‘Made For Love’ Season 2 Episode 6 Non-Spoiler Review – “Alice? Are You Listening?”

This is easily the best episode of Nutting et al’s Made for Love Season 2. Of the series overall? Perhaps. The sixth episode for the season is titled, “Alice? Are You Listening?”. It is written by co-executive producer Shepard Boucher along with Asmin Pathare; and is directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer.

In this review, I will be discussing Made for Love Season 2 Episode 6. There will be no spoilers here, as the title of this article suggests. Nonetheless, please read ahead at your own discretion to avoid any possible revelations.

Also, be sure to have read my review of the previous episode!

Plot Synopsis

According to WarnerMedia, here is the synopsis for Made for Love Season 2 Episode 6.

As Other Hazel works to bring Other Byron into the Hub, Jasper and Zelda expand their mission into uncharted waters. Meanwhile, Byron’s meaningful gesture reunites Hazel with someone from her past, and Judiff’s search brings her closer to the truth.

WarnerMedia

Discussion

At thirty minutes, “Alice? Are You Listening?” is a marvelous masterpiece from the beginning to the end. The incredible musical curation is praiseworthy and well-selected. Their respective placements in parts of the episode are congruous and harmonious, adding to the appeal of the narrative. The tracks include songs by Lava La Rue, Say Sue Me, and Tkay Maidza, as well as a classic horror score to lend that lingering feeling of chills and goosebumps.

I believe this episode contains some of the most impactful scenes between characters, including those involving Lyle Herringbone (Dan Bakkedahl) and Dr. Fiffany Hodeck (Noma Dumezweni) as well as Other Hazel (Cristin Milioti) and Other Byron (Billy Magnussen). From what I noted about the previous episodes of the season, I would like to continue arguing that its theme focuses on copies and clone-like conditions, or the Gothic movement of literature refers to as the “double”. With the Gothic double we are faced with ourselves, a self that is not our self at face value but a deeper perception of our self.

This concept of the Gothic double is confirmed at the end of the episode with the reference to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The episode has a common theme of Sameness, or the attempt to establish it. One example involves the Other Hazel longing for control over the real Hazel’s body. This is a classic horror movie trope, which we have seen as late as Get Out; in Made for Love, Hazel has her own “Sunken Place”. Moreover, I appreciate how the episode opens with Alice looking outward at a painting of Hell titled “Utopia”, and later, the episode ends with the camera peering into the eye of Other Hazel, where we find the real Hazel.

The Real and False Facsimiles

Hazel tries to gather information from supposedly reliable sources within The Hub about Alice (Oona Chaplin), but she does not get an answer. Eventually, we meet Alice, who turns out to be like Hazel in such a way that she very clearly faced similar circumstances. They both know that Byron has been trying to get into their heads, using them as his laboratory experiments. However, what makes Alice different is she has had more experiences with the man to the point where she has become paranoid and thus institutionalized. She knows more than anyone that “[w]ith Byron Gogol, you’ll never win”.

Byron most likely had this in mind when trying to have his and Hazel’s consciousnesses uploaded to the Gogol cloud. This emulation of Byron by attempting to manufacture another Byron proves to be a failure when we see that the Other Byron twitches an eye. Even the Other Hazel is a failure because, while she and Other Byron are only consciousness copies, what they lack is experience, emotion, and everything else that came with being a living human being. As the late French philosopher Anne Dufourmantelle argues, the greatest risk we can make is not living; and this is the type of risk that the Other Hazel and Other Byron avoid.

Replicating Love

Byron also gifts Hazel with a silver phone that can re-connect her back to her mother, whom she had addressed during the conference meeting with Congress in Episode 204 — “Another Byron, Another Hazel”. However, he says that the device has “an accuracy rate of eighty-four (84) percent”. This means that this replication is not exactly like her mother but one that he is able to re-create. Can a copy of an individual replace the real person? In cases such as Hazel’s lost loved one, no, this cannot be accomplished because again, there needs to be a lived experience.

We do see more of Jasper’s (Sarunas J. Jackson) chemistry with Zelda (voiced by Ashley Madekwe). From what we learned some episodes back, workers of the Gogol facilities — that is to say, The Hub — cannot form and establish romantic relationships with one another, which is why they are given digital/ virtual companions. Anydoors wants to bond with Jasper, which is a function designed into her. However, this type of love between them fails to be replicated since Jasper already has a connection with Zelda. Perhaps it could be because the dolphin has a Made for Love chip embedded into her brain.

Nonetheless, while this dynamic could more or less be something sexual, I believe this is a unique dynamic, especially when we consider Jasper’s FBI training to not have attachments. The writers touch upon this idea of replicating love with Hodeck’s backstory within the confines of her screentime. I will get to that in a bit.

The Crew of Made for Love

Made for Love is created by Alissa Nutting, Dean Bakopoulos, Patrick Somerville, and Christina Lee. The series is based on Nutting’s novel of the same name.

Lee, Nutting, Bakopoulos, Somerville, Liza Chasin, SJ Clarkson, and Daisy von Scherler Mayer serve as the executive producers. Janet Knutsen, Cristin Milioti, and Andres Anglade serve as the producers. Shepard Boucher serves as the series’ co-executive producer, while Lisa Satriano serves as the co-producer.

