{ "id": "epd4hjptf7", "slug": "z-the-beginning-of-everything", "title": "Z: The Beginning of Everything", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native", "label": "Web-native and streaming-original series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries", "label": "Comedy, drama, and general-genre web series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries.yr-1999-2016", "label": "Premiered 1999 to 2016", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries.yr-1999-2016" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries.yr-1999-2016", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020: Premiered 1999 to 2016", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries.yr-1999-2016", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native", "label": "Web-native and streaming-original series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries", "label": "Comedy, drama, and general-genre web series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries.yr-1999-2016", "label": "Premiered 1999 to 2016", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries.yr-1999-2016" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Z: The Beginning of Everything is a 2015-2017 Amazon Prime Video period drama starring Christina Ricci as Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, based on Therese Anne Fowler's 2013 novel, canceled after one season when Amazon rescinded its renewal.", "snippet": "Z: The Beginning of Everything is a 2015-2017 Amazon Prime Video period drama starring Christina Ricci as Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, based on Therese Anne Fowler's 2013 novel, canceled after one season when Amazon rescinded its renewal.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.comedy_general_webseries.yr-1999-2016", "markdown": "# Z: The Beginning of Everything\n\n*Z: The Beginning of Everything* is an American period drama television series that dramatizes the early life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, from her 1918 meeting with the unpublished writer [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://www.edgepedia.org/f-scott-fitzgerald) in [Montgomery, Alabama](https://www.edgepedia.org/montgomery-alabama), through their marriage and rise as the celebrity couple of the [Jazz Age](https://www.edgepedia.org/jazz-age). Created by Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin for Amazon Studios, it stars Christina Ricci as Zelda and David Hoflin as Scott, and it is based on Therese Anne Fowler's 2013 novel *Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald*.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/z-the-beginning-of-everything/) • [2](https://www.thewrap.com/christina-riccis-zelda-fitzgerald-series-z-canceled-amazon/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original network | Amazon Prime Video (Amazon Studios, with Killer Films and Picrow)[1](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/z-the-beginning-of-everything/) |\n| Release | Pilot premiered October 31, 2015; the full 10-episode season streamed January 27, 2017[1](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/z-the-beginning-of-everything/) • [3](https://literallydarling.com/blog/2017/01/26/preparing-zeldas-tv-debut-qa-therese-anne-fowler/) |\n| Source material | *Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald* (2013) by Therese Anne Fowler, a New York Times bestseller[2](https://www.thewrap.com/christina-riccis-zelda-fitzgerald-series-z-canceled-amazon/) • [4](https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/03/5-questions-with-therese-fowler/) |\n| Cast | Christina Ricci (Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, also executive producer), David Hoflin (F. Scott Fitzgerald), David Strathairn (Judge Sayre)[5](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2017/01/25/recycles-myth-fitzgeralds/Mb0Q1xXruZ8Re8GOLTZzcO/story.html) • [6](https://time.com/4648485/christina-ricci-zelda-fitzgerald-misogyny/) |\n| Format | Ten episodes of roughly half an hour each; TV-14 rating[7](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jan/28/z-the-beginning-of-everything-review-) • [1](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/z-the-beginning-of-everything/) |\n| Critical scores | Metascore 61 (17 reviews); Rotten Tomatoes 68% Tomatometer (38 reviews); IMDb 7.0/10 from about 5,200 users[1](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/z-the-beginning-of-everything/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/z/s01) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4878612/ratings/) |\n| Fate | Renewed for a second season in April 2017, then canceled in September 2017 when Amazon rescinded the renewal[10](https://www.tvguide.com/news/z-the-beginning-of-everything-canceled-at-amazon/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and title\n\nThe series is a fictionalized biography that opens in 1918, when Zelda Sayre, a free-spirited [Southern belle](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-belle) and daughter of a Montgomery judge, meets Lieutenant Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald at a country club dance while he is stationed nearby during the First World War. It follows their passionate and turbulent courtship and marriage, their move to New York City, and their life as the celebrity couple of the 1920s, including the parties, adultery, and struggles behind the glamour.[5](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2017/01/25/recycles-myth-fitzgeralds/Mb0Q1xXruZ8Re8GOLTZzcO/story.html) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/z/s01) The first season takes the couple only from their 1918 meeting to 1921, before Scott had published his second novel.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-beginning-of-everything-review-20170126-story.html)\n\nThe title refers to a quotation by F. Scott Fitzgerald about his wife: \"I love her, and that is the beginning and end of everything.\"[12](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=miami1564749555581709&disposition=inline) The season opens with an image of Zelda's shoe, retrieved from the ashes of the sanatorium fire in 1948 in which she died, before flashing back to her youth.[5](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2017/01/25/recycles-myth-fitzgeralds/Mb0Q1xXruZ8Re8GOLTZzcO/story.html)\n\n## Development and production\n\n**From novel to screen.** Therese Anne Fowler, an NC State MFA alumna and novelist, published *Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald* in 2013; it debuted at number 10 on the New York Times best-seller list, her first bestseller.[4](https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/03/5-questions-with-therese-fowler/) [Christina Ricci](https://www.edgepedia.org/christina-ricci) read the novel in 2013 after seeing it on a magazine list, loved it, and found that nobody held the rights; she took the project to Pam Koffler at Killer Films, and they brought it to Amazon.