Made for Love Season 1, Episode 3 recap: I Want This Thing Out of My Head

At the beginning of Made for Love Episode 3, we see another commercial for the soon-to-be project officially called Made for Love. The commercial seems to show a happy version of Byron and Hazel as they discuss the benefits of having such an intuitive piece of technology implanted in them to share their every thought and emotion.

But once the commercial ends, we’re three years in the past and the cracks in Byron and Hazel’s relationships are already beginning to show. Hazel is highly disturbed by the commercial because it wasn’t actually her in it. Byron says they “defragged” her because she was busy at the time they were filming.

The first half of Made for Love Episode 3 primarily focuses on a visiting reporter named Keegan James (Nyasha Hatendi) of Weeknight America as he visits the hub to learn more about Byron and life within the futuristic tech campus. While Byron is over the moon about the developments into the Made for Love device, Keegan is more interested in how Hazel feels about living in the hub. She obviously feels pressure to be the perfect wife and answer Keegan the way Byron wants her to.

We learn a few interesting tidbits about their relationship. They got married the very first night they met. The green dress that we see immortalized in a glass case in the living area is the same dress that Hazel wore their first night together. We also find out that Byron doesn’t even sleep like a normal person, he sleeps in two-hour segments each night, wearing a helmet that creates the effects of REM so it feels like he got eight hours. He also eats “flavor balls” instead of actual meals.

Apart from Byron and Hazel, Keegan also interviews Fiffany, the chief science officer on the project. She’s the one who monitors the proto-chip implanted into Zelda, claiming that if the dolphin were unhappy, she’d be the first one to know.

Eventually, Keegan straight-up asks Hazel if she would consider getting the chip. She gives a roundabout answer, claiming that, luckily for her, she and Byron are already so synced up they don’t need the product –– it’s more for the rest of humanity. Would Hazel ever leave the utopia? Does she ever miss the real world and all of its mess? No, Hazel says through gritted teeth, she’ll stay until the day she dies, although she does miss beer.

We return the night Hazel escapes. While sinking to the bottom of the pool, intending to let herself die, Zelda the dolphin activates a hidden panel in the wall that opens up to reveal an escape route. That’s how Hazel got out.

Made for Love Episode 3 recap: Hazel confronts Byron about the chip.

Then we’re back to the present, right after Hazel asks Byron for a divorce. “I want this thing out of my head, Byron.”

Byron refuses to believe that. He thinks Hazel is empty inside. She doesn’t know how to love because she doesn’t even love herself. It seems like Byron’s persuasion is working. He’s making it seem like if Hazel returns, he’ll take the chip out and give her more freedom –– even adding a smell cube if that’s what she wants.

Hazel asks Byron if she can take a walk and think about it. He lets her, telling his security to back off. Hazel walks away from her dad’s house while Byron remains at Herb’s watching her every move via the television. He watches as she goes to the bartender’s set-up where he’s got his arms embedded in a giant canister of yeast. He makes his own beer, how fitting.

“How did you find me?” “I smelled you.” Hazel deliberately watches the bartender and then asks him to take off his clothes and masturbate in front of her, all the while Byron watches from the house.

Once the encounter is over, Hazel looks into a car window and speaks directly to Byron. “I don’t know what I want, but I know I don’t want you, Byron.”

Byron retreats, for now. We see Hazel and Byron in their respective beds. Hazel looks at her fingers, now bare, while Byron looks at Hazel on his phone. “Good night, Noodle. See you tomorrow.”

What did you think about Made for Love Episode 3? Do you think Byron will give up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The first three episodes of Made for Love are now streaming on HBO Max. New episodes drop on Thursdays.