‘Lessons in Chemistry’ Ending Explained: Showrunner Lee Eisenberg Explains What Happens to Harriet Next

Lessons in Chemistry Episode 8 “Introduction to Chemistry” ties up Elizabeth Zott’s (Brie Larson) story in a neat little Christmas-themed bow. The chemist-turned-television host finally makes a fateful decision about her popular cooking show’s future, winds up pursuing her true passion, and even reconnects with a long-lost, secret family member. The Apple TV+ show manages to weave in many of the biggest revelations from thse end of Bonnie Garmus’s best-selling book while also offering a few new surprises for fans. But who exactly is Avery Parker (Rosemarie DeWitt)? What happens to Elizabeth’s show, Supper at Six? And is Harriet (Aja Naomi King) really going to lose her house after all that?

**Spoilers for All Eight Episodes of Lessons in Chemistry, now streaming on Apple TV+**

At the height of Supper at Six’s success, Elizabeth Zott decides to publicly announce live during her Christmas show that she would be quitting as host. Furthermore, she makes it clear that the show will find her replacement from Supper at Six‘s sizable fan base of housewives. The message Elizabeth is sending with this decision? The most important part of her legacy isn’t teaching women how to make a perfect lasagna, but how to determine their own fates.

As for Elizabeth’s fate, Lessons in Chemistry ends with the reveal that the once lone wolf lab tech is now at the center of a vibrant community of found family and friends. The final scene reveals that Elizabeth went back to school to become a chemistry professor. She blends her skills honed on television to become a sought-after lecturer.

Of course, Elizabeth was probably able to make a mid-life career shift because she just so happened to discover that her dead lover Calvin (Lewis Pullman) was secretly the biological son of a science nerd rich lady named Avery Parker. As it happens, Avery had spent her whole life searching for her long-lost son. The letters she sent him weren’t a hoax, but a desperate plea for reconnection. Only through Madeline Zott’s (Alice Halsey) efforts, does a family reunion finally take place.

So who exactly is Avery Parker? And what happens to Harriet? Here are the answers to your burning questions about the end of Apple TV+’s Lessons in Chemistry…

Lessons in Chemistry Ending Explained: Who is Avery Parker?

Avery Parker is a wealthy woman who wound up pregnant as a teenager. Her parents attempted to cover up Avery’s pregnancy by taking her infant son away from her as soon as he was born. In the Lessons in Chemistry series, we learn that Avery’s only consolation prize was being able to give the boy the first name of Calvin — which she chose for the English philosopher.

When Avery Parker eventually inherited her family’s fortune, she devoted her life to sponsoring boys’ homes and offering financial grants to schools and universities, in the hopes of indirectly benefitting her son. She sent her loyal right hand man Wilson (Beau Bridges) to scout for Calvin, only for Calvin’s caretakers to lie and tell him that the boy had died. (In fact, Calvin’s smarts were being used to distill alcohol, which generated the boys’ home’s income.)

Once they meet, Avery Parker asks Elizabeth if she can get to know her and Madeline. Elizabeth agrees. Meaning that Calvin not only had family before Elizabeth and Mad, but they’re all reunited now.

Wait, Does Harriet Lose Her House at the End of Lessons in Chemistry?

While everything winds up happily ever after for Elizabeth Zott, her best friend Harriet fails to convince the local government to stop the construction of a highway in her neighborhood. This will not only displace an entire Black community, but Elizabeth as well! Even so, Lessons in Chemistry doesn’t explore the fallout of this, choosing instead to show us a happy Elizabeth working in academia, teaching chemistry to co-eds.

So…what happened?

“I think that with both the characters, the Harriet character and the Elizabeth character, they are indomitable and they will continue fighting until their dying breath,” Lessons in Chemistry showrunner Lee Eisenberg told Decider. “We talked about potentially showing them moving and stuff like that… what’s the story that we want to tell? I think, hopefully, the takeaway is, ‘Oh, neither one of them has done fighting. That’s not their mode.'”

Eisenberg added that because they reasoned the neighborhood wouldn’t be demolished overnight, but probably a year down the line, “it didn’t feel like that was a worthy jump in time.”

He also shared that the writers discussed where Harriet would head next. “We talked about Harriet becoming a judge, we talked about Harriet’s growth, you know, continuing like that,” Eisenberg said, reassuring Decider that Harriet would be fine. (Okay, but her neighborhood won’t be!)