We’re now two weeks deep into Abel Tesfaye’s The Idol series, and what audiences have seen so far has elicited nothing short of shock. When the show premiered at Cannes Film Festival last month, critics made it clear that they weren’t impressed with the abundant nudity and hypersexualization present on-screen. The premiere previously showed off a scantily clad Lily-Rose Depp in practically every scene, and the second episode wasn’t much better. If you haven’t tuned in already, spoilers are ahead, so you may want to stop reading here.
In “Double Fantasy,” we see the 23-year-old actress in character as Jocelyn – a beloved pop star trying to boost her image by any means possible. Last week she connected with Tedros (played by The Weeknd) for some wild intimate play that literally took her breath away. The same NSFW themes continued on Sunday (June 11), along with more of Jocelyn engaging in self-destructive behaviours and touching herself as Tedros watches on.
Those who are curious about The Weeknd’s bone-chilling character will be happy to know that E2 gives more insight into his day-to-day life. Not only does he own the nightclub where he and Jocelyn met, but he also runs a cult-like management company where clients have been known to receive shock treatment.
The Idol‘s vision is obvious, but it seems many viewers aren’t into the raunchy nature of the series. “Wait, ‘The Idol’ is so good when they focus on Jocelyn’s life until that corny The Weeknd came and ruined the show with the oversexualized WattPad dialogue,” one user ranted on Twitter. “Tedros gets creepier by the minute,” another person expressed after tuning in.
Keep scrolling to read more of Twitter’s shocked reactions to episode two of HBO’s The Idol. For HNHH‘s full recap of the The Weeknd’s controversial new series, make sure to click the link above.
wait the idol is so good when they focus on jocelyn’s life until that corny the weeknd came and ruined the show with the oversexualized wattpad dialogue pic.twitter.com/pirFgQ0vba
So I just finished The Idol episode 2 and I realized that everything without Tedros is actually really good. If they focused more on Jocelyn and her team and made Tedros just a minor side character, the show would be #TheIdolHBO
— Hotter than a blueberry flame (@CandicemayMay) June 12, 2023
“World Class Sinner” and “The Lure” arrived ahead of Sunday’s episode — joining the previously released “Double Fantasy” featuring Future and “Popular” featuring Madonna and Playboi Carti — and two new singles joined the mounting batch after the episode: “Family” by The Weeknd with Suzanna Son and “Devil’s Paradise” by Mike Dean.
Tesfaye was particularly excited about Son’s The Idol character, Chloe, as evidenced by his Instagram activity, including a clip of Chloe playing “Family” at the piano.
The Weekend (real name Abel Tesfaye) shared his The Idol music plan last Wednesday, June 7.
“I was planning on dropping the whole soundtrack for [The Idol] by the finale, but I’m too hyped… instead, I wanna drop new music from the show every week with each episode,” Tesfaye captioned an Instagram post. “I’m excited for you guys to hear what we’ve been cooking and all these incredible artists that are a part of this show… this week… Jocelyn’s pop song ‘world class sinner’ and ‘the lure’ (theme score)… episode 2 this Sunday [purple devil emoji].”
The Idol was co-created by Tesfaye, Sam Levinson (Euphoria), and Reza Fahim.
“After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America,” HBO’s official synopsis reads. “Her passions are reignited by Tedros (Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye), a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest and darkest depths of her soul?”
Listen to the latest offerings from The Idol soundtrack below.
Madonna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
**TRIGGER WARNING** The following recap contains descriptions of self-harm that some readers may find upsetting.
The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp’s new show The Idol has certainly made an impression on viewers. Although the first episode elicited comments about both of their acting skills, people were intrigued enough to give the second episode a go. Last night, HBO premiered “Double Fantasy,” which went all the way with all of the allusions to sex from Episode 1. In fact, this could very well be the episode that makes people check out, or stick around for the long haul.
Evolution Of A Pop Star
Overall, a lot took place during the 50-minute runtime of “Double Fantasy.” Firstly, it begins with Jocelyn who is clearly ready to reinvent herself after taking Tedros’ critiques about her singing to heart. If you remember, he told her she sings like she doesn’t know how to have sex. This subsequently prompts her to re-record “World Class Sinner” with a whole bunch of moans and breathy cadences. She shows her management team the song and says that this is what she wants to release. Ultimately, they are mortified by the change in sound, and her manager lambastes her for being “ungrateful.” This is where we learn that Jocelyn had to have a tour canceled following the death of her mother. This was mostly spawned by the fact that she had a mental breakdown, which is something we heard a bit about in Episode 1.
Following this scene, Jocelyn calls Tedros and asks if he can come over to record some songs. However, he is currently in one of his clubs and reveals that he will be busy for a few days. Additionally, his friend Izaak is there. Although we will learn more about Izaak later, it is important to point out that he is in the midst of trying to get with Leia, Jocelyn’s assistant. Again, this is a plot point that returns throughout the episode.
