Streaming services are ruthless. One minute you’re the centerpiece of a massive marketing campaign, and the next, you’re a tax write-off or a forgotten tile in a library of thousands. That is basically what happened to Zelda Fitzgerald and The Beginning of Everything, the Amazon Prime Video series that swung for the fences and somehow got tripped up on its way to first base. It’s a weird case study. Usually, when a show gets a second season renewal, it's safe. But this series? It got renewed, then un-renewed. Talk about a gut punch for the cast and the fans who were actually digging the 1920s vibe.
What Was The Beginning of Everything Actually About?
If you haven't seen it, the show is a period drama based on Therese Anne Fowler’s novel, Z. It stars Christina Ricci as Zelda Sayre, the Southern belle who would eventually become the "first American Flapper" and the chaotic muse/wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Most people know Scott from The Great Gatsby, but this show tries to flip the script. It wants you to see the world through Zelda's eyes. Discover more on a related issue: this related article.
It starts in Montgomery, Alabama. 1918. Zelda is the judge’s daughter, the girl everyone wants and no one can quite handle. Then comes Scott, played by David Hoflin. He’s a soldier stationed nearby, full of ego and literary dreams. Their romance is fast. It’s loud. It’s kind of a mess from day one. Honestly, the show captures that specific brand of toxic, high-energy love that defined the Jazz Age. They move to New York, the money starts rolling in from This Side of Paradise, and suddenly they’re the "It Couple" of a generation that’s trying to drink away the trauma of the Great War.
The Production Value Was Insane
You can see the money on the screen. The costumes are incredible—beaded dresses, sharp suits, the whole Gatsby aesthetic but grittier. Amazon spent a reported $20 million on the first season. That’s not pocket change, especially back in 2017 when the streaming wars were still in their relative infancy. The sets felt lived-in. When they’re in a smoky basement club or a high-end hotel suite, it doesn't feel like a soundstage. It feels like the world is actually on fire. Additional analysis by Entertainment Weekly delves into related views on the subject.
Why Did Amazon Kill The Beginning of Everything?
This is where things get messy. In early 2017, Amazon announced they were bringing the show back for Season 2. The writers were already working. Scripts were being polished. Then, out of nowhere, the hammer dropped. They canceled it.
Why?
It mostly came down to a massive shift in strategy at Amazon Studios. Around that time, Jeff Bezos reportedly wanted his own Game of Thrones. He wanted "big" shows with global appeal, not niche period dramas about literary figures. Even though the reviews were decent—not ground-breaking, but solid—the numbers didn't justify the $20 million price tag in the eyes of the new regime. It was a casualty of corporate pivots.
- The show cost too much for its audience size.
- The internal leadership at Amazon Studios was changing.
- There was a sudden push for "broad" hits over "prestige" niches.
It’s a shame, really. Christina Ricci was doing some of her best work. She played Zelda with this frantic, desperate energy, trying to carve out her own identity while her husband was literally stealing her diary entries to use in his books. That’s a real thing, by the way. Scott Fitzgerald was notorious for "borrowing" Zelda's life for his fiction. The show didn't shy away from that friction. It showed the dark side of being a muse.
The Real Zelda vs. The TV Zelda
Historians have always been divided on Zelda. Was she a victim of Scott’s ego and the stifling patriarchy of the 20s? Or was she a deeply troubled woman whose mental health struggles would have derailed her regardless? Zelda Fitzgerald and The Beginning of Everything leans heavily into the former. It paints her as a frustrated artist. A dancer. A writer. Someone who was constantly told to stay in her lane.
If you read Fowler’s book, you get a much deeper sense of her internal monologue. The TV show struggles with that sometimes, relying on flashy parties to fill the gaps where the internal conflict should be. But Ricci makes you feel the claustrophobia of her marriage. You see the cracks in the "golden couple" facade long before the world does.
Is It Still Worth Watching Today?
Look, it’s only ten episodes. You can binge the whole thing in a weekend. Even though it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger—or at least, it ends before the "real" tragedy of their later years begins—it’s still a beautiful piece of television.
It captures a moment in time. The transition from the Victorian era to the modern world was violent and fast. This show puts you right in the middle of that transition. You see the birth of celebrity culture. You see how the media started devouring people even back then. The Fitzgeralds were the Kardashians of the 1920s, minus the social media but plus a lot more gin.
Where to Find It
It’s still sitting there on Amazon Prime. It’s tucked away behind the "Originals" tab. Most people haven't thought about it in years, but if you’re a fan of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or Boardwalk Empire, this is right up your alley. It’s less "preachy" than some modern period pieces. It just lets the characters be messy.
What We Lost With the Cancellation
The second season was supposed to move the action to France. That’s where things got really interesting for the Fitzgeralds. The move to the Riviera, the friendship with Hemingway (who famously hated Zelda), and the beginning of her spiral into what was then diagnosed as schizophrenia.
Hemingway would have been a fascinating character to see through this show’s lens. In real life, he thought Zelda was "crazy" and was dragging Scott down. Zelda thought Ernest was a "phony" and a bad influence. Imagine the tension on screen. We missed out on that dynamic entirely. We also missed out on the completion of Zelda’s arc—her struggle to publish Save Me the Waltz and her attempt to become a professional ballerina at an age when most dancers are retiring.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans of Historical Drama
If you’re diving into Zelda Fitzgerald and The Beginning of Everything, or if you've already seen it and want more, don't just stop at the credits. The real story is even crazier than the show portrays.
- Read the source material. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler is excellent and provides the depth the show sometimes lacks.
- Compare the perspectives. Read A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway to see how he describes Zelda. Then read her own writing. The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
- Watch the performance. Pay attention to Christina Ricci’s physical acting. She nails the jittery, nervous energy that Zelda was known for. It’s a masterclass in playing a "difficult" woman.
- Check out the competition. If you like this, watch The Great, though that one is much more satirical. Or watch the 2013 Great Gatsby movie again to see how different the tone is when the focus is on the men instead of the women.
The show isn't perfect. Sometimes the pacing drags, and sometimes the dialogue feels a bit too modern for 1919. But as a portrait of a woman trying to exist in the shadow of a "great man," it’s poignant. It’s a reminder that history is usually written by the winners, or at least by the people who didn't get institutionalized. Zelda deserved better in life, and honestly, her show deserved better than a corporate cancellation. It remains a sparkling, albeit brief, look at the beginning of everything that made the modern world what it is today.
