Lessons in Chemistry – CH3COOH

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

Seven years after Calvin’s (Lewis Pullman) death and raising Mad (Alice Halsey), Elizabeth (Brie Larson) has found a way to keep making money and time for herself. With rowing with Dr. Mason (Marc Evan Jackson) on a regular basis and hosting Tupperware parties to keep the lights on and fund her research, Elizabeth makes it work. However, one look at a magazine with Boryweitz (Thomas Mann) and Dr. Donatti (Derek Cecil) on the cover throws the matriarch Zott into a fit of rage and right back to work on trying to one-up the men who stole hers and Calvin’s work. But Elizabeth is not the only one doing research as Mad also has her own quest to learn more about her father.

Yet in the absence of a fulfilling job, Elizabeth has also made it a point to apply to other laboratories to further her research in a more financially fulfilling way. During dinner with Harriet (Aja Naomi King) and her family, Harriet finds a letter from Phillips Laboratory in Elizabeth’s kitchen. While Elizabeth is reluctant to know what it says, Mad, Harriet, and Harriet’s family are eager to open it. Luckily, it informs Elizabeth that she has made it to the final round of interviews…the only downside is that she will have to provide references. In order to do that, Elizabeth makes a trip to Hastings to acquire a recommendation.

But when Elizabeth heads to Hastings to speak with Donatti, she finds Boryweitz instead. After learning that the board decided they needed “new blood”, Boryweitz was appointed the new director at Hastings. Still set on her mission, Elizabeth asks Boryweitz for a recommendation…which he refuses. Instead, he offers Elizabeth a job as a junior chemist in DNA. Furthermore, she would also be second author on all papers….Boryweitz being the first author. This pushes Elizabeth to make a decision on her career as a chemist.

At school, Mad finds that her level of thinking is not welcomed by Mrs. Mudford (Caryn West). When she causes a disruption in class, the teacher interrupts one of Elizabeth’s Tupperware parties and calls her in for a meeting. Clearly, public school is not challenging enough for Mad and private school may be what she needs. On the way out of the conference, Mad and Elizabeth see Amanda (Shoo Shoo Parsells) and Mad asks if she can come over. Elizabeth says yes. Later when Walter (Kevin Sussman) comes to pick up Amanda, Elizabeth invites him in for dinner. Even though Walter does not pitch the job again, Elizabeth has considered his offer and agrees to do the show. Walter explains that this would be her show and with the money she will be paid, Elizabeth can now afford to send Mad to private school.

Ready to excel at her new job, Elizabeth throws herself right into her new role. She begins to study the mannerisms of other hosts on shows while also getting herself familiar with the newly built kitchen at the TV station. Even though she does not like the look of her set, Walter asks Elizabeth to think of the show like an experiment….something that Elizabeth is good at. And in Walter, Elizabeth also finds a new friend as they share stories about their former partners.

Initially, the show hits a few hiccups as the dress rehearsal goes awry. While station owner Phil (Rainn Wilson) is all about presenting Elizabeth as a sexy housewife ready to fix her husband a drink, Walter believes that Elizabeth’s real strength is how she talks to people and raises them up to her level. The battle of show has begun. After dress rehearsal is finished, Elizabeth is not yet comfortable in front of the camera or in her new attire. Walter advises her that Phil hated the show, but it is not him that is the problem. Instead, Elizabeth needs to be herself on camera.

New adjustments have also changed operations in the Zott residence. Since Elizabeth’s new schedule has taken her afternoons away, Mad comes home to an empty house with Six Thirty and a written schedule. But Mad disregards the schedule on her mission: find out more about her father. Luckily, she does not have to look farther than the closet in her father’s study. Locating a box of Calvin’s things, Mad finds a pile of demerit slips from a school. Before looking further in the box, Harriet’s daughter Linda (Alana Gay) comes to pick up Mad and take her with to choir practice. At the church, Reverend Wakely (Patrick Walker) sees Mad sitting in one of the pews and strikes up a conversation. Taking up an interest in Mad’s family tree, he helps her identify the insignia on the demerit slips as a school called St. Luke’s…but Wakely takes it one step further and later gives Mad a list he started of all the St. Luke’s schools he had found so far in the country.

After Phil pulled the reruns that were currently airing, Elizabeth’s show is scheduled to go live two weeks ahead of schedule. Taking Walter’s words to heart, Elizabeth delivers a heartfelt speech to her audience before asking for the knick-knacks to be cleared off her counter and starting to cook for her audience. The men in the focus group audience find Elizabeth boring, but the women felt “capable” watching her….even though the men repeatedly talked over them. When Walter and Elizabeth are later pulled into Phil’s office, he goes off on them saying that Elizabeth needs to listen to what he wants done in the show. Meanwhile, the phones outside the office are ringing off the hook as Supper at Six is a hit!

But for Mad, Elizabeth’s newfound success has put a strain on their relationship. Returning home late from work one night, Elizabeth treats them to some diner pancakes for dinner. But while Mad tries to tell her mom about Caswell and the new book she’s reading, their star-stuck waitress keeps coming over and interrupting their conversation with accolades and requests for an autograph. While the show is a hit, Mad and Elizabeth are still adjusting to the newfound fame.