Overall, the majority of The Idol episode 2 takes place on set during the music video shoot for “World Class Sinner.” However, it quickly devolves into a mess that brings Jocelyn’s mental well-being into question. First off, Jocelyn arrives on set almost three hours late. It’s here that her manager Nikki explains that she had cuts on her thighs and that they were being airbrushed. This is a very obvious allusion to self-harm, although we never actually see it take place. Throughout all of this, her team is scrambling to get information on Tedros, who they claim is from Hawaii, and owes a lot of people money. From there, Jocelyn is a bit taken aback by the strip club setting of the music video and it clearly isn’t to her liking. Despite trying to power through, she messes up her takes and continues to ask for new takes. Although the director is getting mad, Jocelyn keeps trying but continues to fail.
After asking to continue the shoot the next day, she is talked out of it by her other manager, Chaim. Throughout all of this, there is an absolute calamity on set. This leads to numerous jump cuts of various different people talking about Jocelyn and what’s going on. Clearly, there is a lot riding on her performance here, and she isn’t living up to the expectations. Finally, however, she nails her final take. The only issue is, the camera was out of focus. This leads to a mental breakdown on set where Jocelyn can be heard calling for her mom, all while her feet and thighs begin to bleed. Nikki then tells Joss that needs to go home and rest. She also promises that they can film the music video the next day.
Betrayal In The Works
However, during the music video shoot, Nikki realized that the best dancer in the room is Dyanne. Dyanne was the stand-in for Jocelyn during rehearsal. Ultimately, she was the one teaching Jocelyn how to do her moves. While Jocelyn was trying to collect herself during the shoot, Nikki was asking Dyanne to sing for her. Upon learning that she’s quite good, she has her lay down a track. Lastly, before moving on from the music video setting, Nikki tells the journalist from Vanity Fair that the story is about to get bigger. Presumably, this has to do with Nikki’s new obsession with Dyanne, and her realization that Jocelyn may not be cut out for being a Global sensation.
In the next scene of The Idol episode 2, we find out that Jocelyn is actually broke and needs to make these songs happen. Otherwise, she could lose everything. This subsequently prompts her to call Tedros as she wants him to come over. However, the plot takes a turn as after their phone call, we see Dyanne with him. The show establishes that he and Dyanne are a couple. Moreover, he reveals that Nikki has called him personally about signing her. This is interesting as the rest of Jocelyn’s team has expressed fear about Tedros and his newfound influence on their star. Overall, this new revelation makes it seem like Tedros has some sinister plans for Joss.
Later that night, Tedros shows up with Izaak and a girl named Chloe. The latter appears extremely happy to be at Jocelyn’s house and immediately goes skinny dipping. Meanwhile, Izaak meets up with Leia while Tedros and Jocelyn do their own thing. Eventually, the show devolves into borderline softcore porn. Jocelyn and Tedros go off to the bedroom, as do Leia and Izaak. Meanwhile, Chloe is lurking in the shadows, watching Tedros command Jocelyn to do things for him.
Wrapping Up “The Idol” Episode 2
Lastly, The Idol ends with the following morning’s events. Chloe wakes up early and begins to play the piano beautifully. Moreover, she can be heard singing a song that impresses Jocelyn. She and Tedros then go down to the piano, as Izaak and Leia also arrive. That’s when Izaak begins to sing a duet, revealing that these two actually have a song together on Tedros’ label. Jocelyn begins to tear up at the song, and the episode ends.
From here on out, it is difficult to get a read on where this show is going to go. However, it is clear that there are some unique plot points on the horizon. That said, a lot of the dialogue and scenes can be a bit much to bear at times. Only time will tell whether or not this continues to be a success for HBO, or a horrendous flop. Let us know what you thought of episode 2 of The Idol, in the comments section below.
HBO’s highly controversial series, The Idolreturned with its second episode on Sunday night. The series, co-created by The Weeknd and Euphoria’s Sam Levinson, hasn’t necessarily earned critical praise but it’s undoubtedly caught everyone’s attention. Despite the grievances that many share towards the nudity and general creepiness of the show, it’s still highly successful. And if anything, it just meant that we got new music from The Weeknd.
The Canadian pop star unveiled a series of new singles as part of the project. Ahead of its launch, he debuted singles like “Double Fantasy” ft. Future and “Popular” ft. Madonna and Playboi Carti. This week, he came through with the music from The Idol episode two, which includes a collaboration with his castmate, Suzanna Son, who plays Chloe. Together, they join forces on the single “Family,” produced by Mike Dean, Sage Skolfield, and The Weeknd. The moody duet sets the tone for the second episode of the series, titled “Double Fantasy.”
