John Carreyrou, the Wall Street Journal’s senior business reporter, is investigating whether Theranos misled investors about its technology. He has several sources from the company itself, and he needs to give Theranos time to respond to his questions.
Mark Roessler, a software engineer at the company, leaves work with his co-worker Sunny yelling that he will sue the company if they don’t give him access to their emails.
Elizabeth and Sunny spoke to their lawyer, David Boies. They didn’t want to answer The Journal’s questions; so Boies suggested they go after Carreyrou’s sources. Sunny threatened the doctors who would testify against Theranos, convincing them to sign non-disclosure agreements. ..
Mark deletes the company emails fearing someone is following him. Carreyrou now depends on Tyler Schultz as a source, but he can’t get hold of him. ..
George Schultz calls his grandson to meet with him. Tyler insists to him that he never spoke to a reporter about Theranos. Still, he refuses to sign a new NDA, and Theranos threatens to sue.
Elizabeth’s article discusses how Theranos is changing the health care landscape by providing innovative and affordable herpes tests. Robert Murdoch, the owner of the Wall Street Journal, has invested millions of dollars into her company. This new era of health care is based on technology and innovation. Elizabeth provides an in-depth look at how Theranos is changing the healthcare landscape and what this means for consumers.
Carreyrou worries that Murdoch will kill his story in order to protect his investment. He wants to run the story immediately, but can’t because he’s lost nearly all of his sources. ..
Elizabeth meets with Boies to discuss the article. She tells him that it isn’t going away and that she can’t make it go away until she knows what the Wall Street Journal has on her. Elizabeth needs to know what information Boies has about her so that he can help her with the article.
Later that night, Boies enters the Wall Street Journal’s office with a team of lawyers. While trying to kill Carreyrou’s story, they inadvertently feed it by admitting to using third party analyzers. Boies calls Elizabeth to warn her that the Journal will be running an article that night.
Elizabeth asks Schultz for his support. His answer is to blame everything on Sunny, but Sunny realizes that could be Elizabeth’s plan. He tells her they know all the same things; her name was on every email. ..
Elizabeth is at a function for the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows. There, she runs into Phyllis Garner, another board member. Phyllis says she’s looking forward to The Wall Street Journal’s article. But she scathingly asks Elizabeth what she thinks will happen to all the other women who want to start companies after her.
That night, the article is published.
The Episode Review
At this point in Hulu’s limited series, it’s almost as if The Dropout has forgotten about elaborating on character motives and is simply carrying out plot points from an instruction manual.
Although much progress has been made in the past seven episodes, the storyline still reinforces a repetitive narrative. Forces threaten Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos; Sunny claps back. It’s been a long and tedious cycle for the past seven episodes. ..
Fortunately, I think we are finally seeing a turning point in the story, in time for the season finale. Although it played out in what is likely the least exciting way possible, the release of Carreyrou’s article is a thrilling instigator for Elizabeth’s downfall. Here’s hoping the final episode can deliver a more in-depth analysis of Elizabeth’s character and a satisfying conclusion to the show’s interesting feminist themes. Don’t we all want to see Phyllis Gardner justified?
