The Dropout Review

If you aren’t already at your streaming service presents a miniseries about a horrible person who duped many people limit after slogging through Netflix’s Inventing Anna, might I interest you in the story of Theranos’ Elizabeth Holmes? The Dropout, an eight-episode miniseries from Hulu, is significantly better than Inventing Anna, but still feels about three episodes too long. That being said the strong performances throughout – particularly the star turn from Amanda Seyfried – are enough to keep you interested even when you feel like the series is rehashing a plot point from several episodes earlier.

For those not in the know, Elizabeth Holmes was the founder of Theranos, a company that claimed it could take a single drop of blood and run an entire battery of tests on it. But it turns out, while the idea was enticing, the science simply couldn’t back it up. And when it became clear that this was the case, Holmes and her partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (played in the series to perfection by Naveen Andrews) opted to keep presenting the company as successful – duping investors and regulators to keep pulling in cash. It was only after a whistleblower campaign exposing the scam results that the house of cards began to fall to the ground, and Holmes and Balwani found themselves indicted on federal charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud (Holmes has since been convicted, while Balwani’s trial begins in March).

So, it’s a flashy story in the sense that it’s about the rise and fall of a company CEO – and it’s even more flashy when that CEO happens to be a young blonde woman. Holmes started Theranos at 19, dropping out of Stanford to do so, simply assuming that her idea was correct and would pan out once they science was applied to it. In fact, that’s a lot of what the series presents when it comes to Holmes: This is a woman who was content to assume that she was right about things and that everyone else would simply catch up. Hubris, through and through. Even when characters attempt to warn her – such as Phyllis Gardner, a professor at Stanford (played by the great Laurie Metcalf), who eviscerates Holmes when she insists that her idea with zero scientific research to back it up is right and should be pursued immediately – that just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re infallible, Holmes barrels on, refusing to acknowledge the problems and firing those who point them out.

The series doesn’t work without the perfect actor to embody Holmes, and it has found it in Amanda Seyfried. Taking on Holmes vocal affectation and managing to embody her blend of GirlBoss energy and scared little girl in over her head terror (seriously, watch Seyfried’s eyes throughout her performance and you will be able to tell what’s really going on under Holmes’ outward polish), it’s a performance that elevates the sometimes pedestrian storytelling to higher levels. And she’s not alone in her strong performance – this is one of the deepest benches I’ve seen in a miniseries in a long time. Metcalf, Elizabeth Marvel (as Holmes’ image obsessed mother), Stephen Fry (as Ian Gibbons, a scientist at Theranos who digs too deep), Bill Irwin (as Channing Robertson, Holmes’ mentor), Alan Ruck (as Jay Rosan, a Wallgreens executive who pushes to get into the Theranos business), Sam Waterston (as George Shultz, a business mentor and board member), and William H. Macy (as Richard Fuisz, a businessman who dives deep into the issues with Theranos) – this is a murders’ row of character actor talent all in a single series. And that’s not even naming everyone who appears. It’s worth a watch just to see these incredible performers interact on screen (seriously, there are multiple scenes with Metcalf and Macy that are worth the time commitment alone).

As a miniseries, the show isn’t as successful as its casting would suggest – although it’s not by any means bad. Like a number of recent miniseries, there’s a chunk of narrative bloat that could have easily been excised from the narrative. Trim three episodes back and you’d have a tight series that would be engaging throughout. But the performances keep things moving every time the series begins to drag. If you are looking for a weekly series that dives into the underbelly of American greed complete with a bunch of strong performances, The Dropout is worthy of your time.

The Dropout premieres its first three episodes on Thursday, March 3 on Hulu. Subsequent episodes will be released weekly. Seven of the eight episodes were provided for review.