Ready yourselves: The Idol has officially begun. The first episode of the series has just debuted, after receiving a wave of shaky pre-premiere reviews (to say the least). The series, per its logline, comes from “the dark and twisted minds” of Euphoria’s Sam Levinson and The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye). It stars Lily-Rose Depp as Jocelyn, a vulnerable pop star who is trying to fix her image after a mental breakdown.
The Idol has been a hot—and bizarre—topic since HBO first announced announced the project in June 2021. Over the past two years, details about its plot and production were slowly revealed, leading many people to criticise the show’s purported use of nudity and graphic scenes. The show became even more controversial after Rolling Stone released an exposé in March 2023, claiming the original script had been scrapped for an even more salacious story that “verged on torture porn.” One of Rolling Stone's sources said the series was originally intended to be a dark satire, poking fun at fame and what celebrities will do to stay relevant. But with the new edits? The Idol, apparently, “went from satire to the thing it was satirizing.”
Now that The Idol is here, there’s even more to talk about—from surprise celebrity cameos, to BLACKPINK star Jeannie's iconic dance break, Tedros’s (Tesfaye’s character) haircut, and the episode's strange ending. Here’s what social media had to say about the premiere.
Bria McNeal is a Manhattan based journalist who is patiently awaiting B5's revival. When she's not writing about all things entertainment, she can be found watching TV or trying to DIY something (likely, at the same time). Her work has appeared in NYLON, Refinery29, InStyle, and her personal newsletter, StirCrazy.
