The walls are closing in at Theranos as doctors, patients and whistleblowers are coming forward to a reporter with The Wall Street Journal to discuss the unethical practices at the company in episode seven of “The Dropout.” Theranos is now going on the offensive trying to stop the article by putting pressure on the doctors and the whistleblowers. But during a meeting between the Theranos team of lawyers and the Wall Street Journal and their lawyers, someone on the Theranos team accidentally reveals the information necessary for the Journal to release the article that will end up sending Theranos into a tailspin.

The characters of Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani have been so deceitful, so arrogant and so ruthless, the beginning of their downfall has been quite enjoyable to watch and I can’t wait to see them finally fall. I followed this story in the US News for years until Holmes was convicted back in October and I’m interested to see what happens with Balwani’s trial. Now I’m loving seeing this dramatization. They may not be evil people, but their greed and their impatience hurt many people and those people deserve justice for their pain. Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews have successfully made me hate the characters of Holmes and Balwani almost as much as I hate what the actual Holmes and Balwani did.

I know it’s a dramatization and some of the events are being drummed up for the drama, but I hate seeing the pain that the doctors and whistleblowers are having to endure for doing the right thing. It’s amazing to see the great, ethical work that Erika Cheung and Tyler Shultz are now doing after exposing Theranos for what it was. Mark Roessler, while not a real person, seems to be loosely based on a real person who stepped up to criticize the company, although I don’t believe the real person actually downloaded any emails, much less deleted them at the last minute due to fear of repercussions. Plus, I don’t believe Charles Shultz actually believed Tyler until after the article came out. So I’m certain the mediation scene didn’t happen. But, I do love the character Charles Schultz, who is a former American Secretary of State, telling the Theranos lawyer that his mediation was “good enough for Gorbachev.”

I love this series. It is an amazing drama that has told a pretty good story about one of the greatest medical company scandals of recent years, if not ever. The cast is amazing. While there are some added elements of drama, a lot of the things in it actually happened. And with each episode, it keeps building to the point where the viewers are going to be excited to see Holmes and Balwani go down.

Ranking: 4.5 stars out of 5

What did you think of the latest episode of “The Dropout?”

Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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