The Dropout [2022]

Another tale of capitalist ambition and fame gone wrong, The Dropout highlights what happens when the chase for fame and fortune puts people at risk. All while famous people applaud you.

This gangbuster of a series makes for a terrific binge. Because this story of true, brutal ambition is impossible to stop watching. It’s a trainwreck that gets derailed multiple times on multiple occasions. And instead of re-aligning, Amanda Seyfried (playing the infamous Elizabeth Holmes) brilliantly grasps you back into the twisted mind of Holmes and her chase of fame and fortune with absolute disregard to people’s lives. To be honest, I never really knew who Seyfried is. But after finishing the show, its difficult to imagine a better choice. She not only captures the socially-stunted side of Holmes but the aggressively vile liar who lay at the center of the carefully crafted persona.

What’s shocking to me is not Holmes’ lies, or the fact that she was supported for so long by so many people, including Sunny Balwani (Naveen Andrews). What’s shocking to me is that her core team, the scientists and chemists who started Theranos with her, actually believed in her vision. And once the lies started, they kept supporting her. Yes, I get that some of the staff had no idea what’s going on, but around the end, when everything was uncovered that to the press articles, they still did!

If you’re looking for someone to endorse, look to another show. No, there are no heroes around. There are barely sympathetic figures. But there are interesting, flawed ones. That might just be enough to make this show worth it.

Should you watch it?

The Dropout is extremely watchable, because you follow one persons journey from saying one lie to saying a bigger one, to then having to cover the first lie with a bigger one to not reveal the second.

Where can I watch it?

You can stream all episodes of The Dropout exclusively on Hulu in USA and Disney+ everywhere else.