let brie larson cook
'Lessons In Chemistry' Review: Brie Larson Takes Aim at Prestige TV
Apple, in its quest to win Oscars and Emmys with its Apple TV service, clearly has a formula to get hits. I have a feeling that the people who run Apple TV+ looked at Netflix and "The Queen's Gambit" as the prime example of how to capture the pop culture imagination. It's a feminist-forward limited series with a superstar playing the protagonist, who has some trauma in her past, and the entire plot is based on a novel.
October 13, 2023 is when "Lessons in Chemistry" premieres its first two episodes, and the show stars Academy Award winner Brie Larson, Lewis Pullman, Aja Naomi King, Stephanie Koenig, Patrick Walker, Thomas Mann, Kevin Sussman, Beau Bridges and Derek Cecil. Here's what critics have to say about this upcoming drama miniseries.
The premise
Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Bonnie Garmus, "Lessons in Chemistry" stars Larson as Elizabeth Zott, a chemist turned TV cooking show host. Zott's trajectory from fired lab employee to taking a television gig to help housewives understand bold scientific subjects and apply them to cooking food is the meat of the series' equation. It takes a deep dive into Zott's personal and professional life, using flashbacks of her harsh family upbringing and eventual romance with fellow chemist Calvin Evans (Lewis Pullman) to explain why she speaks and thinks the way she does.
Brie Larson shows off her acting and cooking chops
In Elizabeth Zott, Brie Larson has found a role of a lifetime. Elizabeth is not a warm woman, but she is a loyal and a passionate one. She is not a cruel woman, but she refuses to indulge the feelings of others by smiling for no reason or playing along with smalltalk. In many ways, it feels like Larson has channeled years of criticism hurled her way — for being an unsmiling feminist, mostly — into this role. But Larson goes deeper than that with Elizabeth Zott. By fully owning Elizabeth’s sharp corners, Larson is able to also delve into the trauma, loneliness, and frustrating haunting her.
As Elizabeth, Brie Larson brings a commanding presence to "Lessons in Chemistry" from the first moment we catch a glimpse of her striding through the lab with a steely expression on her face, prepared to take on anyone who gets in her way. It's certainly a character we've seen before — gifted but socially naïve, direct in a manner that can seem rude, and literal-minded in a way that's often played for laughs — but Larson never allows Elizabeth to become a caricature.
With "Lessons in Chemistry," Larson dynamically inhabits the part of a goal-oriented, career-driven woman who isn't all that concerned about being liked. That said, time and trial only continue to forge Elizabeth further until both she and we realize how many facets she truly has. She can be a scientist, a romantic partner, a mother, a friend, and none of those things negate the others' existence. While the show could have framed her as a judgmental opposite of the types of women who have made much more conventional decisions, that aspect gets reassuringly rejected when Elizabeth runs into a former Hastings secretary, Fran Frask (Stephanie Koenig), and, recognizing her talents and organizational acumen, makes her part of the Supper at Six team.
Aja Naomi King stands out
Now for the best pivot from the page-turner: Harriet Sloane, played by Aja Naomi King. Where the book made Sloane a nosey neighbor type, the kind clipped straight from '60s sitcoms, with binoculars in hand and ready to snoop, the show gives us someone more substantial with a compelling arc of her own. It turns out that she and Zott have plenty in common, not only in their abilities to see Zott's partner (her neighbor) as a complex but sweet soul beneath a sometimes surly exterior, but in their lofty ambitions. Sloane is a Black woman whose law degree had been put on hold so that she could raise her two children as her husband serves in Korea as a military surgeon. She's also a strong community advocate, who becomes involved in organizing local Civil Rights era protests in addition to her years-long effort to protect their Sugar Hill neighborhood, which is predominantly Black, from succumbing to the threat of demolition in favor of freeway construction. But her inclusion doesn't feel tossed in to boost the diversity of the show's cast and thread in a racial justice narrative; she feels fully realized, thanks to King's warm portrayal. It's comforting to see Sloane phone up Zott to share her personal successes, not just function as an accessory to the white protagonist, and it's satisfying to see her call Zott out when necessary. It's hard to imagine this show without her, and that is a feat.
There's even an episode from the POV of a dog
One of the series' knockout moments comes in episode 3, which is narrated from the point of view of a dog (voiced by B.J. Novak). On its face, the idea sounds destined for mockery but "Lessons" manages to weave a nuanced emotional arc centered around grief and self-doubt. If any episode of the show is going to make you weep, it's probably this one.
The third episode introduces narration from Six Thirty (provided by B.J. Novak), adding poignant new depths to his relationship with his human. What might have been moving on the page, however, plays onscreen as a bizarre, out-of-left-field digression that risks tipping the entire tone of the show into "A Dog's Purpose"-style sentimentality. It's a relief when the voiceover disappears as abruptly as it appeared, and the otherwise lovable Six Thirty is allowed to fade gracefully into the background.
Not every subplot works
The only piece of the series that doesn't always pay off is carrying emotional trauma throughout the entirety of the series. While Elizabeth's PTSD is a topic in the first two episodes of the mini-series, it's quickly forgotten after the romantic plot has come to a head, as if romance to one man cures the way in which your body reacts to others. In one scene in the last third of the season, we see instances of racially motivated police brutality, but then we don't see Elizabeth, a witness, do much to call it out as it is. Instead she just talks broadly about values. These indicate moments of emotional resonance are salient when they take place, but they're more often than not forgotten as the series moves to the next theme.
TL;DR
This is one of the best series this fall has to offer.
There are so many moments in the show that wouldn't work if Larson and Pullman didn't have this connection that works so incredibly well.
Brie Larson anchors ambitious but overcrowded adaptation of hit book.
Apple TV+'s new series based on Bonnie Garmus' beloved novel features high production values and many strong elements — but doesn't know what it wants to be.
"Lessons in Chemistry's" writing is too skittish, skirting around massive plots and jumping between characters.
[Image: YouTube]