Summary
Heroes and villains battle it out in boardrooms and business meetings as Elizabeth’s empire takes its first hit in this exciting penultimate episode.
This recap of the Hulu series The Dropout season 1, episode 7, “Heroes,” contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
Everything was going far too well for Elizabeth Holmes back in 2015. An opening montage shows Elizabeth being interviewed by past and future presidents, living a lavish lifestyle of sports cars, private jets, and mansions, as well as attending red carpet events and mingling with the stars. “Heroes” finally ramps up the action, delivering the first real blows against the criminal, and oh how this glorious payback was worth the wait.
The Dropout season 1, episode 7 recap
Episode seven brings John Carreyrou to the forefront. The Wall Street Journal writer starts to build his story, interviewing doctors and Theranos employees in the hopes of landing a few on-the-record sources. Doctors talk about the inaccurate readings and how these results have harmed patients, whilst those involved a little deeper in the company start to worry for their safety.
The show brilliantly sculpts this looming sense of paranoia. Mark Roessler and Erika Cheung fear they’re being followed and Sunny outright threatens the doctors who are willing to testify. Elizabeth and Sunny mastermind a dastardly plan to take down all of John’s sources one by one until only the naïve Tyler Shultz remains. Dylan Minnette (13 Reasons Why) does a great job as this young and anxious man, fighting to get the truth out when all the odds are against him. There’s a great scene in which his grandfather hounds him for the truth and Theranos scare him with legal documents.
As the tension builds, there’s also room for some much-needed humor. The ridiculous, deluded antics of Sunny and Elizabeth do not go unnoticed. Sunny chases Elizabeth around his vast mansion and in a later scene, the staff members awkwardly dance. This comedic representation of entrepreneur madness will gain comparisons with WeCrashed, which also leans into the anarchy of the billionaire start-up, yet The Dropout goes for more of the cringe aspect.
The ending
With the case slipping away from him and sources dwindling, John is advised to be patient by his boss (played by the brilliant LisaGay Hamilton). This recommendation works a treat and Elizabeth’s lawyer David Boies arrives at Wall Street Journal headquarters ready to go in for the kill. Another action-packed boardroom sequence follows where the writers fight the suited lawyers in a tense battle of words.
The Dropout has been building to this moment for a while now and your patience has been deservedly rewarded. This is a gripping penultimate episode that nicely sets things up for an unmissable showdown in the hotly anticipated finale. I’m expecting great things.
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