Opinions and reviews of the HBO Original drama series The Idol far preceded the premiere of the show, which was on Sunday, June 4. Co-created by Sam Levinson, (creator and writer of HBO’s Euphoria) and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, the show stars The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp in what was said to be a dark twisted fairy tale about the music industry. The first two episodes of The Idol premiered at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, but anxious viewers only got one this past Sunday.

The premiere episode titled “Pop Tarts & Rat Tales,” under the artsy directing eye of Sam Levinson, opens with a close-up of Lily-Rose’s character Jocelyn during a photo shoot reminiscent of Ti West’s Pearl end credits sequence. As the camera slowly pans out while maintaining almost an awkward amount of time on Jocelyn’s, aka Joss, face, a photographer off camera can be heard calling out expressions like “innocence,” “mischievous,” and “pure sex” for her to portray.

Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn in The Idol. Photo by: HBO
 

As Jocelyn prepares for a triumphant return to the music industry, a publicity crisis rises when a sexually explicit photo of her leaks that’s established through an eclectic group of characters that include Jocelyn’s management team of Xander (Troye Sivan), Chaim (Hank Azaria), Benjamin (Dan Levy), Destiny (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and Nikki (Jane Adams), her assistant/best friend Leia (Rachel Sennott), and Live Nation rep Andrew Finkelstein (Eli Roth). All characters are problematic but made interesting commentary on how teams strategize on how to handle crisis for clients. Hari Nef plays a Vanity Fair writer sent to profile Jocelyn in the first episode, and Blackpink’s Jennie Ruby Jane plays dancer Dyanne and a seemingly close friend to Joss.

(L-R) Jane Adams as Nikki and Dan Levy as Benjamin in The Idol. Photo by: Eddy Chen/HBO

Later in the episode, viewers meet rat-tailed nightclub owner Tedros (The Weeknd) who is reportedly playing a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult who will eventually lure Jocelyn in with seduction and promise of redeemed fame. It’s clear from the premiere episode exactly the type of man Tedros is. He sees a vulnerable woman and takes the opportunity to take advantage of her. The acting credits for The Weeknd are slim, but he played a shady and creepy guy so well. Everything about the way Tedros talked and maneuvered was uncomfortable. Can The Weeknd look forward to award accolades for his performance? Not based off the premiere episode, but his acting is sufficient for these circumstances.

(L-R) The Weeknd as Tedros and Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn in The Idol. Photo by: Eddy Chen/HBO

Lily-Rose’s ability to jump from emotions so quickly and effortlessly in the opening shot of the show was impressive, but her acting in a general sense throughout the premiere was average. It seems like I’m waiting for the moment to really see her shine, so maybe that’ll happen in the remaining five episodes.

Stylistically, Sam Levinson knows how to deliver a visually stunning show topped with music that exquisitely matches the vibe conveyed, but one of the biggest issues people have with Levinson is the over sexualization of characters in his projects, mainly the female ones. These issues came up in abundance during the second season of Euphoria in 2022, and when headlines spread of The Idol being called “torture porn,” a plethora of tweets went out for viewers to boycott the show. In the premiere episode there are sexually explicit moments including an exotic asphyxiation between Jocelyn and Tedros, but none of the moments were shocking to me. The sexual preferences of other people are not for me to judge or be offended by.

Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn in The Idol. Photo by: Eddy Chen/HBO

Outside of what is expected to be a very sexed up series, I think The Idol will show a close up of what happens in the music industry like what The Morning Show (2019 -) did for daytime TV and Black Bear (2020) did for film making for me. I’m interested enough in the concept to see where this story goes and will be seated every Sunday until the finale.

New episodes of The Idol air Sundays at 9pm on HBO and Max.

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Amber Dover is a multimedia journalist with over a decade writing about pop culture. Cat mom with a deep love of horror, you can follow Amber at @Glambergirlblog on Instagram and Twitter.

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