Made For Love

Made for Love is so dryly funny that it is almost brittle, but the tone reflects the loopy surreality of the post-present. ... A merciless takedown of the absurdities of ultra-capitalist tech futurism, embodied by the frail egos of its psychologically stunted robber barons.

From what can be seen, “Made for Love” occupies a sweet spot of satire, social critique and surveillance-state-inspired horror while still being hilarious, because it doesn’t have to try. The humor is everywhere.

Hazel has power of her own, and “Made for Love” lets her slowly come into it across its first four episodes. Where that journey takes her is another story, but the amount of thought put into plot, theme, and performance makes the opening half of “Made for Love” absorbing viewing.

Milioti is engaging enough to buy forgiveness despite the show's shortcomings until you're well into the season. A lot of passable half-hour shows coast on the charisma of such stars, and to the credit of "Made For Love" there's also more going besides the names at the top of its credits.

Odd, enjoyable but somewhat slight.

Granted, the particular concept and setup might not be designed to last for very long before running out of steam; still, if it's not quite love at first sight, thanks primarily to Milioti, there's plenty here to like.

It does help that Made for Love has a half-hour running time and my tolerance for narrative stagnation at that length is high if the dialogue is sharp, the performances are strong and the themes are interesting.

Magnussen and Romano are fun, too, and the show does interesting things with depicting how terrible the world has gotten under the shadow of men like Byron (in one scene, Hazel walks past a wall with the graffiti message, “Every morning, I wake up on the wrong side of capitalism”). But Milioti is the main attraction.

Milioti brings such definition to Hazel that we never lose sight of her even when the writers’ chicanery throws her and the viewer for another loop.

A captivating lead performance by Milioti and an intriguing sci-fi premise enable Made For Love to successfully overcome its occasional tonal missteps. In its depiction of domestic abuse and gaslighting, the series is ultimately too slight, but as a comedic diversion Made For Love is another good addition to HBO Max’s stable of unique dramedies.

Today, the story feels disappointingly familiar — but Milioti is worth hanging on for, even though the show may not be the partner that she, or we, deserve.

Writers Alissa Nutting, Patrick Somerville, Dean Bakopoulos, and Christina Lee (who also serves as showrunner) split the pilot into two timelines: one in the “present” and the other 24 hours prior. These early episodes can be frustrating, as very basic questions distract from the sci-fi satire’s broader ideas and emotional engagement, but after “Made for Love” gets its backstory out of the way, there’s ample time left to dig into issues of identity, trust, and the general purpose of a romantic relationship — even one with a sex doll.

Milioti and Romano put in really great work in the series, and have good chemistry with each other. It’s the other elements of the show that we’re not sure about yet.

After four episodes, “Made for Love” is more “interesting” than “entertaining,” and I kept wishing it was more of the latter given its premise and ensemble.

Milioti just about gives us enough of a reason to click on to the next episode, as does the odd well-observed kernel of romantic truth, but Made for Love doesn’t quite have the makings of a hit just yet.

Made for Love is decently made and certainly watchable, but as with the in medias res opening, nonlinear storytelling, and well-covered themes about tech that goes too far, it’s tough to shake the sense that we have seen this show before.