REVIEW: ‘The Idol’ Episode 1 — “Pop Tarts & Rat Tales”

HBO’s The Idol Episode 1, “Pop Tarts & Rat Tales,” is centered around the titular idol, Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), and a sexual picture being released to the world without her consent. Throw in some undercutting of the need for intimacy coordinators, and it’s a recipe for something awkward to watch and nearly painful to listen to.

But while the photo is the specter hanging over the entire episode and never investigated thoughtfully, the episode still centers on pop superstar Jocelyn when she meets Tedros (The Weeknd), an enigmatic nightclub owner who wants to unlock her full musical potential. Even the synopsis for the episode, which I just wrote previously which is almost word for word what you can find under the thumbnail on MAX to watch the series, puts the action of the series on Tedros and makes Jocelyn a participant and not a true driver of her own story.

The dialogue itself is vapid at best and disconnected streams of consciousness at worst. Every line is delivered in a cacophony of voices that makes it feel like every actor is fighting to be seen in every scene. While sometimes this can work when the dialogue is smart and packs a punch, the short bursts of sentences feign authentic conversations but instead come off as an uncoordinated mess. Characters talk at everyone, and as a member of the audience, you’re talked at too, and there is no attempt to make you or the characters feel connected.

Not to mention that the series has severely underutilized Jennie Kim. In a series that showcases the dark sides of being an idol, and I would assume the complexity of being an idol, disregarding the fact that one of its actresses is one of the largest female idols in the world is a missed opportunity. Kim is a prop when included at all and it further detaches the story from any attempt to center women outside of just their bodies, given that Kim’s main spots in the episode are of her dancing, which we know was purposeful given the reports from the set. Add in that the core of The Idol Episode 1 is talking about Jocelyn being the victim of revenge porn, keeping her from finding out, and making assumptions about her instead of actually showing the audience what is happening in Jocelyn’s mind at the time.

There are glimmers of centering Jocelyn in a way that isn’t just a piece of meat for those around her. The episode opens with her crying silently during a photoshoot before demanding to be naked and having an intimacy coordinator kicked off the set. She cries while watching Dyanne (Jennie Kim) perform her dance and being compared to her. But we don’t actually see any of that emotion come out to the surface. Even when she finds out in the middle of the episode, it’s clear that Jocelyn is built as a character to be a vessel for everyone else, and not once does it come through the screen as intentional for critique but rather just to show it. There is a way to show victimhood and the erosion of agency because of an industry, and The Idol isn’t that.

It’s a downward spiral without a message or understanding of what could make the story fruitful, but that’s no surprise given the reports and accounts from the press that The Weeknd and Sam Levinson worked to remove the female perspective from the film. That reads loud and clear. Instead of getting introspection for Jocelyn and her situation or even seeing her talk to Dyanne, who she is clearly close to, we see her as set dressing and something to be moved around for others instead of being explored. From a technical perspective, the editing of scenes with Kim and Depp are blatantly edited to reduce conversations to words or turn them into voice-overs for scenes instead of including conversations that would build out both characters.

The Idol is obscene in the worst ways, just to be so. Sex, nudity, drugs; none of that is off limits in creating stories, but it’s how writers and directors wield those elements that turn something substantial into something exploitive and unnecessary. In fact, even the topic of revenge porn is fertile ground for conversation, especially in the life of stars who have continually had their personal pictures and videos leaked. However, The Idol Episode 1 uses the body in a way that doesn’t capture the actual substance of any conversation that could be had around it.

I think the worst part of The Idol Episode 1 is that it has glimmers of being something better. But instead, it’s purposefully debilitated by a forced male gaze that benefits none of the actresses tasked with making the series succeed. With too much obscenity with no attachment to plot or perspective, Depp’s performance and her character are lost in the least intriguing ways. There was once a story in The Idol worth telling, but much like how Jocelyn is devoured by the men around her in the episode, the men in this series ripped out any semblance of theme and substance to be had.

The Idol Episode 1 is available to stream now on MAX with new episodes premiering every Sunday.