Television series
Z: The Beginning of Everything
A spirited dive into Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald's life before and beyond her famous marriage, told with vivid energy and genuine affection for its willful, mercurial protagonist. This isn't a dutiful biography but a portrait of a woman determined to matter on her own terms, set against the glittering chaos of the 1920s. For anyone drawn to unconventional women and messy, complicated love stories.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like sharp, period-set portraits of a headstrong woman boxed in by her era, where a sly comic streak keeps the heartbreak from curdling into melodrama.
Skip it if you want the Fitzgerald literary world treated with reverence, since the writing-life scenes are thin and the show leans on glamour and gossip over the craft of prose.
What it asks of you: Ten episodes of roughly half an hour each, so it slides past in an evening, with a brisk, bouncy rhythm that favors quick cuts and period costume over slow contemplation.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel2017
Gilmore Girls-speed dialogue and genuine affection for a woman carving out a life on her own terms, set in a similar era of cultural upheaval and social rebellion. Midge's journey toward self-definition mirrors Zelda's hunger to be more than a wife.
But The constant quips and breakneck pacing can feel exhausting rather than charming after a while, and the show sometimes mistakes activity for actual development.
Gentleman Jack2019
Gorgeously written period drama about a woman refusing to disappear into convention, with genuine sexuality and desire at its core. Anne Lister's determination to live truthfully feels like a spiritual cousin to Zelda's refusal to play small.
But The pacing meanders, and the show prioritizes romantic atmosphere over narrative momentum. Some find it slow even by prestige drama standards.
The Crown2016
Examines how being famous, beautiful and married to an extraordinary man nearly destroys a woman while the world watches. It's soapy and occasionally overwrought, but the psychological portrait rings true and it looks magnificent.
But Heavily fictionalized, with dialogue invented wholesale. If you prefer your history straight you'll spend episodes fact-checking rather than watching.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Z: The Beginning of Everything
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Great Gatsby1974
Same obsession with the intoxicating unreality of the 1920s, and how beautiful people and beautiful lies collapse under their own weight. Coppola's baroque style mirrors Z's refusal to be subtle about desire and consequence.
The only film adaptation that actually captures the book's decadence and doom, with Francis Ford Coppola in full baroque mode. Mia Farrow's Daisy isn't Zelda, but this film understands the era Z loves in its bones.
But Languid, self-consciously artistic, with a surface-level reading of Fitzgerald. If you want plot propulsion you'll find it glacial.
More like this (7)
Rosaline2022
Kaitlyn Dever brings genuine spark to Shakespeare's most famous female side character, giving her agency and desire. A fun, lightweight reimagining that loves its heroine and refuses to let her be a footnote.
But It's cheerfully shallow—a rom-com costume, really—and doesn't aim much higher than entertaining you for ninety minutes.
Midnight in Paris2011
Zelda appears briefly but memorably, and the whole film shares Z's fascination with the 1920s as a moment when writers, artists and beautiful people collided in magical ways. It captures that era's intoxicating possibility.
But Woody Allen's nostalgia can feel precious and self-indulgent, and the central romance doesn't always justify the film's swooning tone.
Carrie1976
Claire Danes brings intelligence and vulnerability to another woman caught between desire and circumstance, with strong supporting performances and a genuinely haunting emotional core about what we sacrifice to be loved.
But The Showtime aesthetic feels a bit flat, and the ending divides viewers sharply—some find it earned and some find it punitive.
MINDHUNTER2017
Another prestige drama about brilliant, driven people in the twentieth century willing to break protocol to get what they want. The meticulous direction and complex characters reward close attention.
But It's relentlessly male-centered and can feel more like a procedural checklist than a human story. Also quite dark.
The Hours2002
Three actresses in three eras, all trying to break free of the lives expected of them. Like Z, it's interested in female desire and ambition, and it's achingly beautifully made.
But Relentlessly interior and somber—a far cry from Z's scrappy energy. Some find its melancholy suffocating rather than moving.
Yellowstone2018
A sprawling family saga where women are full humans with real power, not ornaments. Beth Dutton in particular embodies a kind of force and refusal to be managed that shares some DNA with Zelda's spirit.
But The dialogue is often clunky, the politics can feel crude, and it substitutes shock value for genuine emotional reckoning. Also dramatically uneven across seasons.
Mulholland Drive2001
Both explore how a woman's brilliance and beauty can become a trap disguised as opportunity. Zelda and Lynch's actresses are all capable of extraordinary things, but the systems around them are designed to break them down rather than lift them up. Z treats this with bittersweet humor; Mulholland Drive treats it as tragedy.
David Lynch's fractured, aching portrait of ambition and female friendship in a glittering city built on fantasy. Laura Harring and Naomi Watts embody longing and self-destruction with stunning intensity. A visual and emotional masterpiece.
But Non-linear, deliberately cryptic, sometimes maddening. If you need clarity and resolution you'll leave furious. Also quite dark and genuinely disturbing.
People
Cast
Writing
- Dawn PrestwichCreator
- Nicole YorkinCreator