Netflix "The Queen's Gambit"

I've heard it's really good

The first 10 minutes was gripping but then it took us back to her uninteresting childhood story. And it took forever to get back to where we started. It could have been 3-hour mini-series.

Yes, it dragged in the middle a bit, but overall I really liked it. The lead was fantastic and the subject matter felt fresh.

And... MILD SPOILER ALERT! I was shocked to find out that it was not a true story. I assumed that, despite her early promise, she had succumbed to her addictions and her story was lost to history.

Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin/Magik was the only good part of that horrible "The New Mutants" movie. I felt bad for her since she's usually in better projects.

I also just realized she was in The Witch.

I liked her in Emma

I just finished it this afternoon and absolutely loved it. I agree that after the adoptive mother died it got a little lost, but the ending was wonderful. The set design for both the Russian hotel and the Mexican City one was gorgeous.

*spoiler* I was kind of surprised when Townes showed up in Russia. Wasn't he gay? Was he confused because he wanted to fuck her before the boyfriend came in? I wasn't quite sure what that was all about.

Also, the girl who played Jolene was fantastic.

[quotes]Also, the girl who played Jolene was fantastic.

I agree R7. There was something so real about her and I loved it when they implied that they never really lost contact.

The actress' name is Moses Ingram. She just graduated from Yale Drama in 2019. This was her first big role.

She's up next in Joel Coen's "Macbeth" alongside Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand so she's not going anywhere. She's going to play Lady Macduff who may or may not have an expanded role as she sometimes does in many adaptations.

[quote]Anya Taylor-Joy

Her eye placement is distracting.

I loved this. I wanted entertainment divorced of our current national nightmare and this delivered. I don't know how but it pilled me right in from the beginning. I always enjoy late 50s to late 60s fashion so this was fun.

Did anyone else think that the mother could have played a Joan Crawford in Murphy's Feud?

Or direct it, R10. Being a much better filmmaker than Ryan Murphy, I'm sure Marielle Heller would have made Feud into a watchable piece.

I absolutely loved it. The MVP for me was the actress who played the adoptive mother. She nailed her role.

Anya Taylor-Joy looks especially cute in photo OP posted.

I was really surprised, but The Queen's Gambit really drew me in. I ended up watching the whole thing in one day and just loved it. Great distraction. She didn't just survive her childhood - she thrived! And kicked butt. Those eyes!

R6 R8 I enjoyed the book and the miniseries. But, in the book Beth was less likable and I don't believe Townes showed up to cheer her own. I enjoyed the character played Moses Ingram but her inclusion felt slightly wrong. Back in the 50s, you wouldn't have found a black child with white children even in an orphanage. Sad but almost certainly true.

[quote]Back in the 50s, you wouldn't have found a black child with white children even in an orphanage. Sad but almost certainly true.

R15, To be fair, this was a movie about a girl from Kentucky ...

who lived in an orphanage ....

with a trans teacher ....

who learned chess from a janitor ...

and then ended up as a famous chess player ...

who was better than the Russians in the 60s (it's only in the 50s for 2 years) ...

who had a gay friend who traveled to Russia to see her ...

I don't think they were going for historical accuracy here so if she has a black friend at an orphanage then I'm not sure it matters that much in the scheme of things.

I read the book many years ago. It was pretty good, and the author got the chess stuff mostly right from what I remember. I'll have to check out the series.

Loved this binge with its production and acting and welcomed mental distraction this wk. Obviously this is a miniseries, i.e., no 2nd season

Nope, but I will watch it now based on the feedback in this thread (I tried to avoid the spoilers).

I enjoyed it in that the star had me guessing about her character: whether she was sinister, would go crazy, or just a weird genius.

Don't read if you haven't completed binge

There was a moment in Mexico City where the mother looked into the camera and I thought "She could play Joan Crawford!"

I love that her and Beth grew a nurturing relationship. I also liked that Bell saw people dealing with substance abuse throughout her life but didn't associate them with herself until friends confronted her that she already is an addict.

My only nitpick is the switched actors too early. When she gets adopted and begins high school everyone calls her a little girl but we see a woman. Maybe they could have changed the hair and makeup more to show she wasn't quite grown, yet.

Oh, man, it was driving me crazy as to where I had seen the actor who played Beltik. He looked so familiar. And he was Dudley in the Harry Potter movies!

The funny thing was that I thought he might have played Neville, and I thought, "No, that's not him."