The release of “Family” appears on The Idol Episode 2 (Music From The HBO Original Series), alongside Mike Dean’s “Devil’s Paradise” and the Future-assisted, “Double Fantasy.” It looks like we might be able to anticipate new music from The Weeknd on a weekly basis. Last week, he shared the soundtrack for episode 1, which included his new single, “The Lure” ft. Mike Dean and Lily Rose-Depp’s “World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak.”
The Idol explores the story of Jocelyn, played by Rose-Depp, a pop star who recently experienced a mental breakdown and attempts to reconstruct her image and career. That’s when she meets Tedros, played by The Weeknd, who is the leader of a modern day cult. They ultimately get intertwined into a toxic relationship. The first two episodes initially debuted at the Cannes Film Festival to negative reviews. Still, The Weeknd and the team earned a standing ovation following the debut. Check out The Weeknd’s new single, “Family” with Suzanna Son above and sound off with your thoughts on The Idol. Have you been tuning in? Let us know in the comment section below.
Few people would ever accuse (or praise) the The Idol of being anything less than an intentionally controversial hot mess. The second episode more than doubled down on the softcore-porn vibe with nudity galore and a particularly unsettling sex scene (a followup on the confusing counterpart of the pilot) between Lily-Rose Depp’s Jocelyn and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s Tedros. (I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that a different kind of choking was involved.) As viewers learned about the latter, he is apparently leading some kind of sex cult, and he’s succeeding at getting Jocelyn into his clutches. By the end of this week’s edition, he’s arranged to move into her mansion as her career is falling into tatters around her.
And that’s where the character of Dyanne comes back into focus. The back-up dancer character, who is portrayed by K-pop star Jennie Kim from Blackpink, already captured more YouTube views for one scene than the premiere initially racked up for HBO. Jennie later revealed that the choreography came pretty naturally, and it seems that everything that Jocelyn can do (dancing, singing, and “f*ck”-ing), Dyanne can do better.
As it turns out, Dyanne was the reason why Jocelyn ended up at Tedros’ club. She’s also apparently coming for Jocelyn’s career, and by the end of the episode, she’s laid down a track for a record executive (played by Jane Adams) who sent Jocelyn home after her on-set meltdown.
Here’s a budding theory (about that leaked photo) that actually might not be too far-fetched, considering all that we are learning about this cult.
Amid all of the well-founded tweets complaining about the Jocelyn-Tedros sex scene, another refrain is becoming clear: people are enjoying the revelation that Jennie is portraying a villain. So, I imagine that a great deal of people who continue to tune in will do so solely for the Blackpink star.
The Saturday Night Live writers may be on strike, but their actors are still delivering on the laughs. This week, Chloe Fineman took to social media to give us an uncanny imitation of a fictional pop star from a buzzy new show.
Though only one episode of Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s new series, The Idol, has aired so far, Fineman has her imitation of pop sensation Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp) down to a T.
In a video shared by Fineman, the SNL actress dresses as Jocelyn, wearing a red lacy coat, and smoking cigarettes. In another clip, Fineman is seen wearing a black lingerie set and practicing choreography, recreating a scene from The Idol in which Jocelyn is practicing choreography for an upcoming music video. At one point, Fineman also recreates the shocking scene, in which The Weeknd’s character, a club owner and cult leader named Tedros, places red fabric over Jocelyn’s head, although Fineman’s recreation was less dark and more humorous.
The Weeknd caught wind of Fineman’s imitation, and simply replied with a series of crying emojis, implying that he couldn’t keep it together.
HBO’s new music industry drama The Idol has everyone talking, in more ways than one. But good or bad, the show’s co-creators Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye are sure enjoying the buzz. Tonight (June 9), The Weeknd and superproducer Mike Dean have shared the latest taste of new music from the show.
On The Idol soundtrack’s latest song, “The Lure,” The Weeknd and Mike Dean put their production skills on full display, offering a chilling, instrumental theme song that encapsulates the terrifying, ominous nature of the show.
Only one episode of The Idol has aired so far, however, The Weeknd is in good spirits having finally begun sharing it with the world. He planned to drop all of the show’s music on the soundtrack, which will arrive shortly before the season finale. However, The Weeknd took to Instagram to reveal that he will share a good amount of the show’s music on a more frequent basis.
“I wanna drop new music from the show every week with each episode,” he said. “I’m excited for you guys to hear what we’ve been cooking and all these incredible artists that are a part of this show.”
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, The Weeknd revealed his plans to release new music in conjunction with each episode of HBO’s The Idol. Alongside a photo from the show, he announced that he would be kicking off this initiative this week. He did so by dropping Jocelyn’s pop song titled “World Class Sinner” and the theme score called “The Lure.” Jocelyn, for those who have not watched the show, is Lily Rose-Depp’s character. She is a pop star on the rise who is readying a new single for release in the first episode. In an Instagram post, The Weeknd shared his excitement for fans to hear the soundtrack.
