Streaming on: Apple TV+
Episodes viewed: 4 of 8
Adapted from Bonnie Garmus’ bestselling novel of the same name, Lessons In Chemistry follows young female chemist and keen cook Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) as she fights against the immense patriarchal barriers of the 1950s to attempt to make a name for herself in the scientific community, and work on her pioneering research. Pushed out of completing her PhD, she’s forced to work as a lowly lab tech, fetching coffee and cleaning test tubes for her mediocre male counterparts. But when Elizabeth falls for Nobel Prize-nominated Calvin Evans (Lewis Pullman), it catalyses a chain of events that propel her to stardom as the host of a TV cooking show, sharing her love for science, food and much more with viewers across America.
Lessons In Chemistry is not a show that will shock you, grip you, stir your soul. It is, however, a comfortable watch to curl up with as the autumn nights draw in — think the classiest of BBC dramas, as opposed to the latest HBO phenomenon that everyone can’t stop talking about. It’s beautifully shot, the mid-century production and costume design is lush and evocative, and the themes it tackles (sexism, plagiarism, grief, motherhood, racism) are hugely important, and mostly well-executed. It’s also incredibly gentle, never really digging properly deeply into the massive dramatic potential of the twists and turns in Elizabeth’s life — and sometimes undermining them entirely with overt sentimentality and cringe-inducing cliche, particularly in the case of an entire episode being narrated by a dog via the voice of The Office star B.J. Novak.
Lessons In Chemistry is undeniably affecting, and feels like an expansive, epic examination of the making of a woman.
It does work as a chance for Brie Larson to show impressive range within one character, the angles of her face transforming from the stern aloofness of a frustrated lab tech, to the doe-eyed wonder of someone falling in love, to the ragged desperation of a woman whose future has been shaken to the core. Elizabeth is somewhat of a science jargon-babbling, socially inept robot to begin with, but loosens up a lot as time passes and the character develops. Top Gun: Maverick’s Lewis Pullman is inordinately charming as fellow chemist Calvin, and How To Get Away With Murder’s Aja Naomi King is warm and wise as fairly two-dimensional neighbour Harriet, but most of the rest of the supporting cast — particularly the men senior to Elizabeth that she clashes with when trying to assert her independence and expertise — are cartoonishly misogynistic. An accurate representation of life for women back then, perhaps, but a little shallowly scripted to be engaging on screen now.
As much as Elizabeth’s repeated realisations that you can’t treat all aspects of life like a scientific experiment and the clumsy use of chemistry-speak as a metaphor for what she’s going through emotionally start to wear thin, Lessons In Chemistry is undeniably affecting, and feels like an expansive, epic examination of the making of one woman who continued to fight against all the societal shackles holding her back. The most joy to be found here is in watching Elizabeth cook. The care she takes in rolling out pastry, uniformly chopping up vegetables and constructing the perfect lasagne — as well as the happiness she finds in sharing her food with those around her — is mesmerising. Overall, though, you may be left more keen to consume a home-cooked meal than you are the next episode.