Leçons de chimie

Some shows exist only to make you feel good and this is one, a story with real heart. Beautifully written and played by the whole cast with Brie Larson excelling as the main character Elizabeth Zott. A show about cooking, about life, about love and relationships all pulled together through chemistry it runs the full gamut of emotions. It will challenge you, it will make you laugh at times and at times it will pull on your heartstrings. The show does not miss a beat with each episode consistently good as more is revealed and Elizabeth Zott grows through her experiences.

Sometimes with shows like this it can become overly sentimental but this show avoids that pitfall. All the characters and situations are believable and honourable mention to Alice Halsey that plays the gifted daughter Madeleine. Too often children are written as saccharine cute or so smart and precocious as to be annoying. This is another aspect that the show gets right. Madeleine is gifted, and Elizabeth has to find her a school that will challenge her enough to prevent her from becoming bored. The relationship between mother and daughter is played so beautifully and naturally it was one of the highlights for me.

Plus, as an added bonus we get a lovable dog that's ever present. In one episode we get a narration from the dogs point of view that also avoids falling into any traps and is just as important to the story as the other episodes, acting only to add more layers onto the 'lasagne'. The writing and direction is excellent.

I really enjoyed this and was left with a warm feeling of satisfaction at its conclusion.

One of the biggest surprises for me this year is this gem of a show. Brie Larson is one of the greatest actresses alive today which she has shown over and over again, and we also know that she can carry the story on her own. What we did not know was the rest of the cast also are brilliant, and how compelling their characters and the story would be. The writing is amazing, the dialogue could perhaps use a bit more era authenticity, but is mostly spot on.

The small political innuendoes are greatly handled without taking it too far. I saw a few commentators complain, but please; go back to the 1950s as a woman and try to work in a field like chemistry - you will immediately realise that this show is probably even undercutting it. Besides it is only one main prop for the story, we see very little of it otherwise.

Instead this is more about the characters, and also the chemistry which make it very interesting to watch. This is so well made, and so well produced with such great acting I would say this might be the best TV show of the year. That is how good it is.

A weak 9/10. This is not perfect, and I noticed a few misses, and the language could use more era style, but otherwise this is just Brielliant.

So incredibly refreshing. No blood, no guts, no shoot-outs, no bombs, no high-speed car chases, no gratuitous violence or sex, just sheer entertainment. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who was involved in bringing this to the TV screen.

Brie Larson is superb. In fact, the entire cast is spot on and contributes so much to bringing this show to life. Sets are great and the whole feel of the series takes one back to what I imagine was California way back then.

Not being American, I hope that the warm interracial connections depicted were really like that - if not viewers should watch and learn and embrace. Oh, and I just love six-thirty!

If truth be told I have never been a fan of Brie Larson, however watching Lessons in Chemistry has given me a new take on the actress and I absolutely adore her as Elizabeth Zott. The series follows Elizabeth trying to make her name in science in the 1950's in a completely male dominated world. It ends up with her doing science through a cooking show on television.

Larson plays Zott perfectly. Her almost robotic quality in so captivating.

I have to say that I am completely hooked on the storyline and invested in the characters.

Definitely give this series a chance. I am sure you will love it as much as I do.

Ten stars is, for this show, like giving a one to any other show. Brie Larsen is wonderfully captivating from the first scene to the last - ever a remarkable performance. The writing and direction likewise tug the viewer from scenecto scene, episode to episode. For we who have not read the book, there is little or no foreshadowing - the slight predictability after episode 4 of one major subplot takes us to a very unexpected conclusion. The supporting cast fill their characters with believable behavior and engaging conflicts carrying forward the several threads. Pacing, direction, costumes, color light are all done to perfection.

The mark of a really good show is it entertains. A great show moves our feelings and thoughts to our own lives, drawing out our empathy for the characters and connecting our own experiences. A great show helps us see something about our own lives, threads of connections we may not have known were there until we looked back and saw the pattern, the tapestry that began with a single chance change in our lives. Lessons in Chemistry is such a show for me, and I imagine it will speak to most others as well.

The worst thing one can say about season 1 of Lessons in Chemistry is the show ends with seemingly nowhere to go forward. But as Elizabeth, Brie's character tells us, change is the only constant. We may have great expectations there will be a new chapter, but if there is not, the show as is leaves us richer.