“I was planning on dropping the whole soundtrack for idol by the finale, but I’m too hyped…” Abel said in his Instagram post. “Instead, I wanna drop new music from the show every week with each episode. I’m excited for you guys to hear what we’ve been cooking and all these new incredible artists that are a part of this show… this week… Jocelyn’s pop song ‘world class sinner’ and ‘the lure’ (theme score)… episode 2 this Sunday.” So, it looks like the songs from the previous week’s episode may be dropping the week after they air. That means that we can likely expect whichever songs are in this week’s episode to drop next Friday. For the time being, however, fans can enjoy the show’s first two offerings.
The Weeknd And Lily Rose-Depp Are Word Class Sinners
The first two songs that The Weeknd dropped from The Idol may not please his fans. However, that is not because they are bad – they are just not extremely focused on The Weeknd as an artist. “The Lure,” a dreamy score for the opening of the show, does feature some of Abel’s vocals near the end. “World Class Sinner,” on the other hand, is almost entirely Lily Rose-Depp. She sings about how open-minded she is, sexually speaking. “You can pull my hair, touch me anywhere,” she coos on the chorus.
While the music may be good, many fans complained about the explicit nature of the show. Some had some very strong insults for the first episode. However, The Weeknd contends that people just don’t understand it. In fact, he compared it to the response when he first released music. “When I first started making music, it was the exact same thing,” Abel said. “It was provocative, and I knew it was going to be tough for people. And a lot of people didn’t like it. Not to compare it, but I feel that this is kind of like that again. This is not going to be for everybody, and that’s fine. We’re not politicians.” What do you think of the new tracks? Sound off in the comments below to let us know!
Quotable Lyrics:
‘Cause I know that you Don’t really know how to handle it So get down on your knees and Get ready to become my b*tch
“I was planning on dropping the whole soundtrack for [The Idol] by the finale, but I’m too hyped… instead, I wanna drop new music from the show every week with each episode,” he posted on Wednesday, June 7. “I’m excited for you guys to hear what we’ve been cooking and all these incredible artists that are a part of this show… this week… Jocelyn’s pop song ‘world class sinner’ and ‘the lure’ (theme score)… episode 2 this Sunday [purple devil emoji].”
The Idol debuted at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival before the premiere episode aired on HBO last Sunday, June 4. The sinister (and controversial) series was co-created by Tesfaye, Sam Levinson (Euphoria), and Reza Fahim. Tesfaye also stars alongside Lily-Rose Depp.
“After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn’s (Depp) last tour, she’s determined to claim her rightful status as the greatest and sexiest pop star in America,” reads the official synopsis. “Her passions are reignited by Tedros (Tesfaye), a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. Will her romantic awakening take her to glorious new heights or the deepest and darkest depths of her soul?”
“I’ve been inspired by The Wall and Purple Rain and when Bowie was doing it, but even films like Shaft, the music is literally telling the story of the film,” he said. “But I want to take it to the next level. I want to challenge myself and I feel like, as a musician, I’m the best I’ve ever been. But I have ADD. I can’t focus on just that. It’s like, how do I throw a wrench in it?”
He could impulsively decide he’d rather release weekly singles than wait until The Idol finale to drop the full soundtrack. It only took two-ish months to answer his own question.
The Idol‘s second episode, “Double Fantasy, will air at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.
Madonna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Overall, The Weeknd remains one of the most popular artists in the entire world. Although his acting chops may be brought into question as of late, there is no doubt that he is still a great singer. Abel is currently starring alongside Lily-Rose Depp on The Idol. This shoe is filled with sex, drugs, fame, and any other vice you can think of. So far, the reviews have not been great, however, the artist clearly still enjoys the work he did. That also extends to the soundtrack, which he worked on extensively.
Earlier today, we even reported on how Abel promised fans that there would be new music from the soundtrack coming every single week. Initially, the soundtrack would only be released at the end of the season. However, he has since gone back on that. Now, fans can expect some dope songs, even if they don’t care that much for the show. As for what kind of music fans can expect, that remains to be seen.
His most recent effort was the song “Popular,” which features Madonna and Playboi Carti. This song has a real 2000s vibe to it, and fans are loving it. According to Our Generation Music, The Weeknd was able to perform the song for the very first time recently while on tour in Portugal. As you can see in the video down below, Abel was very excited about performing it. Moreover, the crowd was able to match that energy, no pun intended.
This is a song that absolutely works well live. Hopefully, we get to hear more of it outside, very soon. Also, this is a song that will definitely go up at the club. Let us know what you think of the new track, in the comments section below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world.
oh abel ur over pic.twitter.com/6XM6j80zYy
(@ungodlywests) June 12, 2023
✗𝙤 (@bbiveo) June 11, 2023
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