The Dropout is the second Hulu production I've watched (the first having been Dopesick), and I am quite impressed with their production values. Both of these series are much better than what is now being pumped out by the big N, so I hope that they don't let their newfound success lead them down the path to mediocrity now being trodden by formerly excellent analogous production companies.

I had just watched the HBO production about Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, which served as my only source of knowledge of this story. Based on Alex Gibney's excellent documentary, I was needless to say intrigued by the tale of yet another young person who tried to cut corners to fast track the route to becoming a billionaire (see FTX for the latest variation on that theme...).

Amanda Seyfried does a great job of conveying the rather creepy demeanor of Holmes, and the story is well-paced so as to make it comprehensible how such a thing could ever have transpired. Quite the meditation on Socrates' sage adage: "No one knowingly does evil." Certainly Elizabeth seemed to want to do something good, but her downfall was due to a serious excess of hubris. No business background, no science background. All she had was an idea about as realistic as: "What if pigs could fly?"

Amazingly, despite her immaturity and childishness, Holmes managed to seduce many very wealthy men to keep her fantasy alive. I suppose that her parents were the worst enablers, having agreed to give her the tuition they would have paid, had she not dropped out of Stanford, to start her company. Without that initial infusion of cash, Elizabeth would have had to stay in school and finish her degree, by which time she would have known enough about chemistry to recognize that her idea was but a dream.