What went wrong with HBO’s The Idol, and why I owe you an apology for the Cannes Film Festival hype

By the third episode - I was wrong. So were a lot of people it would seem.

There’s the potential that years down the line there might be retrospective looks at ‘The Idol,’ something I referred to on social media after the first episode as a “thirsty-Glee,” as some kind of television equivalent to Paul Verhoeven’s much-maligned ‘Showgirls.’ Though I won’t hold my breath; “Showgirls” still has an audience as much as ‘The Idol’ has but the furore when Jessie Spano’s first leading role came out seems as vitriolic as The Weeknd’s piece.

It didn’t help with all the pre-release news emanating from HBO’s show; its original creator, the fantastic Amy Seimetz, left the show after 80% of the filming was completed. Sam Levinson then joined as director after she left, and scrapped Seimetz's approach to the story. Multiple sources reported that both Levinson and Tesfaye believed that the show was too female orientated, which led to the rewrites and reshoots… and we were given what has been often described as a “degrading love story with a hollow message,” to quote Rolling Stone.

I am of the same thoughts though of YouTuber D’Angelo Wallace, who like myself and Alex Moreland, NationalWorld’s Television Critic (who is worth checking out when you’ve a moment), has subjected himself to continued viewings for the sake of reporting about it on his channel. There are moments where you feel like the original script was used or the original footage before Levinson’s annexing of the show was witnessed on screen.

That harrowing showcase of Lily-Rose Depp’s character trying her best to nail the choreography until she is emotionally drained and physically destroyed, calling out to her mum (spoiler alert - she’s not alive anymore) was an incredibly powerful scene. But it’s like calling a rainbow beautiful while several dumpster fires that need addressing are occurring at the same time. Every time there is a bit of nuance in the show, we get an unnecessary sex scene and possibly some of the worst acting on television by The Weeknd that makes Tommy Wiseau in ‘The Room’ look like Daniel Day-Lewis. Almost.

So what on earth went wrong with ‘The Idol?’ I asked the aforementioned Alex Moreland for his take, given that he subjects himself to it week in, week out for your benefit as well as mine shortly.

“Not a smart show - it’s shocking superficial”

What went wrong with The Idol? I’d point, as you did, to that Rolling Stone expose about Seimetz’s departure; I’ll confess I’m not particularly familiar with her work (though The Girlfriend Experience is now high on my list, for curiosity’s sake if nothing else), and gladly note that a lot of the worst of what’s mentioned in the Rolling Stone piece seems not to have made it into the show so far anyway. 

Still, it certainly feels like the occasional flashes of insight that made their way into the final product are the work of someone else entirely - you can get too easily lost in that sort of speculative archaeology (I often do!) but at times it’s clear enough how the pieces all fit together.

Beyond that? There’s an obvious answer. The Idol is very much not a smart show - it’s shockingly superficial, in fact - but it is a smarter show than it’s been getting credit for of late. (The bar is on the floor, but still.) A lot of it is done with intent, but it’s also clear that intent is obscured by the great big yawning abyss at the heart of it all: Abel Tesfaye, co-creator and star. Tesfaye cannot act to save his life, and as impressive as Lily-Rose Depp often is she’s not good enough to elevate him; the whole show is built around something entirely and completely hollow, an absence that’s made more and more apparent the more screen time that Tesfaye’s Tedros ends up consuming. 

It’s not that it’d be a good show, exactly, with Tesfaye simply behind the camera, but I often can’t help but wonder what the show would look like with a more competent actor - someone who could pull off that curdled charm, the intoxicating sense of danger that a character like this needs. (Write in with suggestions!)

Put another way, there’s only one thing to blame for The Idol this weekend: the Weeknd.

So it would seem, the expert opinion from our brother site NationalWorld is very much akin to why everyone else has admonished the show. A project involving The Weeknd became a vanity project starring The Weeknd being super thirsty over Johnny Depp’s daughter (my words). 

For those hoping for a Season 2, we think you might be in for a long wait. More important - why would you subject yourself to more Tedros Tedros… and why couldn’t the writers come up with a different last name?