Lessons in Chemistry Review

For the initial six episodes of Lessons in Chemistry’s eight-episode run, I found myself disappointed by the series. The performances – namely star Brie Larson’s turn as Elizabeth Zott, the writing (the series is adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name), and the structure of the series as a whole all felt off. But then the penultimate episode changed the character viewpoint, allowing us some crucial character development for a major character that had been missing through the initial six hours and suddenly the series felt wholly accessible for the first time. And with the finale, an episode that finally allows Larson the chance to take her character out of her shell and show us that she is personable and compassionate and not just a smart but emotionally distant automaton, well, I found myself fully invested in the series for the first time.

Reviews like this one are the most difficult to write. Because there’s a whole heck of a lot about Lessons in Chemistry that doesn’t work at all. And that portion of the story takes up the bulk of the series. But those final two episodes are something pretty special, with some great performances and a real heart that is missing from so much of the series that it’s hard not to recommend the series on the strength of those installments alone. Because once you get through the slog that comes before it, you get rewarded handsomely for the time spent watching the series. But boy, is it hard to make it through the disappointing episodes in order to make it to the strong final pieces to this disjointed puzzle.

Lessons in Chemistry tells the story of Elizabeth Zott (Larson), a brilliant chemist who is barred left and right from achieving greatness due to the rampant sexism of the 1950s. From experiencing a horrific sexual assault by her professor during her master thesis defense (which leads to her abandoning her dream of completing her PhD after the university sweeps it under the rung) to being told time and again that, despite tutoring multiple male chemists at the lab she’s working at as a tech, she can never rise above her status due to her lack of a doctorate and her gender, the early episodes of the series truly hit home all the ways Zott’s genius is being denied. That is, until she meets Calvin Evans (a great Lewis Pullman), a prickly genius who only wants to work alone – until he starts working with Elizabeth, and the pair get to the edges of a major scientific breakthrough. But when Calvin insists Elizabeth get credit for her work, the system shuts the duo out, reinforcing that Elizabeth can never get ahead. The pair also, naturally, fall in love. But again, the series doesn’t spend enough time allowing us to see this courtship as it unfolds, and fails to provide the emotional beats necessary to let us see just how deep this relationship has gotten. We know the duo love each other – since we see them complete relationship milestones and they talk about their relationship – but the show doesn’t appear to be all that interested in showing us the emotional complexities of the relationship.

In fact, when it comes to Elizabeth, the series rarely wants to let us see any emotional impact of anything on her as a character. This would be all well and good if it then showed us the reason Elizabeth is so emotionally closed off, but we never truly get that crucial piece of information. Is it due to her past assault (which would be wholly understandable – we do get flashes of PTSD that stem from that moment)? Is it because she cannot seem to get ahead in her chosen field so she shuts down as a defense to being disappointed? Or is there something else that causes her to refuse to interact with her emotions? I found myself wondering about this far more than I suspect the series would have wanted me to – and it really pulled me out of Larson’s performance (which feels stiff and lost a great deal of the time, until those final two episodes).

The series does eventually pivot from showing us Elizabeth’s time at the lab, with a time jump that sees her getting a job as the host of a national cooking program (think Julia Child, but younger and with a scientific bent). Here, Elizabeth gains a large following as she teaches women (and presumably some men, although the series focuses far more on her female fandom) how vinegar reacts in dishes to create certain flavor combinations. Naturally, Elizabeth runs into issues at this job as well, clashing with suits who want her to change who she is to suit their needs. There’s also a subplot with a Black family (Calvin and Elizabeth live in a majority Black neighborhood) who are trying to prevent a highway from being built through their neighborhood that both Elizabeth and Calvin get involved with. But combined with the various other stories that are floating throughout the series (there are several major plot threads I haven’t even touched on to avoid spoiling key events in the plot), it all starts to blend together into general themes rather that clear and well-drawn storylines. Which is a shame because so many of these characters would be interesting if given their own series in which to tell their stories.

I was all set to write this series off as a mixed bag of too many stories and too many episodes spent digging into the stories that weren’t all that interesting at the expense of those that were (Elizabeth as a cooking show host is pretty fun; Elizabeth continuing to run up against the brick wall of sexism in her lab is interesting the first time or two, but multiple episodes of this creates diminishing returns rather quickly). But those last two episodes are so well written, acted, and offer such deep insight into several characters that I found my disappointment changing into contentment. Lessons in Chemistry isn’t necessarily a good show, but it does manage to become more than the sum of its parts right in the nick of time.

Lessons in Chemistry premieres on AppleTV+ on October 13. All eight episodes were provided for review.