Jovan Robinson serves as the executive story editor. Anthony McAfee serves as the editor for the episode, while Daniel Ruiz serves as the assistant editor. Nathaniel Goodman returns as the director of photography.

Keefus Ciancia scores the music, while Christine Greene Roe serves as the music supervisor. Jason Lingle and Jeff Lingle serve as the music editors.

Leslie Woo serves as the casting director. Courtney Bright and Nicole Daniels serve as the original casting directors. Julina Baber serves as the casting associate, while Jalal Haddad serves as the casting assistant.

Jordan Ferrer serves as the production designer, while Jennifer Eve serves as the costume designer. Michael Kennedy and Eddie Williams serve as the visual effects supervisors. Tarn Fliehler serves as the art director, while Christy McIrwin serves as the set decorator. Dara Jaramillo is the head of the make-up department, while Arleen Chavez is the head of the hair department.

The Cast of Made for Love

Cristin Milioti portrays Hazel Green. Billy Magnussen portrays Byron Gogol.

Dan Bakkedahl and Noma Dumezweni appear as Gogol employees, Lyle Herringbone and Dr. Fiffany Hodeck, respectively. Caleb Foote plays Bennett Hobbes, Gogol’s right-hand man, while Sarunas J. Jackson plays Jay. Ray Romano plays Herbert Green, Hazel’s father.

Paula Abdul guest stars as Anydoors. Chris Diamantopoulos appears as Agent Hank Walsh. Mel Rodriguez portrays Ignacio, Hodeck’s ex-husband. Kym Whitley makes a full appearance as Judiff. Bruno Amato appears as the FBI “boss man”. Ned Bellamy makes an appearance as Leroy Fish, Aaron Benson’s neighbor.

Oona Chaplin is introduced as Alice, Byron Gogol’s former wife. Angela Lin plays Dr. Hau. Ashley Madekwe voices Zelda the dolphin. Janie Haddad Tompkins appears as Alice’s psychiatrist.

Carlos Antonio stars as FBI Agent Victor Estevez. Dontez James plays Donnie. Edy Modica plays Xtra. Dutch Johnson appears as Bruce. Matt Romano plays Cobe Stahl, while Tyler Jeffrey Smith plays Craig.

Performances and Character Developments

Herringbone shows Hodeck a photo of her twin sister that he found; and when it rains in a certain part of the pasture cube, a memory is triggered. The memory involves Hodeck learning during a rainy night that her ex-husband, Ignacio, sired a child with her twin sister. This act of cheating is confirmed when Hodeck points out that their dog, Zelda, only barks at Hodeck’s sister. As a result, Hodeck left Washington and her two loved ones to focus on her scientific research.

I would like to consider this scene between Bakkedahl and Dumezweni’s characters to be the best of the episode. In one moment, Hodeck reveals something poignant about herself, she and Herringbone express their amicable love for one another. However, in the next moment, Herringbone ruins the moment with a dumb question about her implication of stating, “I love you”.

The scenes featuring Milioti and Magnussen’s respective portrayals of Other Hazel and Other Byron are just as remarkable. While the sex scene is the most passionate one we have seen in Made for Love, I also like the scene where they are skinny dipping in the pool. Here, not only do they exhibit a difference between themselves and the real Hazel and Byron; but at the same time, see Bennett dealing with his sexuality in those moments by the pool. He is weirded out seeing them naked. He and Other Byron have a moment of intimacy, but that is where he realizes that that man is not his boss.

“The First”

Finally, I am in awe of Chaplin’s Alice. It is eerie how much the actor physically resembles Milioti’s Hazel (the real one), but when we first meet her, I was shocked to see that she was not Hazel due to how similar they are both portrayed on-screen. Alice is a character who has lost hope, presumably having gone too far down the rabbit hole, much like the literary figure, Alice, from Alice in Wonderland.

Although, in the last frame featuring the character, we see that she has kept at least one photo of her with Byron Gogol and his brother, Aaron Benson. This could imply that there is still a part of her mind that is not lost, and perhaps she could play a key role in the series moving forward. I would not rule this out and would like to see what more this character has to contribute to the overall narrative of Made for Love. I will say that she does not appear in next week’s two-part finale, so maybe the writers will save her for the third season.

Final Thoughts on This Week’s Made for Love

“Alice? Are You Listening?” is radical and revealing in its characters’ search for information and answers. Upon my first watch of the episode, I liked how events played out; but on my second watch, there is so much that the writers put into the script — and how that was translated by the crew members — that I did not see it as simple. This might just be my favorite episode of the season if not the series. From its musical standpoint to the teleplay and its common theme of Sameness to the portrayals and dynamics, I was satisfied by what was offered. Stay tuned for the two-part finale, as the writers made choices that I agreed with, while there are others that could have been avoided, such as that which should not be inevitable in the world of Made for Love: death.

Made for Love Season 2 is now streaming via HBO Max!

Have you seen Nutting’s series? If so, then what are your thoughts on it so far? Let us know! For more dark comedy-related news and reviews visit and follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Also, if you’ve read to the end of this article and want to know more about Made for Love, you can purchase Nutting’s novel via our Amazon Associates link here!