Lessons in Chemistry season 1 episode 3 recap and review: Living Dead Things

Open Go TV / October 21, 2023 / Reviews

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In the third episode of Lessons in Chemistry, Elizabeth gets shocking news while she is still struggling with Calvin’s untimely death. The episode is now streaming on Apple TV+.

Recap

The episode begins with Six Thirty narrating his story. He was a military dog, but as he was always scared, he ran away from the base. He was later adopted by Elizabeth, and for the first time in his life, he felt safe and loved. He wanted to protect Elizabeth and Calvin, but he failed.

The police break the news of Calvin’s death to Elizabeth. She arranges the funeral in a daze. After the funeral, she immediately returns to work, only to find that Calvin’s lab has been cleared. Their research now belongs to Hastings.

Elizabeth asks Miss Frask to let her work. Miss Frask helps her out, but Elizabeth will now be working as a secretary, not a lab tech. Furthermore, Elizabeth can no longer bring Six Thirty to work.

With Calvin gone, Hastings would not be getting the Remsen grant. Donatti decides to take credit for Calvin and Elizabeth’s research on nucleotides with Dr. Borowitz. The two of them will reproduce the results and make the research theirs.

Elizabeth suspects that she is pregnant. She uses a frog to test whether she is pregnant or not. When she realizes that she is going to have Calvin’s child, she gets angry and starts building an industrial-grade lab at home to finish their research.

When a reporter publishes a horrible article about Calvin, Harriet comes to talk to Elizabeth. Harriet also visits the reporter, and while he refuses to do anything about the article, he agrees to come to the city hall to report on Harriet’s case against building the freeway.

Elizabeth had earlier asked Borowitz to help her get Calvin’s things that have been sent to the storage, as Borowitz’s girlfriend works in that department. He brings her a box full of Calvin’s things but lies to her about not finding the research anywhere.

In the box, Elizabeth finds a record that Calvin had bought for Harriet with an apology note stuck to it. She goes to Harriet’s house to give her the record, and the two of them reminisce about Calvin. Elizabeth also tells Harriet about their research and her pregnancy.

Elizabeth is scared, but Harriet assures her that she will be able to do it. Elizabeth then starts erging along with building her lab at home, and just like that, months pass. She finally consults Dr. Mason, who was also Calvin’s friend. He even invites her to go rowing with their group.

When Donatti comes to know about Elizabeth’s pregnancy, he tries to fire her. However, Elizabeth points out that he has no valid reason to fire her. She refuses to accept his decision, as it is illegal and unfair.

Harriet shows Elizabeth the article that the reporter wrote about the council meeting. She thinks that Calvin made it happen because when she went to meet the reporter, she felt like Calvin was in the room with her.

Harriet knows that Elizabeth has not let herself grieve Calvin’s death, so she tells Elizabeth that she will have to let herself do that at some point. Elizabeth finally goes through Calvin’s box of things that she has not touched in months.

She finds a ring in Calvin’s lab coat pocket and breaks down. She allows herself to cry for him for the first time. That night, she goes out for a walk with Six Thirty. Eventually, she starts running, indicating that she is ready to move forward.

Review

Having Elizabeth’s dog narrate this episode was an unusual but great decision. Elizabeth is not in the state to describe her grief, and she has no one other than her dog. Six Thirty’s account gives a very close and personal view of Elizabeth’s life.
The moment Elizabeth finds out about Calvin’s death, the transition between different scenes happens in a way that they are blended together. It captures Elizabeth’s state of mind as she moves in a daze without truly making sense of anything.
The episode majorly focuses on depicting Elizabeth’s life without Calvin, her loneliness, and her grief, which is felt throughout the episode, but Elizabeth’s pregnancy test gives it an interesting touch.
More than anything, this episode is heartbreaking. The first two episodes did such a good job of getting the audience invested in Calvin and Elizabeth’s story that Calvin’s death in this episode will make them shed a tear.