Elizabeth is a high school student who has dreams of changing the world with her original invention. She has been accepted to Stanford University to pursue this goal. ..
After her dad was fired from his job, the family turns to their friends Richard and Lorraine for help. They reluctantly agree to help out, but are not happy with the results.
Richard started a medical training company that he sold for $50 million. He offers it assistance, even though he doesn’t like Elizabeth’s attitude towards him.
Elizabeth’s father doesn’t think she needs him to help her achieve success. Elizabeth implores him not to take his money, and it won’t be necessary because she’ll make something great of herself with it.
Elizabeth, a high school graduate, travels to Beijing for an immersion Mandarin program in order to meet Sunny Balwani, an older man who started and sold a software company for $40 million. The two strike up a friendship and Elizabeth learns about Sunny’s life and experiences. ..
They become extremely close over the course of the program, and when Elizabeth goes to Stanford in 2002, they talk on the phone regularly.
Elizabeth loves college because she is a freshman and gets into a research group with Professor Channing Robertson.
When she returns for her sophomore year, she presents to Dr. Robertson an idea she had for a medical invention: a small patch that could provide people with both diagnosis and therapy, all within the comfort of their own homes. She wants Robertson to invest in it. ..
He is curious, but he first sends her to Dr. Phyllis Gardner, who says the invention will never work. She tells Elizabeth not to skip any steps to reach her goals. She says that, for now, she should just try to be 19 years old.
Elizabeth tries to have a night out with friends and then go to a party afterwards. However, she is curled up in bed after the party and her roommates are gossiping that she has been raped. They are not sure if they believe her, but they think it would be fun to watch her try to enjoy herself.
Sunny calls her while she’s in bed and tells her it’s weird that he’s so obsessed with a 19-year-old and demands that he not call her again.
Elizabeth’s mother later tells her that she doesn’t have enough evidence against her alleged assailant, but he remains unnamed.
Her mother promises that she believes her. Men will take from her, she says–and she has to decide if she’ll let that hold her back.
Elizabeth decides to keep moving forward with her invention, a box-sized iPod that tests blood in the home. ..
Elizabeth Robertson, a student at Stanford, drops out of her studies to start a company that will help people with mental health issues get better treatment. With the support of her friend and mentor, Robertson finds an office in a dangerous part of town and begins working on her new business.
Lorraine meanwhile chats with Richard about Elizabeth’s recent decision. He becomes angry, believing Elizabeth should have called him and asked for his opinion. “They think they’re better than us,” he says about the Holmes family. ..
Elizabeth is in a panic when she gets into her car outside her new office. A stray bullet shattered her window, and she calls Sunny. Sunny arrives and tells her that he will protect her.
The investigator is asking Elizabeth if she ever told anyone that her technology was not operational, that her invention was endangering lives. ..
She says she made a mistake by moving forward with her relationship with him. ..
The Episode Review
The Dropout tells the story of Elizabeth Holmes, a woman who was once one of the most powerful women in the world but who has since lost her wealth and power. Despite her struggles, Holmes is a likable and compelling protagonist who is determined to rebuild her life.
Seyfried’s portrayal of Holmes brilliantly captures the nuances of her personality, from her changing voice as she becomes more socially inept to her determination to achieve her dreams. It’s clear that she’ll stop at nothing to achieve them–but is that always a good thing? ..
The first episode of this miniseries delivers an exciting opener that engages us not just in the technological information, but in the goals and flaws of an extraordinary young woman. ..
The Dropout is a story of one woman’s journey from college dropout to billion-dollar businesswoman. Elizabeth Holmes was a well-meaning entrepreneur who made a mistake, but we’re compelled to stay along for the ride for the answer.
