So, The Idol, eh? Given all the controversy that has surrounded Sam Levinson and The Weeknd's sex-crazed HBO series, it comes as a surprise that the most offensive thing to emerge from the first episode was the wooden dialogue.
But we digress. There's a lot of anticipation around The Idol, and amid the acres of coverage it has already enjoyed/suffered through following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival (incidentally, the first ever TV series to do so) there was one nugget of info that people were particularly invested in. The word was that Alexa Demie, who plays Maddy Perez in Euphoria, Levinson’s other TV series, would also be appearing in The Idol.
According to PopCrave, Levinson previously confirmed in Cannes that Euphoria and The Idol were set in “the same universe” and that Demie would be making a cameo. What would it be, fans began to speculate: would Alexa/Maddy be a best friend or rival frenemy for the show’s pop starlet, Jocelyn (Lily Rose Depp)? Or someone working in the dark underbelly of the Hollywood music industry, where it was set? And if Alexa-as-Maddy appeared, what would the linking plot be for the character in the two productions?
But it’s unlikely that anything that elaborate will find its way to our screens. In the first episode, it turned out Demie was simply “club girl number two”, as she bumped into Jocelyn and her friend Dyanne (Jennie Kim from Blackpink) in a club and did shots. Blink and you’ll miss her.
Did a more fleshed out role end up on chopping room floor? Or was it always destined to just be an easter egg for Euphoria fans? Like the fundamental question at the centre of The Idol – is it a cutting satire on the degradation and exploitation of women in the music industry, or is it simply perpetuating and reinforcing it? – the jury is firmly out.
