‘Lessons in Chemistry’ Review: A Sweetly Rewarding, If Formulaic, Concoction

Lab technician Elizabeth Zott’s job at the Hastings Research Institute rarely lets her do more than clean beakers and serve coffee. It’s the only position in a chemistry lab available to a woman in the 1950s, so she endures the condescension and creepiness of her male colleagues, determined that one day she’ll get to prove her worth as a scientist.

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.

Soon enough, Elizabeth meets another member of the Hastings team who’s also seen as an “odd duck”: a highly esteemed chemist named Calvin (Lewis Pullman). Upon noticing that her somewhat antisocial co-worker seems to subsist on what he can scavenge from the workplace vending machine, Elizabeth begins sharing her home-cooked meals with him, and it isn’t long before the two forge a bond thanks to their shared fascination with the chemical origins of life.

Inspired by Bonnie Garmus’s 2022 novel of the same name, Lessons in Chemistry shoots off in a series of enjoyably zany directions as Elizabeth becomes a groundbreaking chemist, feminist icon, a beloved television chef, and an ally in the fight against racism. Her story always feels a few degrees removed from reality, but also in a way that’s playful and perfectly in tune with the bubbly energy of the show’s doo-wop and soft jazz soundtrack.

Garmus’s novel was inspired by her own experiences working at an advertising agency, where she endured male colleagues talking over her and taking credit for her ideas. But where Mad Men used its period era’s more overt sexism to illuminate the complex tangle of issues that women continue to face in the working world, Lessons in Chemistry is content to focus more on straightforward conflicts between unambiguous heroes and villains. There’s satisfaction in seeing Elizabeth clap back at greasy misogynists with one beautifully blunt one-liner after another but not much in the way of insight into how and why sexism remains a force in society.

But the series doesn’t lack for rousing moments, like when we see Elizabeth, in her role as a TV chef, inspiring a generation of unappreciated housewives simply by treating the work they do as something of value. One of the cardinal virtues that Elizabeth passes on to her audience is “bravery in the kitchen,” and Lessons in Chemistry largely follows her example. Though the series might seem like a formulaic underdog tale, it’s not afraid to scramble that formula up, from a shocking character death to a voiceover from the perspective of a labradoodle.

That said, not all of the risks pay off. The show’s penultimate episode, for example, focuses almost exclusively on Calvin’s backstory, and while suddenly switching protagonists in this manner might be a brave move, we’re torn away from Elizabeth’s tale at a critical moment to explore a subplot that ultimately amounts to very little. It’s an unfortunate irony in a series about a brilliant woman who’s constantly being pushed to the side.

At its best, Lessons in Chemistry delights in Elizabeth whipping up culinary delights, and to the delectation of everyone from Calvin to her TV audience. (It helps that there’s a tactile quality to the show’s mid-century world that makes processes like cooking and chemistry pleasing to the eye.) And when they’re together on screen, Larson and Pullman have a palpable, well, chemistry. Elizabeth and Calvin are both fiercely independent and introverted characters, and watching them gradually lower their guards throughout the course of series is sweetly rewarding.