The Idol finale trends for all the wrong reasons as viewers lash out: “Worst show ever made”

The Idol promised to be “shocking” and in that sense, it certainly delivered. However, probably not as producers intended. July 2 marked the show’s finale, and viewers are not holding back their criticisms.

The Idol saw Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye make his acting debut alongside Lily-Rose Depp in a show produced by Euphoria’s Sam Levinson. With some big names making an appearance, the show was highly anticipated but ultimately failed to deliver in the eyes of many viewers.

The show follows singer Jocelyn (Depp) as she attempts to reclaim her title as America’s sexiest popstar, becoming involved with the cult leader and seedy club owner Tedros (The Weeknd) along the way.

While the show originally intended to have Jocelyn take back her agency after falling victim to a predatory industry, The Weeknd ultimately felt the show had too much “female perspective”, leading to a number of rewrites.

These rewrites are what many viewers consider to be The Idol’s downfall, and the internet’s response to the show’s finale is nothing short of brutal.

Critics slammed The Idol for its writing, direction, (The Weeknd’s) acting, and sexual content.

“The premise tries to convince you it is some profound story about the abuse women in Hollywood go through, what it doesn’t tell you is that it is glamourizing it”, one viewer chimed in on social media.

The show seemed to try to reject these accusations, with a plot twist in the final episode revealing Jocelyn was the mastermind all along. But some viewers felt the reveal failed to hit hard and felt rushed.

While there was some foreshadowing hinting toward this twist, the reveal was deemed too little too late. Prior episodes had already been negatively received for their glorification of toxic relationships and the sexualization of women.

Viewers took to Twitter to share their disbelief and disgust at The Idol’s finale. Many had hoped The Weeknd and Levinson would somehow save HBO’s controversial show but were ultimately left disappointed.

“This show really didn’t have a direction at all, like no storyline, no character development, just torture p**n all the way,” one viewer posted to Twitter.

Another said, “Ends up with an abusive pedophile, makes up abuse allegations about her dead mother to gain sympathy points, all so she can write some mid music about daddy choking her? I’ve seen enough.”

And it seems a majority of viewers feel the same, with the show currently holding a 20% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. A dismal rating compared to Levinsons’ Euphoria, which boasts an 88% approval rating.

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