The Idol: How Many Episodes Will There Be In The Max Drama?

From the moment word broke about the difficult circumstances surrounding its shooting, "The Idol" has become quite the controversial show in the public's imagination. Its highly mixed pre-debut buzz paid back dividends that were less than what "Succession," "House of the Dragon" and even Sam Levinson's previous project, "Euphoria," pulled in the same timeslot. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 913,000 viewers tuned in for the season premiere. Those who want to keep following the rest of its first season have five more episodes to enjoy (a total of six episodes to the season) before they have to endure a nerve-wracking wait to find out if the show will be renewed for a second season. The first season of the series is expected to conclude on July 2.

The cable sex drama charts the comeback story of pop idol Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), who suffers a nervous breakdown in the wake of her mother's death from cancer. Jocelyn is trying to launch her comeback single and a new, sexy image to go with it, but her handlers are horrified by her choices. Some lewd pictures leak and the singer shrugs; she tries to get away with a more explicit album cover picture and is tutted into silence. 

In reality, Jocelyn is far less secure in her return to music than she seems to be. Then Jocelyn meets Tedros (Abel Tesfaye), a nightclub owner and wannabe guru who seeks to lead Jocelyn to a new plane of success. Their intense attraction at first sight and Tedros' agreement with Jocelyn that her new single doesn't work gives Tedros an in to Jocelyn's high-powered circle. And heaven knows what's going to happen to her now that he knows where she lives.

So what's up ahead for Jocelyn and Tedros? Vanity Fair thinks that there are some strong hints implanted in the first episode of the series that hint "The Idol" might end with a sad and violent tragedy. Could Jocelyn reclaim her psychological freedom by doing the unthinkable? Anything's possible at this point. But we've only just begun to follow this journey into Hollywood's dark underbelly; you never know what's going to happen six episodes down the line.

So far, the blurb published by HBO for Episode 2 promises that tensions will increase between standout backup dancer Dyanne (Jennie Kim) and Jocelyn as label head Nikki Katz (Jane Adams) starts to zero in on Dyanne as a double-threat performer and possible star prospect. Also, Tedros introduces Jocelyn and her assistant, Leia (Rachel Sennott) to his acolytes Isakk (Moses Sumney) and Chloe (Suzanna Son). Everything comes to a head during the video shoot for Jocelyn's new single, where she pushes herself past the point of endurance. 

Fans can find out what happens next when the second episode of "The Idol" debuts on HBO and Max on June 11.