CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses distressing content.
After watching the premiere of The Idol last week, I wasn’t convinced I’d be tuning in for the following episode. Despite being captivated by Lily-Rose Depp as troubled pop-star Jocelyn, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye‘s terrible acting portrayal of club owner Tedros had me feeling icky and as dry as a bone. Which, is not what I expected from a show that is meant to be painfully provocative and inherently horny.
But although I ended up watching episode two and feeling even more yucked out by Tedros’ character, it turns out a HEAP of viewers decided they’d already had enough of the controversial series after the first episode.
According to Variety, The Idol saw a 12 per cent drop in its viewership from episodes one to two.
While that doesn’t sound like a whole lot, it equates to about 100,000 viewers packing it in and rewatching The Office instead (or something).
That’s a big chunk of the viewership to lose in one fkn week.
However, with all the hype surrounding the show, Variety also reported that viewership for the premiere episode has now surpassed 3.6 million viewers which apparently exceeded the premieres for The White Lotus and Euphoria.
But I’ll let my favourite comment on Abel’s IG post above do the talking.
As for the people who actually ~watched~ episode two of The Idol? Well, we were in for a scene that left us feeling icky and grossed out, to say the least. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the series have yet another drop in numbers after that one.
ICYMI, in the second episode, Tedros and Jocelyn share a steamy moment where she is masturbating, and the cult leader is helping out with some dirty talk.
As Jocelyn was feeling herself, Tedros said a couple of things that had the audience cringing.
“Fucking stretch that tiny little pussy,” Tedros said as another character watched the pair get it on.
Other lines that were thrown around included: “Imagine my tongue on your pussy. My fat tongue” and “I wanna grab you by the ass while I suffocate you with my cock.”
After the horny episode of The Idol aired, many people shared their two cents on this specific scene. GQ came out swinging, labelling it “the worst sex scene in history”.
Other folks took to Twitter to spill their thoughts.
Of course, with any show that is seeing a lot of hate, there are some folks who argue that The Idol has redeeming qualities. A lot of people note that Depp’s performance as Jocelyn is perfect without Tesfaye’s character.
The people defending the show are referencing a scene where Jocelyn breaks down and calls to her dead mother during a vulnerable moment.
Honestly, the gossip and news surrounding this show is just getting worse.
Previously, there were allegations of a toxic work culture on set and the reactions to the pilot episode were borked. Before the show was dragged for this sex scene, Depp recently said that she had to “steer clear” of co-star Tesfaye ‘cos he was “in his zone” on set.
As someone who is looking at both sides of the spectrum, it seems like The Idol was a missed opportunity to be a statement on celebrity culture.
The fame, the toxicity and the exploitation of celebs.
Instead, it heavily focuses on trying to be a hyper-sexual, steamy art form, but it’s honestly giving pent-up sexual aggression. It also doesn’t help that the dialogue feels like it’s been pulled from a horny Omegle chat log.
Tesfaye’s delivery was truly comical and cringe-worthy but it was also scary to hear.
It’s a darn shame that we missed out on something good to just be left with some soft-core porn that’s jam-packed with terrifying dialogue and terrible acting.
As Adele once said: “We could’ve had it all.”
(Image Soure: Getty / Marc Piasecki)
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