Warning: This piece contains mild spoilers for the “Lessons in Chemistry” finale on Apple TV+.
Brie Larson believes that Elizabeth stayed “true to herself” in the finale of Apple TV+ limited series “Lessons in Chemistry.”
Unpacking her character’s unlikely departure from “Supper at Six,” Larson, who also executive produced the series, told TheWrap that part of Elizabeth’s journey was learning that “she loves to share what she knows, and she loves to teach.”
“She wants to get back in the lab, and part of that pathway is teaching and being there for people,” Larson said. “I just think that that’s such a beautiful thing because she’s been able to take all these moments and things in her life and put them into what I find to be very meaningful work.
“She loves science, and the part that she loved about ‘Supper at Six’ was being able to share her knowledge,” Larson continued. “And now she’s found a way to do it that’s true to herself.”
In the finale episode, which Apple dropped on Tuesday night, just in time for Thanksgiving, Elizabeth decided to depart her hosting gig on the cooking show “Supper at Six” so that she could pursue something more adjacent to her chemist’s heart. This led her back to school to complete her unfinished PhD.
While finishing her doctoral degree, she also began teaching an introduction to chemistry course in which she incorporated Calvin’s (Lewis Pullman) and their daughter Mad’s (Alice Halsey) favorite book, “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens. It was an opportunity for her to break down how chemistry more broadly applies to life, as she did on “Supper at Six.”
“The thing about this story and with Elizabeth is that it’s just her life. She’s not destined to be somebody that we care about in the story because she’s the one who ultimately invented this blah, blah, blah thing that we use today,” Larson said of Elizabeth’s impact. “It’s not her path. I think it would have been easy to go that way and to be like, ‘And then she overcame it.’ It’s not about that.”
As for whether or not the show could continue, Larson didn’t immediately say no.
“Oh, gosh, I mean, I have a big imagination so I can totally imagine that,” she said “I haven’t had anybody ask me that. So I don’t know.”
All eight episodes of “Lessons in Chemistry” are now streaming on Apple TV+.
