Review: Binge-Worthy 'The Dropout' will Make Your Blood Run Cold

Absolute power corrupts absolutely is a perfect summation of Elizabeth Holmes' meteoric rise and eventual fall, dramatized in the new Hulu limited series "The Dropout." From an early age, Holmes ambitiously declared that she was destined to be a billionaire entrepreneur who would change the world. Blinded by the successes of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, both of whom dropped out of college on their paths to become tech giants, Holmes follows suit to focus on her idea of creating a way to test blood without the use of needles.

The problem? Holmes never grasped the science behind her lofty goal. Despite her proposal being reviewed by a professor at Stanford and rejected as being impossible, the would-be inventor puts the cart before the horse and descends from an optimistic, idealistic twenty-something dancing around her office to Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake to a baritone-voiced Jobs knockoff who is a better show woman than she is scientist.

Always quick with an answer – and armed with plenty of research data about those she is meeting with – Holmes charms the pants off investors and industry followers alike. Without being overly dramatic, Holmes basically becomes a Bond villain, with the help of her millionaire boyfriend/Svengali, Sunny Balwani.

What's most interesting among the unbelievable story detailed in "The Dropout" is how show runner Elizabeth Meriwether ("New Girl") shifts the tone midway through from being a serialized biopic about Holmes to the type of corporate thriller that would give John Grisham a wet dream. As things begin to unravel there are accusations of corporate espionage, whistleblowers, and people being intimidated and followed. Unfortunately, not everyone makes it out alive.

Whereas many streaming series feel like their episode counts are padded, "The Dropout" feels like it is moving so fast that by the end of the seventh episode (which was the last episode available for review), there's so much left to cover, with only one episode remaining. When everything really starts to hit the fan, the series is racing to cover all the most important plot points, and many of the smaller stories are left behind. There is probably enough material for another season dealing with the fallout experienced by patients given the faulty tests, as well as what happened to those in Holmes' orbit after everything came crashing down, including her friends, family, and former employees – especially those who either had no idea what was happening, or found out and tried to stop the potential harm.

Amanda Seyfried stars as Holmes, and uses her wide-eyed innocence as a formative mask to help Holmes as she spirals out of control. She leads an all-star cast that also includes welcome turns by Laurie Metcalf, Dylan Minnette, Naveen Andrews, and Anne Archer. The stellar cast helps to elevate the script.

The story of Holmes' company Theranos (which its founder proudly states stands for a mixture of therapy and diagnosis) has been one that has seemed too wild to believe, almost like something out of a movie. Now that it has been made into a series, it still feels unbelievable that Holmes could have pulled the wool over so many people's eyes. Thankfully, we have this addicting show to help us understand what happened, and hopefully help avoid anything like it happening again. "The Dropout" will make your blood run cold.

"The Dropout" premieres on Hulu in March 3, with subsequent episodes being released weekly.