Lessons in Chemistry

In July 1961, Supper at Six skyrockets in popularity owing to the article in Life. Elizabeth is hurt by Roth’s apparent betrayal and refuses to take his calls. The depression she feels over the article leads her to bake brownies multiple days in a row on the show. Harriet forbids Madeline from reading the article, but she does so anyway and is upset at how inaccurately her mother is portrayed.

One evening, Harriet steps out for a while, instructing her not to answer the phone or to leave home. Wakely turns up to check on Madeline, and before he can leave, Elizabeth arrives as well. Elizabeth recognizes Wakely from the funeral. Through Wakely, Elizabeth discovers that Roth has written a different article.

Roth had visited Elizabeth’s home a few days ago, but Madeline has refused to open the door for him on Harriet’s orders. Roth left a manila envelope on the doorstep, the contents of which Madeline had read, then taken to Wakely. Wakely had been out, and Madeline had left the envelope with Frask who informed Wakely that Madeline had been very upset. Wakely now hands over the envelope to Elizabeth and she finds a new, unpublished article inside, titled “Why Their Minds Matter” (344), and the sub-heading “The Bias of Science […] and What These Women Are Doing About It” (344). An accompanying note from Roth contains an apology; he has quit Life and has been trying to get this article, with the truth, published elsewhere, but it has already been rejected from ten scientific publications.

Despite the fact that this article contains everything meaningful that Elizabeth had told Roth, Madeline continues to cry. She is upset because “Wakely’s typist” told Madeline that Elizabeth, who belongs in a lab, had to give up her job as a chemist and work in television because of Madeline. Wakely suggests that Elizabeth may know who his typist is.

Two days earlier, Madeline had visited Wakely’s office with the manila envelope, and Frask had realized who she was based on her resemblance to Calvin. Frask told Madeline about her history with Elizabeth, describing how in love with each other Calvin and Elizabeth had been. Frask accidentally let slip that Elizabeth had been fired for being pregnant with Madeline, which brings the child to tears. Madeline left soon after, with Frask promising to deliver the envelope to Wakely for her. Frask read the contents of the envelope, then wrote a letter to the editors of Life denouncing everything in the article to be false and revealing the truth about what actually happened at Hastings, including Donatti’s theft of Elizabeth’s research and his misappropriation of funds by lying to investors.

The next edition of Life sees a number of letters from women all over the country who have come out in support of Elizabeth; Frask’s letter is among them, and Harriet excitedly tries to show it to Elizabeth, but Elizabeth is not interested. Even Roth’s unpublished article fails to cheer her up, rejected as it has been from a number of scientific publications; no one seems interested in reading about women in science. Later that morning, Madeline reads her lunchbox note: “It’s not your imagination, […] (most) people are awful” (351). It is November 1961, and Harriet and Madeline are worried about Elizabeth’s evident depression. As they contemplate what to do, Harriet has an idea about who might actually be interested in reading about women in science

Elizabeth and Wakley sit on the back step of her house one evening and discuss what is normal. She confesses that she has read his letters to Calvin, and that Calvin took the job at Hastings based on Wakely’s recommendation about the weather. Wakely remembers the secrets he and Madeline had exchanged: she has confided in him that Six-Thirty knew 981 words; he had confided in her that he didn’t believe in God. Elizabeth talks about her brother, John, to Wakely, and her guilt over his suicide. Wakely divines that Elizabeth needs to forgive John and accept herself in order to move on. Elizabeth admits that she understands how John felt and sometimes she wants “out”, too; Wakely counters that her problem is not that she “wants out” but that she wants to get back in.

At the beginning of an episode of Supper at Six, Elizabeth announces her retirement from the show; this will be her last episode. She had driven over to Walter’s the previous evening to inform him of her decision and had discovered Harriet there as well; Walter and Harriet are in a relationship, which they are keeping quiet until Harriet’s divorce comes through. Upon hearing Elizabeth’s news, both Walter and Harriet began to cry.

Elizabeth thanks her audience for their viewership and friendship and for helping her make history. She delivers an update on the housewife who had dreamed of becoming a surgeon when she was young; Marjorie Fillis has completed her premed studies in record time and has been accepted into medical school. Elizabeth urges all her women viewers to have the courage to make a change. She names Harriet Sloane as a special friend and thanks her for the advice she gave Elizabeth many years ago, to take a moment for herself every day and recommit. The audience bursts into wild applause; Elizabeth ends the show with a final directive that Walter thinks up on the spot and holds up on a cue card: “‘This concludes your introduction to chemistry […] Class dismissed’” (361).

It is January 1962, and despite the success of Supper at Six, Elizabeth has not received a single offer from any university or research lab since quitting the show. Harriet informs Elizabeth the Head of Personnel at Hastings had called for her—a “Miss Frask.” Elizabeth counters that Frask isn’t at Hastings; she works as a typist for Wakely. Elizabeth calls back and Frask’s secretary, Miss Finch, picks up. When Elizabeth is put through, Frask congratulates Elizabeth on an article that has put her on the cover of a magazine and asks her to come in as soon as possible, along with Six-Thirty—the abiogenesis investor is back, having contacted Frask after seeing her letter in Life.

