The Idol - Series Review

After the success of Euphoria, it was no surprise HBO decided to commission another series of Sam Levinson’s. It was announced that Abel Tesfaye (The Weekend) was on board as co-creator, executive producer and co-writer alongside Reza Fahim. Starring Lily Rose-Depp as a singer who becomes entangled in a toxic relationship with a cult leader and scam artist.

The series has had a hectic production history with Amy Seimetz, the show’s original director leaving due to creative differences despite filming 80% of the series and Levinson taking over directing duties with massive rewrites and drastic changes to the series' tone.

After watching the five episodes, I feel this show missed an opportunity to tell an impactful story. Instead, it was nothing more than a vanity project which leant into shock factor, tragedy porn, underdeveloped characters and shallow storytelling.

Despite Rose-Depp being the titular character, this show focused too much on Tesfaye and was such a waste of her talent. Some moments showed her range as an actress, and episode two was probably the best because it focused almost entirely on her. However, this team behind the cameras clearly favoured Tesfaye, and his performance paled compared to the ensemble cast.

Rose-Depp’s character was a singer — the show's entire premise — and we only heard her sing a handful of times. Yet, the Weekend made up the whole soundtrack. This was such a waste and, again, demonstrated that Levinson clearly favoured his co-creator’s screen presence regardless of how much it hurt the story or distracted from his female lead.

The show’s original concept that Seimetz was signed up for sounded much better — a troubled starlet falling victim to a predatory industry figure and fighting to reclaim her own agency. However, this new approach lacked any depth or even narrative structure.

Rose-Depp’s Jocelyn becomes infatuated with Tesfaye’s sinister Tedros, who has a history of collecting talented but vulnerable singers to join his cult as a faux manager. However, Tesfaye’s characterisation and how he played it was so underwhelming it was impossible to take him seriously as a sex cult leader who has seduced, manipulated and abused several people to have blind faith in him.

I have to say one of the standout actors in this show — and one of the people who kept me watching was Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Destiny, Jocelyn's co-manager. Her character was easily the best part of the series, and this actress needs her own show as soon as possible.

As the series progressed, I noticed the scripts lacked clear direction or logic. There were consistent moments where a character's motivation or a particular plot point made no sense. With jarring sequences, I repeatedly wondered whether crucial scenes were cut during the creative switch or even editing.

Since the show’s premiere, it’s been reported many of the scenes were improvised, and it shows. I don't think Levinson or his writing team knew who their characters were, and it showed in the weak characterisation and illogical motivation. How is the audience meant to understand Jocelyn's obsession with wanting to reclaim her title as the sexiest pop star in the United States if we don't know what her character's music and style were like before the pilot episode? How are we meant to understand the stakes and betrayals of the music industry if all the main characters are confined to one house? These were just a few questions I had which were never answered in the many plot holes throughout these five episodes.

I suppose my final thoughts on this show are: what was the point? After all the trauma, over-sexualisation, threats, betrayals and abuse, there's a twist that is entirely unwarranted and makes no sense as the power dynamic shifts between the central pairing. Was it a win for our protagonist? No, but it's portrayed like it is.

The finale was the worst episode, but it solidified my theory that the team behind Idol had no idea what they wanted to say with this show. Take out the many explicit sex scenes, characters getting high, drunk or physically, mentally or sexually abusing each other; there was nothing of substance. There was no heart or creative integrity, which became more apparent as the show reached its vapid conclusion.

Although Sam Levinson is a good visual director, this has to be one of his weakest projects to date. The production suffered from the lack of creative decisiveness, ultimately failing to give Jocelyn's character the development or Lily Rose-Depp's acting the attention both deserved. Although I understand previous reviewers' critics of Euphoria's portrayal of adolescence, sexuality and addiction, I at least understood aspects of the creative direction - Zendaya's Rue is an unreliable narrator, and the world is filtered through her perspective. This lacked that justification or narration style, so there was no excuse for the disjointed and flimsy storyline.

Truthfully, I believe Malcolm and Marie and Euphoria's Trouble Don't Last Always are Levinson's strongest work because when he's not relying on shock factors and tragedy porn, he can write powerfully vulnerable character-driven pieces. This wasn't one of them and The Idol is a floundering missed opportunity with no depth, nuance or clear vision.

My rating for The Idol is ★★.

The Idol is available to stream or buy on Sky Atlantic, NOW TV, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play and Apple TV.