[13](https://www.nylon.com/articles/christina-ricci-zelda-interview) Fowler became a producer on the pilot and series when Amazon green-lit the adaptation, with a consulting role before the first season was written, though she did not hold script approval.[14](https://grad.ncsu.edu/news/2017/07/therese-anne-fowler/)\n\nRicci starred as Zelda and also served as an executive producer. She said the series aimed to redress the popular image of Zelda as little more than a \"crazy woman\" and to present her as a complex and talented figure in her own right; preparing for the role involved weeks of intensive ballet classes.[13](https://www.nylon.com/articles/christina-ricci-zelda-interview) • [6](https://time.com/4648485/christina-ricci-zelda-fitzgerald-misogyny/)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritical response was mixed to favorable. The season scored 61 on Metacritic from 17 critic reviews (9 positive, 7 mixed, 1 negative) and 68% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, where the critics consensus called it an entertaining look at [Zelda Fitzgerald](https://www.edgepedia.org/zelda-fitzgerald)'s life that suffers at times from a formless trajectory and over-the-top characterizations.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/z-the-beginning-of-everything/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/z/s01) Audience response was warmer: the Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter stood at 83%, and IMDb users gave 7.0/10.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/z/s01) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4878612/ratings/)\n\nReviewers praised the period detail and Ricci's performance while faulting the writing and pacing. The Guardian's Sam Wollaston found the series slight but pretty, full of southern period detail, and judged David Hoflin's Scott uninspiring beside Ricci's spirited Zelda.[7](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jan/28/z-the-beginning-of-everything-review-) The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert called the show a retread of the familiar Fitzgerald saga with a lazy Southern drawl in the dialogue, though he judged Ricci fine despite looking too old at 36 to play Zelda as a teenager.[5](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2017/01/25/recycles-myth-fitzgeralds/Mb0Q1xXruZ8Re8GOLTZzcO/story.html) The Los Angeles Times' Robert Lloyd framed Ricci as the reason to watch.[11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-beginning-of-everything-review-20170126-story.html)\n\n## Cancellation\n\nAmazon renewed the series for a second ten-episode season in April 2017, and scripts for the new episodes were already being written when the studio rescinded the renewal in September 2017, canceling the show after one season. A reported $7 million had already been spent on preproduction for the scrapped season. An Amazon Studios representative said only, \"We heard a good pitch for season two, and based on that, we renewed the show. Anything else is speculation.\" The reversal came amid criticism of Amazon's programming decisions, though the studio denied any connection.[15](https://www.looper.com/84812/amazon-renews-cancels-z-beginning-everything/) • [10](https://www.tvguide.com/news/z-the-beginning-of-everything-canceled-at-amazon/) • [2](https://www.thewrap.com/christina-riccis-zelda-fitzgerald-series-z-canceled-amazon/)\n\nThe series remains available to stream on Prime Video, including free-with-ads options.[16](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/z-the-beginning-of-everything)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Z: The Beginning of Everything Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/z-the-beginning-of-everything/)\n2. [Christina Ricci's Zelda Fitzgerald Series 'Z' Canceled by Amazon, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/christina-riccis-zelda-fitzgerald-series-z-canceled-amazon/)\n3. [Preparing for Zelda's TV Debut: A Q&A with Therese Anne Fowler, Literally, Darling](https://literallydarling.com/blog/2017/01/26/preparing-zeldas-tv-debut-qa-therese-anne-fowler/)\n4. [5 Questions With Therese Fowler, NC State News](https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/03/5-questions-with-therese-fowler/)\n5. ['Z' recycles the myth of the Fitzgeralds, The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2017/01/25/recycles-myth-fitzgeralds/Mb0Q1xXruZ8Re8GOLTZzcO/story.html)\n6. [Why Christina Ricci Has to Fight to Be Taken Seriously, Time](https://time.com/4648485/christina-ricci-zelda-fitzgerald-misogyny/)\n7. [Z: The Beginning of Everything review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jan/28/z-the-beginning-of-everything-review-)\n8. [Z: The Beginning of Everything: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/z/s01)\n9. [Z: The Beginning of Everything Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4878612/ratings/)\n10. [Amazon Changed Its Mind, Cancels Z: The Beginning of Everything, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/news/z-the-beginning-of-everything-canceled-at-amazon/)\n11. [Review: Christina Ricci is the reason to watch 'Z: The Beginning of Everything', Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-beginning-of-everything-review-20170126-story.html)\n12. [Fictionality in Historical Television Series (thesis citing the title quotation), OhioLINK](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=miami1564749555581709&disposition=inline)\n13. [Christina Ricci Is Ready To Tear Down The Myth Of The Crazy Woman, Nylon](https://www.nylon.com/articles/christina-ricci-zelda-interview)\n14. [When Life Imitates Art: The Letter Z, NC State Graduate School](https://grad.ncsu.edu/news/2017/07/therese-anne-fowler/)\n15. [Amazon Renews, Then Cancels Z: The Beginning Of Everything, Looper](https://www.looper.com/84812/amazon-renews-cancels-z-beginning-everything/)\n16. [Z: The Beginning of Everything streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/z-the-beginning-of-everything)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Comedy, drama, and general-genre web series › Premiered 1999 to 2016*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/z-the-beginning-of-everything", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/z-the-beginning-of-everything.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Z: The Beginning of Everything\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/z-the-beginning-of-everything. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Z: The Beginning of Everything](https://www.edgepedia.org/z-the-beginning-of-everything)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/z-the-beginning-of-everything](https://www.edgepedia.org/z-the-beginning-of-everything). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Z: The Beginning of Everything\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/z-the-beginning-of-everything. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Z: The Beginning of Everything is a 2015-2017 Amazon Prime Video period drama starring Christina Ricci as Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, based on Therese Anne Fowler's 2013 novel, canceled after one season when Amazon rescinded its renewal." }