Made For Love – I Want This Thing Out Of My Head

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

Three years before Hazel (Cristin Milioti) escapes the cube, Byron (Billy Magnussen) is announcing to Keegan James (Nyasha Hatendi) of Weeknight America about his Made For Love project. Utilizing a commercial to introduce the new project, Hazel is confused as she doesn’t remember doing the commercial and is concerned about this new technology. Byron continues to push the issue and when Hazel doesn’t respond, he pushes Hazel for better communication. Hazel realizes at that point that she will need to try and find her way out of the cube for her safety.

We then see the beginning of the Weeknight America segment, where Keegan is blindfolded and brought into the cube. The scene he is greeted with is one of an ocean, something Byron conjured up for Keegan so that he could see that his favorite landscape is possible with Gogol’s new technology. While the scene is quite organic, Byron then ruins the moment by trying to stage Hazel’s entrance and their love for one another for the cameras. She comes on screen and Byron goes to give her a passionate kiss before Keegan is escorted to the house, the signature green dress and tux from their first date hanging on the wall.

In the house, Keegan asks Hazel about Byron and she shares that he is very hard-working and does everything to maintain efficiency. From two hours of sleep each night to inventing flavor balls to minimize mealtime, Byron has thought of everything. Keegan tries one of these flavor balls for the camera and refers to Byron as a modern-day Willy Wonka, a reference that Byron doesn’t understand. The interview is then taken pool-side to introduce Keegan to their pet dolphin, Zelda with the camera cutting to an interview with Dr. Fiffany Hodeck (Noma Dumezweni) to tell Keegan about how the chip in Zelda’s head helps them to learn more about her emotional response.

Cutting back to Hazel and Byron, Byron makes it clear to Keegan that their marriage is perfect and that Made For Love will help eliminate all secrecy in relationships. Couples will now have true, authentic, honest communication. Hazel chimes in to explain that she wants other couples to have what her and Byron have. Unfortunately, it is clear on camera that Hazel and Byron are not completely in sync as Byron tries to force their oneness for Keegan. At the end of the interview, Keegan asks Hazel if she ever plans to leave the cube. Hazel shares that she plans to stay at the cube until the day she dies.

Fast-forward to Hazel in her green dress in the pool, weighted down by all the metal intercoms she collected and tied in a sheet around her body. She is ready to accept drowning to death, but Zelda has a better plan: she opens the door where she enters the pool and encourages Hazel to escape the pod instead. We now see the opening scene from the first episode where Hazel has finally escaped from the cube and planned to run. In present day, Hazel stands before Byron and asks for a divorce. Byron turns off the television and explains to Hazel that he trusted her; in an effort to play to her emotions, he pretends to cry. Hazel doesn’t buy the theatrics and now Byron is angered by Hazel’s inability to understand his life-long vision of becoming one with her. Hazel believed that that was a metaphor, not resulting in a chip in her head.

With all their cards on the table, Byron has the most open discussion of his hatred for secrecy. He watches Hazel’s moves with the chip in her head and has also read her diary when he wasn’t sure what she was thinking. Byron believed that they were the perfect couple but didn’t like the results he was getting with Hazel and felt a drastic change was needed. Hazel is still angered by Byron’s actions, but also unsure whether or not she loves him. Byron sees this as an opportunity to remind Hazel that it’s obvious she’s not sure how to love because she doesn’t even love herself. This breaks Hazel down, sharing with Byron that if she were to return she can’t take real walks in the hub, there are no smells, and she is now chipped. Byron promises to fix all these issues and allows Hazel one last walk outside before she leaves with him. When she leaves, Herbert (Ray Romano) and Diane join Byron inside for some in-law bonding time.

As Hazel takes her walk she smells a familiar smell at a nearby trailer. It turns out to be the bartender (Augusto Aguilera) that she is attracted to, making homemade beer. While Byron chats with Herbert, he is watching the whole scene unfold with clenched jaw. Hazel takes the opportunity to ask the bartender to do something for her: stop what he’s doing, take off his clothes, and touch himself for her. As Byron watches you can hear him screaming, Hazel watching with rapt attention. When satisfied, Hazel tells Byron through the chip that while she doesn’t know what she wants, she knows that she doesn’t want him. Dejected, Byron leaves Hazel at her father’s house and returns to the cube. Upon entering the cube once more, we see only the tux hanging on the wall as Hazel wore the green dress in her escape. And in a side-by-side scene, both Hazel and Byron go to bed in their respective beds alone, Byron looking at his phone and telling Hazel he will see her tomorrow.