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.
