incredibly memeable performance, that in the hands of a more experienced actor could have worked, but sadly isn’t salvageable in the hands of the Grammy winning artist.
He’s not the only one to suffer from poor writing, nearly every other character is an unlikeable stereotype or blank slate, we aren’t given nearly enough time with. For example, the audience is asked to empathize with Rose Depp’s Jocelyn who instead comes across as naïve and irritating. She is constantly manipulated by Tedros, (SPOILERS!) only for the very last episode to suggest that she was playing him the whole time. Which was never hinted at, foreshadowed or suggested at all in this strangely short series run?! It’s just baffling choice after baffling choice!
The Idol is a huge miss-step from both Levinson and The Weeknd. While it is set up for a second season, I’d be very surprised to see that come to fruition based on this poor attempt at a first series. This is a show that aims to be provocative for all the wrong reasons. It has nothing of note to say and a sleazy, gross lens with which it shows it. Honestly, this is one of the most poorly executed TV shows in recent memory and just a strange choice from a writing perspective. What should have been an intriguing look at the ‘dark side of Hollywood’ is instead a trashy, glorified portrayal of exactly that, without any subtlety and a whole lot of sex!
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