The highly anticipated and critically panned Sam Levinson series The Idol has officially premiered on HBO. It replaces Succession Sundays with some dazzling visuals and the crass plot of an aspiring pop star, played by Lily-Rose Depp. The series also stars musicians The Weeknd and Blackpink’s Jennie Kim.
While the reviews from critics have been in for weeks, the rest of us finally got to catch the pilot on Sunday.
Here are the big reactions to the premiere:
1) Who’s watching?
People were mad that others were actually watching the show. As one person wrote, “what happened to not watching the idol…”
2) Jennie is here
People were extremely here for Jennie Kim’s appearance.
3) So much smoking
Viewers noticed that cigarettes were onscreen for a lot of the pilot.
4) Alexa Demie?!
Since The Idol is apparently set in the same universe as Euphoria, fans were on the lookout for Maddie Perez, played by Alexa Demie, right away. But she had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in episode one.
5) Things get weird
The writing…left something to be desired.
6) Watching another HBO show
People are trying to get others to watch anything but The Idol on Sunday nights. One suggestion? An episode of Girls.
7)Tedros aka The Weeknd
People were not a fan of Tedros, the character played by The Weeknd.
8) Rachel Sennott love
Viewers seemed to unamimously love Rachel Sennott in the series, who was previously in Shiva Baby and stars in the upcoming film Bottoms.
9) K-pop discourse
K-pop fans had a lot to say about Jennie Kim being in The Idol.
10) Discourse over the content
Again, some people are mad that anyone is watching The Idol at all, especially after that Rolling Stone article came out in March with some disturbing allegations about the making of the show. “it’s odd to be seated for the idol either way it reallyyy doesnt matter if you watch it illegally or not,” one Twitter user said.
Whether or not you decide to watch, you can catch The Idol on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET exclusively on HBO and Max.
