Do you know what I did last summer? I spent a lot of time writing about the HBO show The Idol which burned, if not bright, then with a lurid, can’t-look-away glow for five episodes. I was reminded of the show, co-created by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Sam Euphoria Levinson, when I wrote a preview of this year’s Cannes, the film festival at which the television show premiered. Here is the last ever paragraph I wrote about the ill-fated show the day of its finale (2 July, in case you wanted to add it to your calendar):
“The Idol is the chocolate soufflé you plan for the show stopping end of a dinner party: you have all the right ingredients, you have read the instructions about how to make a soufflé, and yet, with five minutes to go (I do not know how long it takes to cook a soufflé), and a living room full of guests you want to impress, your soufflé does not rise. You are left with disappointment, and few options. Do people really need pudding? Or are they happy to call it a night?”
That article was entitled, “The Idol’s Final, Lazy Twist is Fatal” (clearly someone woke up on the wrong side of bed that morning), but um, it turns out, I would like pudding! Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr Weeknd, but I have decided that I would like this night to continue! I’m a World Class Hypocrite.
In case you missed it, The Idol told the story of aspiring, troubled – aren’t they all? – pop star Jocelyn (played by Lily-Rose Depp) who is making her big return after an unspecified breakdown. She falls in with a mysterious producer and potential cult leader Tedros (Tesfaye), who takes over her house and alienates her friends, which include Xander (Troye Sivan) and Destiny (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Rachel Sennott was there. It was not perfect. Rolling Stone reported chaos on set, claiming that the show was plagued by rewrites and delays. Whatever the truth to those reports, the series had problems. The tone was wildly uneven, and it did not seem to have a firm grasp on any of its subject matter except pop music (which was a highlight). I wrote about the lows and I wrote about the highs but looking back, I miss its hard, sometimes unpleasant, edge which could really thrill. It was trying something!
Since The Idol debuted last summer, I have watched around 20 television shows (and given up on many more after a dismal first episode). I have seen Apple TV sci-fi shows, Apple TV romantic dramas, Apple TV thrillers. I have endured Netflix crime dramas and Netflix true crime docs. One supersized Amazon videogame adaptation. Several banal comedies, a couple of disastrous ones. A few elegant HBO series. I have liked a fair few of these but they mostly disappear after a week or two, never to be spoken of again until end-of-year rankings drop.
I have never received so many WhatsApps asking my opinion than during The Idol’s five-episode run. Each time a new episode of dropped, a friend would message me about the sex, the music, the party scenes. They put Troye Sivan in a dog collar! Will Depp become a star? Is Tesfaye secretly a brilliant actor? Am I allowed to play “World Class Sinner”
at this pre-drinks? All genuine concerns from my genuinely concerned friends.
Actually talking about a television show felt invigorating. Without wishing to elevate The Idol to the heights of, I don’t know, The Sopranos or even the conversation lightning rod Game of Thrones, it achieved something many shows fail to do. I just looked through my inbox and found press releases about a show which is a collaboration between a toy franchise and a sci-fi franchise (okay!). Another television drama about a fashion designer. At least two series about private detectives. None of these will prompt anyone to reach out.
Something shifted after The Idol ended. Twitter became X. Taylor Swift started dating an American football star. And the show’s stars seemed to have moved on. Depp has two upcoming films listed on IMDb; The Governesses (helmed by The Last Black Man in San Francisco director Joe Talbot) and Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake. Randolph won an Oscar for her role as a grieving caretaker in The Holdovers. The Weeknd seems to be teasing a new album, the third in the trilogy following the megahits After Hours and Dawn FM. I am delighted they are busy, a little intrigued by their bookings, but should those projects fails, I will be first in line for Jocelyn’s reunion tour.
You can watch ‘The Idol’, if you really want to, on Sky Atlantic and Now
Henry Wong is a senior culture writer at Esquire, working across digital and print. He covers film, television, books, and art for the magazine, and also writes profiles.
