I Love That for You Episode 1 Recap – Vanessa Bayer understands how to steal a scene, whether she’s on Saturday Night Live, in network sitcoms, or in sketches for Tim Robinson’s I Think You Should Leave. But what happens if she pulls a page from her own life story and creates an alternate world in which she lies to preserve her ideal job, only to find herself in potentially embarrassing circumstances over and over again as a result? That’s the pitch for Bayer’s first main role in Showtime’s newest comedy series, which also stars Molly Shannon, a former Saturday Night Live cast member.
‘I Love That for You‘ is a Showtime comedy series created by Vanessa Bayer and Jeremy Beiler. It follows Joanna, a childhood cancer survivor whose ambition of becoming a TV host is realised when she is employed at SVN, her favourite home shopping channel. ‘GottaHaveIt,’ the first episode of the show, introduces the protagonist as she struggles to have a meaningful adult life some years after recovering from cancer as a youth.
Joanna, desperate to get away from her past, auditions for a job as a home shopping host at SVN and is hired. However, things go horribly wrong on her first day on the air, putting her position in jeopardy and forcing her to do the unimaginable. Now, if you’re curious about what Joanna is up to as ‘I Love That for You‘ episode 1 comes to a close, and how she got there, let’s talk about it.
‘I Love That for You’ Episode 1 ‘GottaHaveIt’ Recap
‘GottaHaveIt’ begins with a teenage Joanna Gold, who is being treated for leukaemia in a hospital. During her stay, she gains a great deal of sympathy for her plight, which she frequently exploits to get her demands met by adults.
Watching star home shopping anchor Jackie Stilton on the SVN channel on TV, on the other hand, makes her entirely forget about her woes. Secretly, the captivated young lady aspires to be a TV host and meet Jackie one day.
Years pass, and Joanna successfully recovers from leukaemia, but the stigma surrounding her previous condition follows her wherever she goes. She becomes even more enraged when she sees her old classmates living out their goals while her love life suffers as a result of her inexperience. Joanna, fed up with being a lonely adult living with her overprotective parents, decides to take a chance and audition for SVN, a dream she’s had since she was a child.
Despite the fact that she does not have a talent agency, Joanna wiggles her way into the audition and delivers an awkward but earnest performance when she is asked to sell a pencil as her duty. However, when she does not receive a call back after many days, she loses faith and has a fight with her parents. Fortunately, Joanna is eventually chosen by SVN, and she leaves home to pursue her true calling of being a respected on-air host.
She gets to know some of her coworkers on her first day, including Beth Ann, Darcy, Perry, and Beena. Unfortunately, Joanna fails to impress her severe supervisor Patricia, and when she asks her to speak about her sellable quality, she becomes overly eager and apprehensive. Patricia shifts her to a less prominent time slot on the station because she is dissatisfied with her performance.
Despite her disappointment, Joanna finds a new backer in Jordan, an SVN crew member, and flames ignite between them right away. Not only that, but Patricia picks Jackie, her lifetime idol, as her mentor, and she is overjoyed.
Jackie is hesitant to train Joanna because she is going through a difficult divorce, but when she sees the latter’s admiration for her, she gives in and befriends her. Joanna tells about the jewellery she bought as a teenager after watching Jackie sell it on SVN, and how she looks up to her as a source of inspiration, gradually strengthening their friendship.
In exchange, Jackie offers Joanna advice on which product versions to highlight during her segment, how to make her presentation more interactive, and how to grab the audience’s attention. A jealous Beth Ann, on the other hand, manipulates Joanna, but Perry teaches her how to develop a relatability factor with the viewers, while Beena teaches her how to respond to audio cues rather than reacting to the instructions in front of the camera.
Joanna finally feels ready to go on-air for the first time after fumbling but working hard through rehearsals for a few days. She also effectively avoids all queries that would push her to open up about her cancer experience in order to avoid receiving sympathy.
Does Joanna Lose Her Job in ‘I Love That for You’ Episode 1?
Joanna is horrified to learn that her product has been modified at the last minute, just as she is about to appear on-air for her first segment. Regardless, she mentally prepares to show off the new product, which is a line of organic pillow mists with various scents. Despite the fact that the product representative is rude to her, she gets a good start to her segment and improvises her way through the script.
Everything seems OK until the salesperson sprays the mist directly in Joanna’s face, causing her to give a horrified reaction to the camera. This causes the product’s sales to plummet, and although finishing the rest of the segment competently, she is strongly chastised for incurring such a significant loss.
The next day, a furious Patricia summons Joanna to her office, where she learns that Beth Ann was the one who had her product swapped in order to sabotage her performance. Patricia refuses to listen to Joanna’s pleadings as well as Jackie’s wishes and fires her. Joanna, unable to face the fact that she has just lost her ideal job, makes one last desperate attempt and lies rashly that her cancer has relapsed.
Patricia, who was taken aback by this news, quickly reverses her decision and cancels the employment termination, feeling awful for her. As a result, Joanna receives sympathy from her coworkers, especially Beth Ann, and ends up utilising her fictitious disease as a selling point for products on-screen.
Despite her ideals and solid desire not to exploit her past troubles for personal advantage, she is compelled to revert to her adolescent techniques in order to get her way. As a result, Joanna finds herself back where she started, spinning a web of lies that may be problematic in the future.