Lessons in Chemistry

This terrifically entertaining eight-part series more than meets them [expectations]--think The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as a Ph.D. candidate--as the emotionally repressed Elizabeth opens her life and her heart to memorable characters who challenge and appreciate her. [16 Oct - 5 Nov 2023, p.8]

This is a well-made and beautifully-envisioned series whose niggles come from not from laziness, but an excess of ambition.

Though tonal shifts from comedy to calamity break its stride, this fierce, funny and vital series tackles a mid-century battle for women’s rights through the eyes of a chemist—an Emmy-bound Brie Larson—who uses a local TV cooking show to lead a feminist charge.

While the love story and the cooking scenes are delightful to watch, the rest of Lessons in Chemistry droops. Bonnie Garmus wrote her novel so cinematically that, when actually adapted, there’s no room for creative liberty.

Alas: this eight-part adaptation of Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+) messes with Garmus’s winning formula. Lee Eisenberg’s glossy adaptation is still an enjoyable watch, with its detailed Mad Men-esque period styling (and attitudes) and mouthwatering food preparation.

For a show about a woman who trusted her viewers, this one often doesn’t give its watchers the same treatment, spelling out what we already know is in the formula.

It just struggles to fit its saccharine love story alongside a ’50s feminist fantasy, a porous character study, and a peripheral civil rights C-plot.

A modern masterpiece and a masterclass of adaptation. If Brie Larson doesn't win an Emmy for this than the system is broken because she is operating at Short Term 12/Room level throughout the series.

admirable [ ad-mer-uh-buhl ] adjective worthy of admiration; inspiring approval, reverence, or affection.

Brie Larson plays a scientist who constantly clashes with the male-dominated world. When she meets a like-minded colleague (Lewis Pullman), they fall in love, but her life if full of challenges after he dies and leaves her pregnant. To make ends meet, she ends up hosting a cooking show with a scientific angle. Meanwhile, her Black neighbor (Aja Naomi King) comes up against racial issues. This look at 2 strong women defying 1950s mentality clearly makes a feminist statement, sometimes more than it resonates on a personal level. Larson crafts a character that's stern, serious and sometimes vulnerable, while Pullman's quietly charming portrayal creates lingering fond memories. King actually seems to embody the emotional angle more effectively. Their staunchness despite setbacks relays a sometimes-compelling feminist fantasy, but at other times the disjointed scenes seem more preachy than poignant.

Well crafted and expensive looking. Unfortunately, the story is exactly what you can expect from AppleTV, namely, fixation on past social injustices & caricatures of misogynistic and racist white men. If you find uppity women teaching two dimensional white men how rotten men are, this show is for you. The talking dog was an odd choice as well.

"Lessons in Chemistry" (S00, 8 eps, 3/4-hr, Apple+) is set in the 50s so you're already bored going in, and it doesn't get better. Yes, the production values are top notch but the story itself, and Brie's portrayal of an oppressed female chemist with Aspergers is only going to appeal to a teeny tiny minority. I tried hard to power through but I could only skip to the final ep after watching the first. I thought maybe if the final ep was really good then I'd go back to see how it led up to it, but no, the final ep was horribly boring too. Thankfully, even though the final words "Elizabeth" speaks to her class is "Let's begin shall we?", this is a one and done series, no sophomore season.