Anya T-J should make the Joni Mitchell biopic.

[quote] My only nitpick is the switched actors too early.

For me it couldn’t have happened soon enough. The young actress just gave off a weird and creepy vibe, and I couldn’t understand why Jolene would want to befriend her in the first place.

Anna Taylor-Joy was excellent and I hope she and Marielle Heller are remembered at next year’s Emmys.

r25 I agree on Alma character - managed to deftly portray someone who initially viewers disliked to more sympathetic one, without hamming it up. Also how refreshing for show to not be overly drawn out, as NFLX tends to do (ahem Bly Manor)

I just finished the third episode where the implication is Townes is BI and has a boyfriend so Beth gets upset.

There is no way a sheltered girl in the early 1960s would have immediately jumped to the conclusion and that Townes and this guy must be lovers. That was still well outside most people's normal thoughts at this point in history.

Though I think it was interesting that they have a guy with a male partner still pretty aggressively trying to hit on a girl.

Caught me off guard.

Bring back tranquility pills!

I’m sick of women with these plumped out philtrum & lips It’s freaky looking

The stying was wonderful. Her clothes just got better and better.

One thing they got wrong: The interiors of jet planes in the early 60s. They looked more like planes from the decade before.

r30 maybe they were flying discounted clunkers. Most of the flights were domestics flying out of what I assume was the Cincinnati airport in KY. Was it like today where you have the equivalent of Frontier and other discount brands? I'm sure the nice fleets were reserved for the coasts, international, or major hubs.

Yes, her clothes and hair were fabulous. I wish she would have gotten into falls or some really nice 60s styles but that would have been a bit out of character.

Great job showing a strong independent female without knocking us over the head with it.

I like that the bitchy popular girl that became nothing but a housewife for her soon to be out of shape husband was turning into a miserable drunk. Serves her right for wasting time on some local boy instead of branching out a bit beyond KY.

Who was the tans teacher?

They showed the exterior shot of a jet plane. The windows were like oval ones today (they really haven't changed that much.

But when they showed the inside, the windows were rectangular and had curtains.

I loved seeing the transformation in style, music, and fashion from early '60s to the later part of the decade. My favorite use of music was the "Classical Gas" montage.

I agree with posters upthread that Jolene and Alma stole the show.

I hated the last episode.

[spoiler alert]

She just decided not to be a drunk and an addict?

Everyone who’d abandoned her in frustration just got together to support her?

Magic negro.

Ryan Murphy revisionism—no sexism, no racism, no addiction.

Happy! Happy!

[quote] I love that her and Beth

Oh

Muh

Fucking

God

The mom was played by Marielle Heller, who is an accomplished director. We really loved her in this and I’m sad to see she has no plans to act in the near future. It was refreshing to have an actress without veneers or Botox!

Most of the actors are front the UK. Guess that’s why they didn’t attempt Kentucky accents...hard enough just hiding their normal accents without trying to affect a southern drawl.

Beth was a totally unsympathetic character -- mean to everyone she met, never a nice word for anyone. yes he had a rough childhood but I know plenty of people who had it worse and weren't as cruel to everyone they met.

Also, was it really necessary to cast as a chess player a strikingly beautiful woman with a perfect 10 body (playing someone who drinks, smokes, eats junk food all day, and never exercises?)

I finished it last night, enjoyed it although the ugliness of the lead actress was distracting.

I could have done with her being uglier r38.

I did agree with r37, you didn't need to cast an actress who was beautiful with a great body and wore glamorous fashion.

Its not enough that she was talented, the show had to make sure she was hot too. Typical Hollywood.

I didn’t find Beth unsympathetic at all and I didn’t see the meanness and cruelty that R37 did.

She was a character with flaws which is the basics of good story telling . I mean if r37 couldn't handle Beth I wonder how they would handle a Don Draper or God forbid a Walter White.

Marielle Heller who played the mom reminded me of Veronica Cartwright, not Joan Crawford.

All the criticism of Nicole Kidman's wig in The Undoing and Anya's wigs get a pass??

I barely made it through the first 15 minutes. That actress' eyes look like she has FAS.

It was audacious to have spent so much time in 1963 Kentucky with absolutely no mention of the Kennedy assassination.

As a matter of fact, I thought a lot of the show seemed clearly imagined and produced by non-Americans who didn't live through the 1950s and 60s. And I don't mean that as a criticism. The exotic point of view made the story-telling far more compelling than a straightforward approach.

