Chapter 35: The Smell of Failure

Eliz­a­beth Zott’s morn­ing rou­tine takes an unex­pect­ed turn when she arrives at the boathouse for her pre-dawn row­ing prac­tice, only to find the park­ing lot teem­ing with cars. What had always been a qui­et and soli­tary rit­u­al is now dis­rupt­ed by a sur­pris­ing influx of women, all inspired by her casu­al men­tion of row­ing dur­ing a seg­ment on her TV show, Sup­per at Six. Among the com­mo­tion, the faint smell of fail­ure lingers for Dr. Mason, a fel­low row­er and long­time advo­cate for get­ting more peo­ple involved in the sport, who approach­es Eliz­a­beth with a mix­ture of irri­ta­tion and awe. He con­fess­es that despite years of encour­ag­ing his wife to take up row­ing, she only decid­ed to join after watch­ing Eliz­a­beth’s show. Though annoyed at the logis­ti­cal chaos caused by the new crowd, Mason’s words serve as an inad­ver­tent acknowl­edg­ment of Elizabeth’s grow­ing influ­ence. For Eliz­a­beth, the sight of these women rep­re­sents more than just a crowd—it’s a tan­gi­ble reminder of the impact her words have beyond the con­fines of her kitchen stu­dio.

This unin­tend­ed con­se­quence of her influ­ence is not the only reminder of her grow­ing noto­ri­ety. Out­side the KCTV Stu­dios, Eliz­a­beth encoun­ters a pick­eter clutch­ing a sign that con­demns her as a “GODLESS HEATHEN,” a stark reflec­tion of the divi­sive opin­ions her uncon­ven­tion­al approach has sparked. Wal­ter, her pro­duc­er, is vis­i­bly con­cerned. He chas­tis­es her for the bold state­ments she fre­quent­ly makes on air, warn­ing her of the con­se­quences that come with chal­leng­ing soci­etal norms so open­ly. Death threats have start­ed to arrive, and Wal­ter urges her to tone down her rhetoric for her safe­ty. How­ev­er, Eliz­a­beth is unyield­ing, deter­mined to main­tain her integri­ty and use her plat­form to inspire change, even if it means fac­ing hos­til­i­ty. Her resolve, though admirable, is also tinged with a fierce pro­tec­tive­ness over her daugh­ter, Made­line, whom she works tire­less­ly to shield from the harsh­er real­i­ties of her pub­lic life.

In the midst of these ten­sions, Eliz­a­beth finds an unex­pect­ed ally in her dog, Six-Thir­ty. His loy­al­ty and intel­li­gence are a source of com­fort, and his unex­pect­ed arrival at the stu­dio one day caus­es a stir among the staff. While Wal­ter ini­tial­ly dis­miss­es Six-Thirty’s pres­ence as a dis­trac­tion, Eliz­a­beth sees him as more than just a pet. As her show con­tin­ues to chal­lenge tra­di­tion­al norms, the addi­tion of Six-Thir­ty brings an ele­ment of relata­bil­i­ty and warmth that res­onates with her audi­ence. He becomes a silent but sig­nif­i­cant pres­ence on Sup­per at Six, embody­ing the con­nec­tion and authen­tic­i­ty that Eliz­a­beth strives to con­vey through her cook­ing seg­ments.

Six-Thirty’s con­tri­bu­tions to the show, how­ev­er, extend far beyond enter­tain­ment. Dur­ing a live tap­ing, the dog’s uncan­ny intu­ition becomes evi­dent when he sens­es some­thing amiss with a mem­ber of the audi­ence. His per­sis­tent unease catch­es Elizabeth’s atten­tion, prompt­ing a clos­er look that even­tu­al­ly leads to the dis­cov­ery of a bomb threat. The inci­dent shocks every­one but rein­forces Six-Thirty’s role as not only a beloved mem­ber of the team but also a pro­tec­tor. For Eliz­a­beth, the event is a sober­ing reminder of the dan­gers that come with being a pub­lic fig­ure, as well as the lengths she must go to safe­guard her team, her fam­i­ly, and her­self.

As the chap­ter unfolds, it delves into the com­plex­i­ties of Elizabeth’s life as both a pri­vate indi­vid­ual and a pub­lic fig­ure. Her unflinch­ing ded­i­ca­tion to her prin­ci­ples often puts her at odds with those who want her to con­form to soci­etal expec­ta­tions, yet it also endears her to a grow­ing audi­ence of women who see her as a sym­bol of empow­er­ment. The public’s polar­ized reac­tions to her show under­score the broad­er cul­tur­al ten­sions of the era, high­light­ing the chal­lenges faced by women who dare to defy con­ven­tion.

Amid these chal­lenges, Elizabeth’s rela­tion­ship with Made­line remains a cor­ner­stone of her life. She nav­i­gates the fine line between shield­ing her daugh­ter from the pres­sures of fame and prepar­ing her to face a world that often under­es­ti­mates and under­val­ues women. Their bond, built on love, trust, and shared resilience, is a poignant coun­ter­point to the hos­til­i­ty Eliz­a­beth faces in the pub­lic sphere.

This chap­ter mas­ter­ful­ly inter­twines moments of ten­sion, humor, and tri­umph, paint­ing a vivid pic­ture of a woman who refus­es to back down in the face of adver­si­ty. Elizabeth’s jour­ney is not just about chal­leng­ing soci­etal norms—it’s about carv­ing out a space where authen­tic­i­ty and courage can thrive, even in the most unlike­ly cir­cum­stances. Through her actions and the unex­pect­ed sup­port of Six-Thir­ty, she con­tin­ues to inspire those around her, prov­ing that even in the face of resis­tance, change is always pos­si­ble.