The Dropout

2022 - 3 - 3

Post cover
Image courtesy of "NBC News"

'The Dropout,' Hulu series about Elizabeth Holmes, questions ... (NBC News)

'The Dropout' is one of several new shows debuting this year that take a decidedly skeptical view of the American technology industry and the hard-driving ...

“It was a story everyone wanted to believe — an uplifting narrative people wanted to be true, and that’s a big part of how the fraud continued for so many years.” “It feels like where we are right now is a reckoning with all of those stories the tech companies told us in the early days,” she said. “It seems there is a re-examining of what liberties we afford to people who, through sheer force of will and charisma, get whatever they want,” Showalter said. “She’s such a mystery — and, for me, she continues to be a mystery even after working on the show.” “WeCrashed” stars Oscar-winning actors Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway as Adam and Rebekah Neumann, the couple at the center of a spectacular techworld implosion. I could imagine what being a fly on the wall would be like,” Meriwether said.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

The Dropout review – another mind-blowing portrait of a great ... (The Guardian)

Yes it's clunky at points, but Amanda Seyfried excels as one-time billionaire grifter Elizabeth Holmes – and the story is simply too jaw-dropping to pass ...

Seyfried makes it all work and keeps our attention – even our sympathy – as Holmes’s desperation to make a name for herself and prove that her intelligence and drive are worth something tangible slips further and further into corruption and lies. The first is that it is simply such a good a story that you would have to deal it actual hammer blows to kill its fascination. It worked a few times in a small way, just enough to give hope to those involved but, crucially, not on the day they showed it to investors. One is determined to succeed, the other determined to make its messages clear every step of the way. Unlike Inventing Anna, which was a heady, soapy rush that enjoyed the glamour of its protagonist, and wasn’t too bothered by any need to investigate her motivations, The Dropout plays it straight. We have barely had time to draw breath after the whirlwind anti-romance that was Inventing Anna, the story of super-grifter Anna Sorokin, who parlayed an innate grasp of upper-class manners into a life of plenty among the moneyed elite of New York (until they found out they were the ones funding it). Now we have The Dropout (Disney+), the story of the other great female fraudster of recent years, Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the medical company Theranos. It claimed it had developed technology that would revolutionise blood testing, and with it a massive part of the US healthcare system.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Daily Express"

The Dropout star unearths Elizabeth Holmes' dishonest grandparent ... (Daily Express)

THE DROPOUT has made its big debut, exploring the rise and fall of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Independent"

The Dropout: What is fact and what is fiction in Disney Plus's new Elizabeth Holmes series? (The Independent)

ABC News journalist Rebecca Jarvis documented the case in a podcast called The Dropout, which released its first season in early 2019. The new series is adapted from the podcast, with Jarvis serving as an executive producer alongside the podcast's ...

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Empire"

The Dropout (Empire)

Amanda Seyfried stars as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout. Read the Empire review now.

Holmes’ pursuit of power is depicted as trance-like, with Seyfried’s eyes always straying off to the greater goal as her character’s empire crumbles around her. Unlike a recent trend in TV storytelling that sees two, if not three, timelines approached in each episode, the series writers here thankfully stick largely to the past, only occasionally skipping forward to show Holmes on trial. Amanda Seyfried is unshakeable as the Ivy League dropout, whose youthful ambition manifests into a relentless need to revolutionise healthcare technology.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Washington Post"

From 'The Dropout' to 'The Tinder Swindler,' your guide to TV's most ... (The Washington Post)

"Inventing Anna" and "The Dropout" lead a packed slate of new documentaries and fictionalized series about grifters.

The pair ended up dodging angry investors, employees and authorities while on the run for months, in a misadventure that ended with police locating them thanks to a non-vegan Domino’s pizza order. “But ‘Super Pumped’ is most compelling as a study of how one individual at the top can create a noxious office culture — one so rancid it eventually looks like corporate suicide.” This upcoming Apple TV Plus series based on the Wondery podcast of the same name stars Anne Hathaway and a heavily made-up Jared Leto as Rebekah and Adam Neumann, the power (hungry) couple behind WeWork. The once highly valued co-working space start-up saw plummeting profits in 2019 amid scandal over the company’s unconventional corporate culture and massive debts. Both McKinnon and Mitchell give dutiful performances as the eccentric personalities, but the consensus among critics is that “Joe vs. The real-life Holmes, meanwhile, awaits sentencing after her conviction on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud against investors. “The Dropout” has garnered generally positive reviews, with particular praise for Seyfried — who goes all-in on replicating Holmes’s weirdness (one scene finds her dancing toward a Steve Jobs poster in a display that borders on liturgical) — and Naveen Andrews, who plays her ex-boyfriend and alleged co-conspirator Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani. The show, which dropped Thursday, also features William H. Macy and Laurie Metcalf as part of its ensemble cast.

New Hulu series 'The Dropout' based on popular Rebecca Jarvis podcast (unknown)

Disgraced entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes is the subject of a new Hulu series called "The Dropout," starring Amanda Seyfried.

