By Robert Scucci | Posted 6 minutes ago
Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd in The Idol
Ed Power of The Telegraph has given a scathing review of The Idol’s finale, calling this particular music industry odyssey the worst show of the year and a “potential turkey for the ages”. The Lily Rose Depp and Abel Tesfaye series (better known as The Weeknd) had previously been criticized for its sexist undertones and risqué nature, but upon watching the finale, a far more dire condemnation was thrown into the airwaves: The show just ain’t It’s not very good.
The Idol has been showered with negative reviews, with critics already calling it the worst show of the year.
Power’s one-star review only seems to bolster the miserable 19 percent critical rating that The Idol currently boasts of on Rotten Tomatoes, and as reviews continue to pour in, it’s obvious that Power is making good on his opinion on this one point is not alone.
The Idol follows Lily-Rose Depp’s Jocelyn, a troubled pop star who struggles to reclaim her place as America’s sexiest pop star after suffering a nervous breakdown and having her tour canceled. In her attempt to get back to the top, Jocelyn forms a relationship with Tedros (Tesafaye), who moves into her mansion with his entourage and manipulates her through his erratic and domineering behavior and aggressive sexual advances.
the idol
The series is rife with sexually explicit scenes and was placed in the same category as the ill-fated 1995 adult drama Showgirls.
Watching The Idol we knew from the off that there were significant odds against the series, but watching it run over the past five weeks has proven to be nothing more than an exercise in frustration for many viewers. Given the program’s explicit nature, it’s safe to say it didn’t live up to its intended purpose, especially considering all the heavy themes director Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”) and Able Tesfaye worked into the series after a string of harsh reviews -writes after Amy Seimetz’s sudden departure from the series.
Loaded with sexually explicit scenes, The Idol is compared to the ill-fated 1995 adult drama Showgirls.
Although the show’s reimaginings have been criticized for being misogynistic, uncomfortable, exhausting and terrifying, the prevailing view of The Idol is that it’s also boring. And that leaves us wondering if The Idol showed promise at any given point under Seimetz’s direction, or if it was doomed from the start.
As if all of the already glaring reviews weren’t enough, The Idol also lost points for being confusing and having too many unanswered questions after HBO decided to only air five episodes instead of the six originally planned during development of the series were intended. Other reviewers stated that “The Idol” also suffered from appalling dialogue, a lack of character development, and storylines that cut short with little resolution.
In other words, while the HBO series has only had five episodes to date, it’s safe to say the critics have had enough.
What does the future of The Idol look like?
Maybe the passage of time will tell us a different story, but only if we look at The Idol through a different lens. We all remember how poorly Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room” fared when it was first released, but if the last two decades have proven us anything, it’s what sometimes looks pretty good in terms of perceived entertainment value.
For now, though, the verdict on The Idol is still out, and critics are glad it’s over.