Based on the bestselling book of the same name by Bonnie Garmus, this series has some changes from it, which is inevitable when adapting a story. But the main characters seem to remain mostly faithful to their book counterparts. Brie Larson is excellent as Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant and determined research chemist who is frustrated working in jobs rather than pursuing her preferred line of research due to the rampant sex discrimination of the 50's, forcing her to do this research after hours on her own. Lewis Pullman is Dr. Calvin Evans, a renowned and award-winning chemist who is the star of Hastings Institute because he brings in lots of money in research grants. Both Elizabeth and Calvin are loners and considered odd and standoffish as neither suffers fools lightly. Naturally, they clash upon their initial meeting, but soon discover they are attracted to each other both intellectually and physically, and find themselves falling in love. The biggest and most exciting change in characters from the book is with Harriet Sloane, Calvin's neighbor, played by Aja Naomi King. In the book Harriet is an older housewife with grown children and an awful husband. In the series, Harriet, a Black woman with two young children and a husband away in the Korean War, is fighting to save her neighborhood from being razed to make way for a freeway. Based on the first two episodes, this is a series that many will be looking forward to and waiting impatiently for the next episode's release.

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