This series is one of those that I likely would have never heard about had it not just randomly been requested on the Plex server that I subscribe to. Lately, I've been quite impressed with what Apple TV is pushing out to market and this one was a big hit with me although I do have some minor gripes about it.
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Now first of all I was quite surprised that Brie Larson is able to find work after the whole Johnny Depp fiasco, but then I spoke to a friend a bit later about it and found out that the Johnny Depp fiasco actually involved Amber Heard and I was a dipshit for getting the two of them mixed up!
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It follows the life of Elizabeth Zott, who is a rather brilliant chemist who has turned her back on becoming an actual PhD in the subject because of some traumatic event that I will not spoil for you but it is revealed in a rather special way in the first two episodes, which are the only 2 episodes that exist at the time of me writing this.
Unlike other shows that exist about the patriarchy and the suppression of women in the workforce, this is about a period in time where this was actually true and it existed. It takes place in the early 50's and unlike the completely made up unequal opportunity and pay that is talked about by people in politics and the media today, the discrimination against people who had vaginas was a very real thing back in the 50's.
I think it would be kind of difficult to actually turn this into a series because there isn't a whole lot of action going on and most of it is a lot of really complicated words that isn't really going to mean a great deal to most people out there that are currently doing their Master's degree in Chemistry. They do a good job with it though, showing that some of the scientists have their jobs because of nepotism and actually aren't very good at their jobs, and some of the scientists are actually extremely gifted but lack the social skills to properly advance their careers. In the case of Miss Zlott though, it really is discrimination that is holding her back.
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It was kind of nice to see the comic book store owner "Stuart" from Big Bang Theory get some work in a meaningful role at last and he does a very good job in his character. He does kind of seem like he is a young Paul Giamatti though and I wonder if this is intentional in the same way that Christian Slater basically just emulated Jack Nicholson in virtually every role he ever played. "Stuart"s role hasn't been properly revealed just yet and he doesn't get much screentime in the first 2 episodes. It will be interesting to see how his character progresses.
The only gripe I have about this so far is something that is just personal and it is mostly not the fault of the show who is just sticking with the time period. I can't stay 50's pop music and just find it terribly annoying. Of course it is featured heavily. The other point is that the intro on this thing is absurdly long, something like a minute and a half which is too long in my mind. Most people just skip this so I can't understand why anyone would bother with a long intro these days.
Should I watch it?
While this is a work of fiction, it very well could be based in truth as far as the time period is concerned as it was a time when women were struggling to be taken seriously in the workplace and this show does a good job of representing exactly what that might have been like for someone that is actually smarter than the men around her but is held back exclusively because of her gender. I think that this is one of the better series that exist at the moment and therefore I think most people will enjoy it, despite the annoying scratchy 50's music.
The only legal way to obtain this at the moment is via an AppleTV subscription.