While the show won’t teach you chemistry (or at least not enough for non-chemists to understand certain dialogue), Lessons in Chemistry is an enjoyable adaptation of the bestselling novel. Taking what makes the novel great, the period mini-series, like many period shows, highlights the historical inequality, but does so in a way that’s organic. Protagonist Elizabeth Zott, like Brie Larson, is just simply ahead of her time, while misogyny misinterprets her words and actions. The series also expands on other characters, but still manages to keep a steady pace, through clever rearrangement and reinterpretation of the novel’s plot points. Adding in the lovely costumes, and a stronger love story to start, Lessons in Chemistry might be Apple TV+’s answer to The Queen’s Gambit, albeit set a decade earlier.
"While entertaining and well-made, this series doesn’t offer any new insights into the gender dynamics that stifled so many women in the pre-Ms. magazine era..."
— Jen Chaney
"Creator Lee Eisenberg crafts an aspirational fairytale, building a positively lovely universe and central heroine to spend eight episodes with."
— Cristina Escobar
In the 1950s, Elizabeth Zott's dream of being a scientist is challenged by a society that says women belong in the domestic sphere. She accepts a job on a TV cooking show and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives way more than recipes.
In the 1950s, Elizabeth Zott dreams of becoming a chemist, but this is challenged by certain setbacks. A decade later, she emerges as a cooking show host, where her unique personality and her passion for chemistry turns the show into something more.
Like many book adaptations, Lessons in Chemistry has to create changes in order to make written text more cinematic. The biggest changes from the novel are its characters. Harriet Sloane is rewritten as a Black lawyer fighting to keep their neighborhood. This change adds a compelling subplot to the story and hopefully further episodes will develop her dynamic with Zott, as so far, their only connection is through Calvin Evans. Speaking of Calvin, Evans is made much more dreamy a character, with the show expanding this role. He’s not just a co-worker – he’s a mirror of what Zott could have been, as a man. He’s smart, perhaps too smart, that it comes across as abrasive. However, this genius is the reason Evans recognizes Zott’s brilliance before anyone else does, and their shared understanding allows both of them to be in their element, to let down defenses, and fall in love. And the way he reacts after Zott pulls away momentarily? The way he tries to figure out what’s wrong honestly left me swooning. It’s changes like these that make the adaptation so compelling.
The nerdy way Elizabeth and Calvin bond with each other is just so charming… One might say that they have… chemistry. (I know, I know, I’ll see myself out.)
Golden Globes
2 nominations
SAG Awards
1 nomination
DGA
1 win, 1 nomination
Spirit Awards
1 nomination
WGA
1 nomination
