The Dropout is a miniseries about Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos, a once billion-dollar worth company now defunct as it was shut down after being discovered as fraudulent. This series chronicles the origins and rapid downfall of Elizabeth Holmes, a once promising Stanford student that dropped out in 2004, her sophomore year, as she put herself in the same strata as Steve Jobs. Holmes' attempted to revolutionize the healthcare industry by using the phrase "fake it until you make it" to an extreme. This way of life clearly started with her family upbringing and continued after her company dissolved. Her level of delusion is portrayed so well by Amanda Seyfried that she won an Emmy and Golden Globe for her role as Elizabeth Holmes. Seyfried was able to capture the childlike tendencies and mental complexities of Holmes as she faced personal and company challenges.
I give accolades to Laurie Metcalf as Dr. Phyllis Gardner (Theranos skeptic), Naveen Andrews as Rahmesh Balwani (business and romantic partner), William H. Macy as Richard Fuisz (neighbor), Sam Waterston as George Shultz (former Secretary of Defense), Stephen Fry as Ian Gibbons (biochemist), Alan Ruck as Jay Rosan (Walgreens executive), Nicky Endres as Ana Arriola (once employed at Apple), Dylan Minnette as Tyler Shultz (whistleblower), Josh Pais as Wade Miquelon (CEO of Walgreens), Ebon Moss-Bachrach as John Carreyrou (Wall Street journalist), and Camryn Mi-young Kim as Erika Cheung (whistleblower). By over promising and under delivering, Holmes and Balwani were charged with defrauding everyone involved in Theranos including investors, doctors, and patients. Her objective of changing the world was reached, but in the way she intended. Holmes was sentenced to federal prison for a little over 11 years and Balwani was sentenced for almost 13 years.
I will not say Elizabeth Holmes in the beginning of Theranos was reckless in the way she ran her company, but as she continued to lead the company, she became more and more complicit in what was overlooked and ignored. As once one of the richest women in America, her net worth is now in the negative. When the Wall Street article came out, Walgreens stopped its relationship with Theranos and in late 2016 they sued Theranos along with former investors. When all the labs were closed due to failed inspections and wellness centers were closed as well, there was no one left working for the company. Up to the end, Elizabeth Holmes remained delusional and only looked out for her own welfare. The final scene of the last episode summed up who Elizabeth Holmes was all along, which I doubt feels little guilt about today. At least, she attended Burning Man with her boyfriend, so I guess she can hold onto this memory instead of the reminder of her disaster called Theranos.
I rate The Dropout FOUR FINGERS and ONE THUMB at 100%.
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