When Elizabeth and Six-Thirty walk in to Frask’s office, a starstruck Finch asks Elizabeth to sign her copy of Vogue; Elizabeth’s face is on the cover of the magazine, accompanied by the title “Why Their Minds Matter.” Harriet had sent Roth’s unpublished article to Vogue but had given up hope when she hadn’t heard back from them in four months. Nevertheless, the article was published.

Frask takes Elizabeth and Six-Thirty to Calvin’s old lab where the investor has insisted they meet. Wilson and Avery Parker are waiting for Elizabeth; they greet her with warmth and extend an offer for her to continue her abiogenesis research at Hastings. Elizabeth declines the offer and turns to leave but is stopped short when Donatti arrives to meet Wilson. Donatti is shocked to see Elizabeth and Frask there and dumbstruck to meet Avery.

Wilson, who is now Frask’s lawyer, informs Donatti that he is being fired—Frask’s letter in Life had led the Foundation to do some investigating, upon which they discovered a number of his misdeeds. The Foundation had recently acquired a majority share in Hastings and decided to make changes. Frask is the new Head of Personnel, and Elizabeth is being offered Donatti’s old job as the director of Chemistry. Avery hands Donatti a termination notice to sign and indicates that the decision about his employment status should be up to someone who really knows his work; Elizabeth takes a beat, then hands Donatti a pen, declaring him “just not smart enough” (370).

Avery and Wilson reiterate their offer to Elizabeth and discuss upgrading the lab; Wilson also casually mentions Calvin Evans’s unfinished work. Elizabeth pieces together puzzle between the rich donor at Calvin’s home and the man Calvin described in his diaries whom he believed to be his father. Elizabeth turns hostile, believing that Wilson is Calvin’s blood relative and is here to steal and appropriate Calvin’s research; but then Avery asks to speak with Elizabeth alone.

Elizabeth confronts Avery about Wilson, Calvin, and All Saints, to which Avery tells Elizabeth a story: A 17-year-old girl had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, and her parents had sent her away to a Catholic home for unwed mothers. She was continually pressured to sign away her unborn baby but refused; as a result, she was locked in a room alone when her labor began and eventually anesthetized by the doctor who was tired of her screams. When she regained consciousness, she was told that her baby had been stillborn. Ten years later, she was contacted by a nurse at the home who offered her the truth in exchange for money: her son had, in fact, been adopted by a family who had died in a series of tragic accidents, after which he had been sent to a boys’ home in Iowa. Avery is Calvin’s biological mother and has been searching for Calvin ever since.

Elizabeth is stunned and suspiciously questions why Avery never came forward earlier. She explains that she had sent Wilson, her lawyer who handles her foundation, in her stead, but the bishop had lied to Wilson and told him Calvin was dead. Avery then decided to give the home funding, all earmarked for science and sports, since Calvin’s father had been a rower. Avery eventually found out the truth when she saw Calvin on the cover of Chemistry Today; she immediately cut off funding and began to write to Calvin. Elizabeth suddenly remembers that the letters from the sad mother had, indeed, been signed “Avery Parker”.

After discovering the truth, Avery had been cautious in approaching Calvin. Wilson had arrived at Hastings to fund Elizabeth’s research, because Avery had learned that Elizabeth and Calvin were together; Donatti had initially tried to steer Wilson away, before eventually lying about Elizabeth being a man. Before Avery or Wilson could directly approach Calvin, he passed away, and Elizabeth’s work came to a standstill. Avery and Wilson had even attended Calvin’s funeral and the article that came out after had described Calvin as a difficult mad who held grudges after Elizabeth was misquoted as saying she barely knew him. At this, Elizabeth breaks down, asserting that she had loved Calvin with all her heart and he was the best thing that ever happened to her. Elizabeth lays her head on Avery’s shoulder and sobs like she never has before.

Avery reveals that Madeline had written to Wilson about the family tree she had drawn which had been published alongside the Life article. Madeline had described how Calvin had been raised in a home that she was sure Wilson had funded. Madeline’s details led Avery to investigate further, and slowly she was able to piece together the story. Elizabeth asks about Calvin’s biological father, and Avery discloses that he passed away from tuberculosis before Calvin’s birth. Avery describes how she met him, and Elizabeth responds with details of her own first meeting with Calvin. Avery wants to know more about Calvin and be part of Elizabeth’s family; Elizabeth tells her that she already is. Before Avery leaves with Wilson, Elizabeth invites them over for “supper at six” (386) at Elizabeth’s home lab, along with Walter, Harriet, Madeline, and Six-Thirty; she remarks that they will have to meet Mason and Wakely as well at some point: “The whole family” (386). Upon their departure, Elizabeth and Six-Thirty begin working together in the lab, restarting her abiogenesis research once again.