‘The Penguin’ Star Cristin Milioti Was Once In A Sci-Fi Series Akin To ‘Companion’ That, Like Those, Further Demonstrates Hollywood’s Obsession With Toxic Masculinity
You might not be aware of a little streaming series called Made for Love, but that’s understandable. It’s only a few years old, coming out at the height of the pandemic in mid-2021 on Max, and fairly obscure. While it did all right with critics, as is often the case, it didn’t foster an audience wide enough to sustain itself.
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Despite that, the darkly comic series with a soft sci-fi approach has two aspects going for it that could inspire a cult following to rise. Cristin Milioti starred in it right before her role on The Penguin put her on the map and it harbors parallels to a movie out right now, Companion.
However, as you’ll find out, that hypothetical following will have an arduous time developing and it’s just as well. You see, the thing Made for Love has in common with Companion, and other films of the last five years such as The Invisible Man, is its portrayal of men – who are viewed as suspect and controlling – and the power dynamics within male-female relationships.
In the series, Milioti plays a 30-something wife named Hazel who’s on the run from her husband and a marriage she feels trapped in. The crafty little devil she calls hubby is a tech billionaire named Byron (Billy Magnussen) whom she may think she is leaving behind, but Byron uses his know-how to keep tabs on her. He implants a chip in her brain letting him see what she sees.
Spying on her obsessively and especially during her most intimate moments, he gathers information in an effort to win her back. Naturally, Byron doesn’t ease into this endeavor delicately or by ingratiating himself or begging for forgiveness; he is as forcible as can be.
Byron knocks Hazel unconscious to administer the implant, imprisons her, and even tries coaxing her into being with him again by promising to cure her father (who is played by Ray Romano) of cancer with his technological and industrial brilliance.
You can decipher the pattern; just like Companion, The Invisible Man, and also The Penguin when you break it down, Hazel is another poor tortured soul fighting the patriarchy. Fans of the show at Polygon and CBR realize this fact and liberally point it out.
The silver lining for our readers alluded to earlier is that the forgotten Made For Love will probably stay that way because it’s effectively dead and buried. Max canceled it after two seasons and later pulled it from the service completely. As far as anyone knows, there are no plans to revive the series.
It hasn’t shown up on ad-based streamers like Tubi either, which is interesting. Warner Bros. Discovery created several new channels for that service devoted to classic content without the advantage of the on-demand function. Their stuff just streams nonstop 24 hours a day, and if you miss it – oh, well!
You can find other axed shows such as Raised By Wolves and Westworld on these channels, but not Made For Love. Why is a mystery. Somebody may have gotten tired of the cliche, polemical messaging. Who knows? It doesn’t really matter when nobody has to worry about it being a hit. All in all, that’s one less show to cringe at.
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