HBO’s The Idol is calling it quits a bit earlier than originally expected. Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye‘s controversial new drama will air its season finale this Sunday, July 2, capping off the series at a five-episode run for Season 1 instead of the six-episode run that was previously reported. The preview for the finale, titled “Jocelyn Forever,” is available now.
HBO has yet to comment on why The Idol will end up a bit short, but a source told TVLine that the move wasn’t related to quality or the massive negative reaction to the series. Rather, the decision was reportedly made because the series only needed five episodes to wrap up its story following the overhaul by Levinson. It’s well documented that the series underwent serious creative changes last year with Levinson taking over directing duties from Amy Seimetz and conducting heavy reshoots that abandoned the original female-centric angle for a greater focus on the toxic love story between Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) and Tedros (Tesfaye) with more overt sexual content.
Co-written by Levinson, Tesfaye, and Reza Fahim, The Idol centers on Jocelyn whose career and life are in a spiral following a nervous breakdown that derailed her latest tour. Determined to get everything back on track, she meets her supposed savior Tedros, a new-age cult leader and nightclub owner with his own thoughts on where she should go next with her music. The pair go together about as well as fire and gasoline and their love will either take them to the greatest heights or to the darkest depths imaginable. The rest of the starry cast is rounded out by Troye Sivan, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Eli Roth, Hari Nef, Jane Adams, Jennie Ruby Jane, Mike Dean, Moses Sumney, Rachel Sennott, Suzanna Son, and Hank Azaria.
The Idol Has Had a Messy Tenure on HBO
A five-episode run might be all the better for The Idol considering all the ire it has drawn since before and after airing. A Rolling Stone article depicted a toxic workplace environment for the series which wasn’t necessarily helped by Tesfaye’s bizarre response criticizing the piece. The Levinson of it all added an extra ick factor considering his history of oversexualizing and victimizing female characters in his work.
Things didn’t get any better once people were finally reacting to the show, either. Neither general audiences nor critics really connected with it with some especially scathing reviews coming out of its Cannes premiere. Collider’s own Therese Lacson wasn’t particularly pleased with it either, giving it a D and adding “In the end, what is meant to feel shocking and coated in sex appeal is merely an age-old story about fame.” Despite Levinson’s assertions that The Idol would be the biggest show of the summer, that hardly was the case when it premiered to a relatively modest viewership, not even matching the heights of Euphoria when its first season debuted.
Catch The Idol Season 1 finale on Sunday, July 2 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO. The series is also streaming on Max. Check out the preview of Episode 5 below.
