Made for Love Review: Bad Romance (Season 1 Episodes 1-3)

“Together we will change the world. Together, we will become a singular living god,” recounts tech mogul Byron Gogul (Billy Magnussen) in a moment of frustration. Why, oh, why, can’t his wife Hazel (Cristin Milioti) stay true to their wedding vows?

Well, for starters, Hazel didn’t interpret those literally. And besides that, Byron’s whole concept of “made for each other” has gone a step too far, and no amount of software updates or refreshes can breathe life back into his product, I mean, marriage. 

If this sounds sneakily familiar to you, you’re not wrong. Shows like The One and Black Mirror have tackled the complex relationship between technology, romance, and identity, and Made for Love, while perfectly fine, seems late to the party.

It also simultaneously hurts and helps matters that the show is fronted by Milioti, who after her earnest beginnings as the long-awaited Mother in How I Met Your Mother, has had a string of back-to-back roles in sci-fi romps.

Milioti is excellent on Black Mirror and Palm Springs and brings that same wry, dark humor and desperation to Made for Love, but despite her valiant efforts, it all together feels like we’ve seen this story or something like it before. 

Made for Love is hard to love at first. Its early episodes spend a lot of time world-building, flitting back and forth between Hazel’s frantic escape home to her father (a terrific and deeply weird Ray Romano) and to her life with Byron. 

While the backstory is absolutely needed, the execution is irritating. Constantly moving back and forth in time doesn’t allow for much chance to dig into the root of either situation, but perhaps some of that surface-level storytelling is a commentary on our attention span with technology and people itself.

We consume so much without really getting to the meat of anything.

Admittedly, the most engrossing episode thus far is Made for Love Season 1 Episode 3, “I Want This Thing Out of My Head,” which bodes well for the overall momentum of the story. The story finally stops for long enough for us to start to wrap our heads around both Hazel on her own as well as Byron and Hazel’s marriage.

Plus, while Made for Love may present itself as a sci-fi adventure/comedy, it so far succeeds the most as a psychological and sociological think-piece.

The parts that feel the truest and honest are the toxic dynamics that play out between Byron and Hazel (hello, gaslighting!), the chauvinistic underbelly of the tech sector as personified by Byron himself, and the way so many people, particularly men, want to take shortcuts in their lives and in particular, their partnerships.

While I’ve intentionally not read the book on which Made for Love is based, I suspect this last idea is going to dominate the remaining five episodes. 

As ho-hum as I may feel about the initial episodes of Made for Love, it’s not without merit. If you’re not invested in the story — a valid response based on what I’ve seen thus far —  the cast is reason enough to give it a chance. Mllioti, as I mentioned, is reliably terrific.

Billy Magnussen, while playing an absolute tyrant, is phenomenal as Byron, though similar to Millioti, this feels like a role we have seen him play before. Nevertheless, he plays it especially well.

Byron is part Mark Zuckerberg, part Elon Musk, part Tom Cruise (especially in the TomKat days). Magnussen understands how to harness his charisma appropriately, steamrolling over people one moment while charming them the next. It’s a total pleasure to hate him and I look forward to yelling at him through my screen for weeks to come.

Romano, who shares most of his scenes with a sex doll (not a euphemism), is a long way away from his CBS days, and the fact that he accepted this role is fascinating in and of itself (additionally, in a completely inappropriate way, it’s also made me nostalgic for his role on Parenthood.)

Herbert is so damaged and stunted that an artificial partner is deemed the safest match. All the better to project on, my dear!

There’s plenty about Herbert that’s frustrating and unlikeable, but Romano still manages to make him sympathetic. That, plus his utter lack of self-consciousness in the role, makes for a compelling combination.

Overall, Made for Love seems worth a second look, and the next installment has the potential to be especially interesting.

After all, in fully breaking away from Byron, Hazel is going to have to reckon with what led her to him in the first place (hint: part of it is definitely her relationship with Herbert) and this should provide ample material for Milioti, Magnussen, and Romano.

Stray observations and questions:

• Nice touch that Gogol’s logo/Hazel and Byron’s wedding rings slightly resemble handcuffs.
• I love that Noma Dumezweni, who’s probably best known to the wider public as Hermione from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, is on this, but I cannot handle that her character’s name is…Fiffany? 
• Per research, Herbert’s sex doll has the face of the source material’s author. 
• When are we going to get information on how Hazel and Byron met and why they married on the night of their first date?

What did you think of the premiere episodes of Made for Love? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of Made for Love premiere on HBO Max on Thursdays.

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