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After reshoots and scandalous articles, HBO’s “The Idol” debuted its first episode.
The drama stars Lily-Rose Depp as the struggling pop star Jocelyn, who gets into a relationship with Tedros, a self-help guru and “contemporary cult leader,” played by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye.
Tesfaye is one of the show’s creators along with Sam Levinson of “Euphoria” and Reza Fahim. Prior to the show’s release, both men said the story is based on the seedy and slimy underbelly of Hollywood and fame.
KTLA 5’s Sam Rubin checked out the first episode and to say he wasn’t impressed is definitely an understatement.
“It is not good, and the worst part, by far, The Weeknd himself,” Sam revealed on the KTLA 5 Morning News. “Abel Tesfaye is not especially able as an actor.”
Sam called the show “incredibly vulgar.”
“It is as risque as anything, I think, HBO has ever done. That doesn’t offend me, but that’s not interesting. It should be about the hot world of the music business, but what a misfire,” he said.
Stephen Rodrick of Variety seemed to agree.
He questioned if the “Blinding Lights” singer’s acting skills were “nonexistent.”
“Charitably, you could blame his performance on his agent or the director but then you remember he is one of the creators of ‘The Idol,’” Rodrick wrote. “He manufactured his own career poison pill! He is trying to play louche but just comes off, as one character describes him, ‘rapey.’”
“I should note Weeknd’s performance is not alone in its badness on a show that is shot like an overlit snuff film. It’s just the one that grabbed me by the hoodie strings and refused to let go like a drunk breathing 3 a.m. Jager breath on you and asking if he can crash in your hotel room,” he continued.
Brian Lowry of CNN also wasn’t a fan of the show.
“Despite endeavoring to feel provocative, ‘The Idol’ mostly traffics in limp clichés and very, very stilted performances,” he wrote.
“Where ‘The Idol’ goes from there remains to be seen, but if the first chapter is any indication, it’s hard to see the show getting anywhere particularly interesting,” Lowry continued. “Whatever else ‘The Idol’ is or wants to be, it’s definitely not much fun.”
The show starts off with Depp’s character dealing with a crisis over a very private photo being made public. How the characters dealt with it was problematic for Fletcher Peters of the Daily Beast.
“From the start, the story is all over the place, so clearly penned by a man with little understanding of or care for victims, rape culture, or mental health,” she wrote.
The series right now has an average audience score of 58% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average Tomatometer rating of 25%.
It received a 5.2 rating out of 10 on IMDB.
While rave reviews may be far and few between, the series has received major kudos from actress Sharon Stone.
“I just watched the first two episodes of @theidol @lilyrose_depp and Abel (@theweeknd) r so sure footed,” she wrote on Instagram. “#SamLevinson addresses the root of crisis in entertainment; Which comes first the brilliance or the heartache?”
“The Idol” airs Sundays on HBO and Max.
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