We're dropped into the world of 1958 mega-star Elizabeth Zott at a buzzing television studio as she gets to set, prepared for her live afternoon show. As the audience is brought in and sat down, we watch Elizabeth meet with her producer and have a quick discussion before she's brought to the stage. Speaking with authority, Elizabeth starts her show, and it's immediately clear why she's popular. She's not lying to her audience, but instead treating the women of the decade as though they're just as smart and capable as she is.

The series cuts to 7 years earlier, where Elizabeth has just gotten into work at her job as a lab tech. Elizabeth is serious about her work, clarifying that she's not interested in the frilly pageantry surrounding women in the workplace.

We're also introduced to Dr. Calvin Evans, one of the more peculiar scientists working in the lab. He's missing board meetings and late on presenting his findings, but clearly is one of the finest minds in the lab.

The talk of the lab is the Little Miss Hastings pageant, which will be hosted soon. Elizabeth is asked by another employee, Fran Frask, if she'd be interested in joining. Though she heartily declines, Fran says she'll put Elizabeth down as a maybe.

After hours, Elizabeth conducts her own experiments when she realizes she's out of a necessary chemical, ribose. She breaks into Calvin's lab to find it but doesn't notice Fran seeing her working once she's back in her own lab. The following day, Elizabeth is called in for a talking to by Mr. Donatti, the head of the lab, getting chastised for working without a Chemist in the lab. Elizabeth tries to defend herself but is shut down and told to participate more at a level she's supposed to feel comfortable with, like competing in Little Miss Hastings. Before she can even return to her lab, Fran finds Elizabeth and says she is happy to hear she'll be a part of the pageant.

Elizabeth and Calvin cross paths in the lab, where he confronts her for stealing the ribose. He's angry about the breach, mistakenly calling Elizabeth a secretary several times before learning she's a lab tech.

At the Little Miss Hastings pageant, the Chemists are shocked to see Calvin in attendance. Elizabeth chats with the other women participating in the pageant, but it's clear she doesn't get along with many of them and leaves quickly. Calvin tries to talk to Elizabeth, but she brushes him off and heads backstage for the pageant.

During the Little Miss Hastings pageant, Elizabeth doesn't bother to hide her true personality. Rather than playing with the stereotypical norms the rest of the contestants put forth. Before the talent competition, Elizabeth walks out of the pageant after being told to show more skin for the male judges. She runs into Calvin, who's allergic to someone's perfume, and offers to drive him home after he vomits at her feet.

Elizabeth helps Calvin inside as he continues his allergic reaction. He repeatedly apologizes for calling Elizabeth a secretary, but she explains she can't accept his apology if he doesn't understand what he's apologizing for. She tells Calvin she appreciates the sentiment and believes he must be smart due to his accomplishments, but he takes his position for granted, which is painful for someone in her position.

Calvin offers her a container of ribose, explaining that he only came to the pageant to give it to her. He asks what her talent in the pageant would've been. Elizabeth explains she would've put a tomato in boiling water for a certain amount of time, then put it into cold water in order to pull the peel off easily. Calvin is charmed as Elizabeth leaves him at home.

The next morning, Calvin's neighbor's young daughter Linda meets him in his front yard after Calvin returns from a run. He brings her back home and agrees to babysit for the children the following week, so their mother can attend a committee meeting about a new freeway project.

The head of Elizabeth's department, Richard, corners her in the supply closet at work in order to chastise her for leaving the pageant early. Elizabeth asks him to keep the door open, but when he doesn't oblige, she begins having flashbacks to her time in school, when something ambiguously traumatizing happened to her. Elizabeth is shaken. She heads home that night and cooks a lasagna with precise measurements to calm herself down.

The following day, Calvin sits down for lunch with Elizabeth. She offers him some of her lasagna and though he says no, she gives him a bite anyway. He compliments the dish, and Elizabeth begins talking about her scientific approach to cooking, Calvin jumps in after some time to both of their surprise.

The two discuss abiogenesis, clearly sharing a passion for the topic, and begin eating lunch together daily. Elizabeth brings homemade meals, sharing them with Calvin as they bond over scientific processes. Calvin tells Elizabeth she's on the verge of a major breakthrough and that she should talk to Donatti about her research, but she tells him Donatti's already shut her down. When he asks why, she plainly explains it's discrimination against her sex. Calvin doesn't understand the discrimination but is clearly troubled by it.

Later that night, Calvin offers to speak to Donatti and have Elizabeth work as an independent chemist in his lab. He wants to help her with her research and allow her to publish her own findings. Elizabeth seems surprised by the offer, but after some thought, accepts.

Both Fran and Donatti push back on the idea of Elizabeth's move, but both Calvin and Elizabeth insist. The pair's working styles clash a bit, but both are clearly interested in one another as more than simple colleagues. As Elizabeth and Calvin learn to work with one another more cohesively, their research moves smoothly.

Calvin calls Elizabeth after work one night to discuss a theory, distracting her and causing her to burn her meal. It's shocking to Elizabeth, who rarely feels like she's being distracted. She realizes just how much she cares for Calvin and gets off the phone, overwhelmed.

The following day, Calvin has an epiphany during his run to work. He enters the lab and shuts the door behind him to share his news with Elizabeth, but she's so overwhelmed by the door being closed that she can't listen. Amid flashbacks to her trauma, she leaves the room and tells Calvin their working relationship was a mistake.

Back in 1958, Elizabeth's meal is just finished cooking live on air. It's burnt when she opens the oven to reveal her lasagna to the audience. She's surprised, as are her audience members and producers. Elizabeth, clearly jarred, is able to rethink her message quickly. She explains that scientists attempt to control their experiments, but says sometimes you can't count on a formula or control each variable. Sometimes, she explains, things just turn out messy.