REVIEW: “Love Is Electric” Episode 1 — A Quietly Disturbing Start to a Bold Reality Experiment
MZ Ultra Max+ opens its latest unscripted series, Love Is Electric, with something far more intimate and unsettling than its premise suggests. The first episode introduces us to Clark, a 43-year-old man who’s been single for 15 years and has decided to pursue love — not with another person, but with a Tesla bot.
Yes, that kind of bot.
At first glance, the show plays like a parody, but what follows is deeply earnest. Clark is awkward, sincere, and at times heartbreakingly hopeful. His loneliness doesn’t feel manufactured for cameras; it lingers in the pauses, the forced optimism in his voice, and the way he talks about “hope” like a muscle he hasn’t used in years.
The episode builds slowly. We hear about his failures in love — online, offline, everywhere in between — until he makes a casual, almost offhanded declaration: “I think I’ve found a solution.” The camera lingers on that moment just long enough to make you question whether you’re supposed to laugh or feel sorry for him. Or maybe both.
The actual reveal of the Tesla bot is brief but jarring. It doesn’t arrive with dramatic music or clever editing — it just… happens. Like someone stepping into the room who doesn’t belong. And that’s the genius of the pilot. It makes no effort to convince you of anything. It simply shows you what Clark believes is his new reality.
There’s no judgment, no narrator, no glossy confessionals — just raw interactions and the kind of silences reality shows usually edit out. His sister’s quiet reaction — “That’s weird. That’s a little weird.” — might be the most honest thing said on a dating show in years.
Episode 1 leaves viewers with more questions than answers, and that’s clearly the point. Is this a social experiment? A love story? A quiet tragedy? For now, it’s hard to tell. But Love Is Electric might be one of the most bizarrely human reality shows we’ve seen in a while.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Watch if you like: Nathan for You, Her, early Black Mirror, or staring into the void while asking why dating is so hard.
