Relationship Spotlight: Calvin Evans & Elizabeth Zott (Lessons in Chemistry)

*Spoilers.*

Okay, one more Lessons in Chemistry post for now. I liked the show a lot, and as I’ve said, I understand why the story takes the turn it does, why we end up seeing Elizabeth make her way through the world on her own. But at the same time, my favorite part of the show, hands-down, is Elizabeth, Calvin, and the interactions between them. Their relationship smacked me in the face in the best way.

I’ll start with a quality that frequently comes up in my favorite fictional romances: we see how and why they like each other. Elizabeth and Calvin are both attractive people, and we’re shown how people around them respond to that, from other chemists at the university sexualizing Elizabeth to secretaries wanting to “bag” the famous genius Calvin. But even though both have people propositioning them for different reasons, they’re both disinterested in those sorts of attentions, and when they meet each other, looks and status don’t factor into it.

Things begin badly, when Elizabeth swipes some supplies from Calvin’s private lab and he makes some ignorant assumptions about her. Once he realizes his mistake, she rebuffs his attempts to apologize. It takes an unexpected encounter to resent things between them. When Calvin the midst of an allergic reaction to someone’s perfume, throws up on Elizabeth’s dress, she drives him home, and after that, they’re able to begin again on more neutral footing.

For them, love begins with science. They spend hours discussing Elizabeth’s research. There’s a lovely montage of Elizabeth starting to pack extra sumptuous food to share her lunch with the perpetually too-distracted-to-eat Calvin, and they dine together while looking over formulas. He calls her up after hours to discuss new ideas, and she gets so wrapped up in them that she accidentally burns her dinner.

When Calvin suggests that they work together, moving Elizabeth to his lab so she can conduct her research in a more official capacity, she’s wary. She’s depressingly aware that, as a man, he would be assumed to be the brains behind her work, and she doesn’t want to be granted favors out of any unprofessional motives. They agree that they’ll be colleagues, nothing more. And when Calvin realizes he’s developing feelings for her, I love that he explains that to her, alongside an apology for not abiding to the terms of their agreement. Another quality I love in my favorite fictional couples—they talk things over. Rather than pine after her, try to get Elizabeth to change her mind, or give her some sort of ultimatum, Calvin just tells her how he’s feeling and then leaves it up to her to admit she’s developing feelings for him too.

I love the give and take of their relationship. At first, working together is tough for them because, while their scientific knowledge/interests wind along very similar paths, their structural and sensory needs are very different. Calvin can’t find anything after Elizabeth organizes his lab, they argue about his messiness, and it’s hard for Elizabeth to focus while Calvin is playing the jazz records he needs in order to think. One, this is a great example of two autistic-coded people with opposing needs. And two, they once again talk it over and find ways to make it work. Calvin keeps his cracker crumbs and peanut shells far away from their equipment, and they trade off records on alternating days, so they both have an opportunity to listen to the music that’s most helpful to them.

I love that Calvin’s Christmas surprise for Elizabeth is cooking dinner for her. I love that she’s bowled over by this effort and affection, even if she has a full mental list of constructive criticism on his meal. I love that they get one another in a way that no one else does, and that even when they can’t understand each other, each makes space for the other and is ready to listen until it makes sense. I love that their relationship is built on shared interests, on affection that’s shared entirely in their own way, and on honesty and vulnerability.

It can’t last—if Calvin had survived, the story would be completely different—but while they’re together, the relationship is so, so good for both of them. Even though they don’t get their happily ever after, it makes me happy to know they found each other and shared their lives together for the time that they had.

Neurodivergent (Headcanon) Alley: Calvin Evans (Lessons in Chemistry)

*Calvin-related spoilers.*

After my mom read Lessons in Chemistry, she told me that she thought Elizabeth could be read as autistic. When we started watching the miniseries together, by the end of episode 1 I was exclaiming, “You didn’t tell me he was autistic too!” I positively basked in these characters and their relationship, and while I understand why the story takes the turns it does, I could’ve watched ten seasons of the “Elizabeth and Calvin Fall in Love and Do Science” show.

One of the most interesting things about the autistic coding in this show is how Elizabeth and Calvin are so alike and also so different. While Elizabeth starts the series generally keeping her head down but giving her unvarnished opinion when the subject arises, Calvin is regarded around the universe as rude, self-involved, and eccentric. He has a lot of particularities that people make allowances for, because he’s a brilliant/famous man, and he gets pretty much whatever he wants. But to the discerning eye, it’s quickly apparent it’s not his intention to be selfish or rude.

Calvin loses himself entirely in his work, but he needs a certain environment to make that happen. He has his own lab where he works alone, constantly playing jazz music to help him think. He doesn’t want others coming into his space, in part because of his intense allergies/sensory sensitivities to scents. When he’s in the zone, he forgets to eat, subsisting on peanuts and crackers. When he’s blunt and impolite to others, it’s because his mind is going in a thousand directions and he doesn’t have any brainpower left for social niceties.

By the way, Calvin is probably ADHD as well. He needs a lot of stimulation to focus his thoughts—besides the unpredictability of the jazz music, he also jogs in an era when that’s not really a thing and is a dedicated rower. Exercise is his first recourse when things don’t make sense to him. When Elizabeth pulls away from him, he doesn’t know what he did wrong—in his excitement over a breakthrough, he forgot that she needs the door kept open and didn’t listen to her panicked insistence on opening it—and the next time she seeks him out, he’s playing hooky from the university to row nonstop on the erg in his garage, trying to work out his confusion and frustration.

It's true that Calvin has absorbed some of the sexist attitudes of the society around him. When he first discovers that Elizabeth entered his lab to swipe some of his supplies, he assumes that she’s a secretary sent by another lab to do their dirty work. But those attitudes aren’t ingrained in him—as soon as he gets better/more complete information, he quickly reverses his previous thoughts and apologizes to Elizabeth for his ignorance. Likewise, he’s passively unaware of sex discrimination in the sciences, but once Elizabeth points it out to him, he immediately gets on board with the unfairness of it. This, to me, is a very autistic trait as well. Not only is it driven by information and an appreciation for justice rather than prejudice, but it also flies in the face of social norms. As Calvin learns about the barriers women face, it’s the most natural thing in the world for him to agree that it’s wrong and push back against anyone who thinks otherwise.

I just…he stims, he’s barely aware of his surroundings when he’s busy thinking, he gives his honest thoughts on everything, he calls Elizabeth up after hours to talk about science. All-around spectacular character—I need so much more of him!