In October, we’ll all be talking about “Who was Elizabeth Zott”, thanks to Brie Larson, whose career is drawn to feminist, biographical, and high-profile roles. The series Lessons in Chemistry is a mixture of these references that the actress associates with her image. Out of the imagination of writer Bonnie Garmus, Chemistry Lessons is the basis of the series that will debut in October on Apple TV Plus.

Elizabeth Zott was born out of a frustrating day for Bonnie, who “wanted to salute that generation of forgotten housewives” while also addressing the misogynistic environment of the workplace. After a meeting where she was the only woman at the table, Bonnie was left thinking how much it meant for a woman in the 1960s to dream of a “manly” career and it was as if Elizabeth Zott introduced herself to her.

In the book, written like a biography, Elizabeth begins as a gifted chemist with professional ambitions, working at Hastings Research Institute, where her research was ignored or worse, literally stolen by male colleagues who took credit without the slightest fuss. Disgusted, Elizabeth tries to impose herself, but her posture makes her lose her job for it. In an unconventional relationship with scientist Calvin Evans, an older colleague and Nobel Prize nominee, with whom she has a daughter, Elizabeth accidentally ends up becoming an unlikely TV star, hosting a cooking show, Dinner at Six. That’s because he broke into producer Walter Pine’s office to criticize his daughter’s lunches taking into account the nutritional value of food. The detail with which he explained the dish as if it were a chemical experiment, convinces him that there lies the seed of a new culinary program.

Airing toward the end of the day, Dinner at Six teaches school lunches that are science-based yet nutritious and delicious meals, encouraging the women who form its audience that they, too, are capable of creating something new. Moreover, his recipes are also about politics, faith, responsibility, myth, culture, and society, naturally attracting criticism and distrust as well. But essentially, even being called different, strange, and inexperienced, quickly becomes a star, explaining how to combine “a tablespoon of acetic acid (Vinegar) with a pinch of sodium chloride (Salt)”. As he likes to remember, “Chemistry is changing, and change is courage. Don’t be afraid of change”, he teaches, “Put it on a plate. Serve it for dinner.”

That is, Elizabeth Zott seems to have been written for Brie Larson. The premiere will be on the 13th of October.

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