UPDATE: HBO says when Levinson took over the show, they changed the order from six to five episodes. He was able to tell the story in a more economic way. Regardless, today’s news has come as quite the surprise since nobody expected it to end next week.
EARLIER: Is HBO abruptly pulling the plug on “The Idol”? The Sam Levinson-The Weeknd series was announced as six episodes when the deal was signed, but now the show will end with just five episodes.
Last week’s episode garnered only 133K viewers. I’m guessing they might just blend the fifth and sixth episodes as a 90 minute finale? Who knows. However, having seen every episode, I have no idea how they’ll wrap this thing up — there are too many story strands to tie up.
Last night’s episode was wild. Troy Sivan’s character, Xander, was placed in a remote control shock collar by The Weeknd’s bats*it crazy Tedros. Don’t worry, it ended with a lavish sponge bath. Sam Levinson loves trolling us.
Fewer than six episodes also means that it won’t be eligible for Emmy consideration, not that the reviews hinted at any awards prospects. Social media reactions have also been nasty, but if people hate “The Idol” so much then why do they keep watching it only to then complain about it?
Some have even dubbed “The Idol” as peak hate watching. A viral tweet was the perfect example as to where the hate is coming from:
The Idol is a simultaneously awful self-parody, a pretentious art project, and grotesquely exploitative of its subject matter […] It feels like a show made by CIS men, cause it is.
The show, which was criticized as “setting back the feminist movement by at least a decade” will go down with a blaze, which goes well with the spirit of the entire thing.
“The Idol” is a fascinatingly self-indulgent act on the part of Levinson. Drugs, dirty dancing, nihilism, narcissism and lots of sex. All shot in vibrantly stylized frames.
Listen, I’m not saying “The Idol” is the second-coming, but it’s a well-made and entertaining piece of provocative pop art. There’s a rush in watching Levinson not give a f*ck. That means something these days.
Just five Cannes competition titles still seek U.S. distribution, four of them subpar, all French. The fifth, and easily the best film still without US studio attachment, is Ira Sachs’ “The Man I Love.”