Get ready for chemistry, cooking, sexism, laboratory politics, love, and rowing; all in a 50’s coating. Having read Lessons in Chemistry with my book club (yes, young people can also be in book clubs), I was excited to hear that the book was being serialized by Apple TV+. And the first episode does not disappoint.
The first episode does not disappoint
The story is about Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson, Captain Marvel) who works as a lab technician for a company called Hastings. While she has a master’s degree in chemistry, she is more appreciated for her good coffee - made with lab equipment - than her chemistry skills. In the off-hours in the lab, she tries to work on her own research, although this is made difficult by her colleagues who do not view her as a capable scientist. She is a woman, after all.
A lot happens in this first episode. Zott is forced to participate in a company beauty pageant, which symbolizes the company’s sexist culture. Calvin Evans (Lewis Pullman, Outer Range) is introduced and we see the start of a rocky work relationship between him and Zott; he will clearly become important later on. We also get to see a bit of the direction the story is going into; the start and the end of the episode take place seven years later, when Zott has her own television cooking show, in which she approaches cooking as a chemistry experiment. Because of the high pace and the many topics and introductions, the episode is never boring. My only point of critique is that it sometimes leans a bit too much on cliches.
Special mention should go to Brie Larson. She is great as Zott, as she manages to find the right balance between the stiffness that characterizes Zott, while still bringing life to the screen. I think the trailer does not really do this justice, as it had me worried before the start of the show. Pullman is also promising as Evans.
Besides that, the series has good production value; every detail is taken care of. The fifties vibe off the screen. The episode is a self-contained unit in the larger story. Everything is introduced and explained sufficiently, but not overly (except for maybe the aforementioned cliches). There is no need to have read the book; the show is aimed at all viewers. The quick pace of the first episode might be a bit much, but I do not expect it to really be a problem. You might miss some foreshadowing, however.
This show has great potential to become as good as the book
The story, so far, is not completely faithful to the book; the beauty pageant is not in the book, for example. It did not bother me, as the spirit is transferred well. Some other reviewers have expressed frustration over it, however, so readers of the book should keep this in mind.
Overall, this show has great potential to become as good as the book: a feel-good show that addresses some serious topics such as sexism and sexual harassment. It is probably not the type of show that fits everyone. In my book club, we found that it was mostly appreciated by those who have experience with those aforementioned topics. The book managed to treat those topics in an appropriate way, where their impact was acknowledged but those affected were also not defined by them. I hope the show will manage to do the same thing. The first episode shows good promise.
All in all, however, I am looking forward to watching the coming episodes. Hopefully, all the potential that is present will be realized.
PS. The trailer contains a lot of spoilers, so don't watch if you want the story to remain somewhat surprising
About the writer, Nienke de Boode
She started with watching NCIS, CSI and Bones, but over time her passion for TV shows has grown to what it is today, with dozens of shows that need to be watched. You can always wake her up for a good crime show, but she is also open to different things. Comedy and fantasy are on her list of favourites as well. Since October 2014, she also writes for MySeries to combine her love for TV shows and writing.