You can use the opt out toggle above to opt out of the “sale” of your personal information, as defined by the CCPA, of certain advertising on this site. You or your authorized agent can change your opt out selection anytime by clicking the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link on this site. "Elizabeth Holmes is an enigma to so many people," she said. Elizabeth Holmes, the entrepreneur who built a multi-billion dollar company that failed due to fraud, is the subject of a new series called "The Dropout" on Hulu -- where you will also find an episode of "20/20" devoted to her case after it airs Friday on ABC. "There's something very fair about Rebecca and her journalism, the way she speaks about things, the way she articulates them, the questions she asks. Do Not Sell My Personal InformationThe California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) permits California residents, or their authorized agents, to opt out of the “sale” of their personal information to third parties.

40 Thoughts I Had While Watching the First Episode of ‘The Dropout’ (unknown)

I refuse to identify with Holmes, but the cool girls on my abroad program also didn't like me. Sisters in solidarity! Did Amanda Seyfried actually learn ...

2002 was a crazy time.If there’s one thing I don’t miss about college, it’s a cappella.This scene of Holmes practicing having a normal conversation in the mirror is quite heartbreaking!God, I’m very stressed out and saddened by this sexual-assault storyline.Holmes’s mom’s advice to “just put it away and forget it” does not seem super helpful?And now, voilà, we have a whole new Holmes and Theranos! “Just a drop.” Sounds nice, doesn’t it?Balwani comes back into the picture after Holmes’s car window gets shot out in the “bad” neighborhood she’s renting in to launch her startup.Okay, I kind of mess with this show so far! Reading’s stupid, TV rules.Holmes is schooling some graduate students on flow rate (???), and a kindly professor is impressed and lets her scam her way into his advanced class.Okay, so Laurie Metcalf told Holmes when she was still in college that the basic idea for Theranos wouldn’t work...yet nevertheless, she persisted. Sisters in solidarity!Did Amanda Seyfried actually learn Mandarin for this role?Damn, I didn’t really know Balwani was this much older than Holmes.God, all this (unconsummated) romance between Holmes and Balwani takes place before she’s even a freshman at Stanford. Oof.Now Holmes is at Stanford, having boring and rhythmic sex to the strains of Justin Timberlake. What a time to be alive!She’s still in contact with Balwani, who I don’t think she’s ever slept with?God, I simply cannot relate to loving or being interested in science. Just lie like a normal person!Then again, I guess the entire point of this show is that Holmes wasn’t a normal person, so it’s good exposition.Nothing this show invents could ever be as funny as Balwani and Holmes’s real texts.Aw, the cool girls in Holmes’s Beijing program are making fun of her for...speaking Mandarin? Excuse her for having drive!I refuse to identify with Holmes, but the cool girls on my abroad program also didn’t like me. I’ll admit I’ve grown somewhat weary of the season of the scammer—or at least the way it’s depicted onscreen. And her deer-in-headlights look.Okay, the voice is good, I’ll give her that.Theranos is...a mix between therapy and diagnosis?

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Irish Examiner"

TV review: Compelling real-life story The Dropout should make for ... (Irish Examiner)

We get inside Elizabeth Holmes' relationship with her parents, but unfortunately that seems loving and supportive, which doesn't exactly make for decent ...

That isn’t enough to make a hit. The subtext that she has to try harder because she’s a woman isn’t over-played. This posh boat scene was ok, but had none of the verve you’d get from Leonardo DiCaprio in .

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Den of Geek"

The Dropout: Understanding Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos ... (Den of Geek)

This article contains potential spoilers for The Dropout. Fraud: so hot right now. Ad – content continues below. We'll leave it to the sociologists to ...

And that was the beginning of the end. The Theranos story is a fascinating case of fraud that includes many victims: investors, patients, doctors, and more. Criminal proceedings began in 2018 and just this year, on Jan. 3, Holmes was found guilty on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The list of folks who invested in Theranos reads like a who’s who of bigtime American decision-makers of the 21st century. The entrepreneur appeared on the covers of magazines, was invited to leadership conferences, and most notably: cut a huge deal with pharmacy/retail chain Walgreens to install its non-functioning blood diagnostic machines in stores country-wide. Though venture capitalism is the lifeblood (pardon the pun) upon which all of Silicon Valley is based, Theranos went above and beyond in securing VC money. With enormous blue eyes and long blonde hair, Elizabeth would stand out in just about any context, but she was particularly distinct in the world of Silicon Valley with its male-dominated founders and investors. Around this time, Holmes began developing an interest in creating a technology that would lessen the need of using syringes to draw blood (potentially due to her experience being poked and prodded following her SARS diagnosis). Her first patent was filed for a wearable path that would administer medication. With Theranos, Holmes was trying to create the medicine and biotech world’s version of Apple. And for a fleeting moment in time she was nearly successful with the company reaching a peak valuation of $9 billion. That led to a precipitous fall for Holmes, the company, and many of its investors. Though The Dropout’s interpretation is exhaustive and effective, if you just want to know the highlights of this wild saga, we’ve got you covered. The Dropout is based on an ABC News podcast of the same name, which was in turn inspired by Wall Street Journalist John Carreyrou’s coverage of entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes and her wildly successful (until it suddenly wasn’t) Silicon Valley startup Theranos.

Explore the last week