I enjoyed the lead's unusual look -- more interesting than some generic flavor-of-the-month pop tart.

Just finished this tonight with my husband. I’ll admit I got teary eyed at the happy ending/character completion.

I agree with most of the observations already listed: loved the set design, costumes, and music. The inclusion bits seem a bit hokey, but that’s ok I guess? Adds to the emotion of the series.

What I still am scratching my head about, having played chess a bit a long time ago, is that I was never shown that if you’re fixing to take your opponent’s piece, you remove it first and THEN move and place your own piece on the board. I’ve always moved mine into the square, nudging and picking up my opponent’s piece from the board. Anyone have any input to this?

Did no one else suspect that Beth was autistic (more likely Asperger's)? In my opinion she had many, if not most, of the symptoms and traits. Many chess geniuses are/were autistic/Asperger's, the prime example being Bobby Fischer. Of course Fischer also had other mental illnesses such as OCD and schizophrenia.

I thought it was a great series.

[quote] My favorite use of music was the "Classical Gas" montage.

This one?

R49, tnat's the one! Love that scene.

The Queen’s Gambit sucks and anyone enjoying it is lying to themselves --- or he/she is a Netflix rep.

The Queen’s Gambit fucking sucks. I’m sorry I had to say it. I’ve been wanting to SCREAM it out of my window every night like the now defunct NHS clap but I’ve held it in. Until today. All I see on social media and in reviews is people saying it’s astounding, it’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s “LIFE CHANGING”. But it’s not!!! It’s a chess show where the sexy bad boy character dresses like Crocodile Dundee and the main character has the same haircut for the ENTIRE series. Name one person who has the same haircut as when they were eight years old. You can’t! Because they don’t!

And what's especially weird about that same hairdo is that it's clearly a wig so it's not like they were dependent on the actress' own hair to create the style.

I'm surprised there haven't been more posts about the hotness or lack thereof of the actor playing the gay character. I really didn't get the point of including him when they don't do much with the character. I wonder if some of his scenes were cut.

R53, yeah, that felt like an unfinished storyline, or like some of that side-plot got left on the cutting room floor..

The point of his character is to break her heart, give her another source of emotional pain. He was her first big crush/thinking she was in love, but he was gay and it was never going to be requited. Who doesn't know the pain of unrequited love.

But then it gets a nice Hollywood ending of them moving past it and becoming friends.

Pretty simple side character arc.

He was bi.

ATJ is wonderful. She’s the only thing that makes those two Shyamalan shit follow ups to Unbreakable (sort of) worth watching.

I suggested in another thread that the actor who played Townes should be considered for James Bond. No one agreed.

I’ve rarely seen a film or series so true to the original novel. I don’t think Townes was gay, but everybody else tracks, with huge chunks of dialogue right from the book.

I originally thought he was meant to be r54, but the final episode they have him explain he was "confused" at the time, implying that he sees himself as gay not bi.

For *56 I mean.

I'm savoring it, very delightful

r60

sure... bi now... gay later

The sets, the clothes and the way it was shot were great. Alma, Jolene and Beltik carried a lot if it with excellent acting. The main character seemed autistic to me. I tired of her bad wigs and vacant gaze with parted lips. The gay character storyline felt forced. I wish she’d fallen in love with Benny and that he was hot with a steamy nude sex scene.

We just finished it. Wow. Loved the ending. So cinematic. What a cast.

I did not think it was that great of a series. After the Mexico City episode, it becomes excruciatingly tiresome. The ending, walking alone in Moscow, in '69 (?), sure.....

just watched the drunk mom die, crying as I type this

Almost nothing in the series rang true. It wasn't awful, watchable... (unil the 6th episode, which was excruciating.)

I was confused by the ending. Why did her government escort suddenly allow her to go off on her own after being so controlling and serious? How was she ever going to get back home? It was cute, but just made no sense.

Life is a laugh riot

R69, agreed! And while she is in the car with the guy, he says that you are meeting this afternoon with blah, blah in DC....and they are still in Moscow... WTF? Also the CGI of Moscow and Mexico City looked pretty bad.

The ending was insane. Are they off to the airport, which is miles away? And if so, she's going to walk there to catch a flight, which means she'll be many many hours late. And on top of that, she stops to play with some old Russians because she wants to be even later? Or are they meeting other people in Moscow as the CIA agent implies? Or does he say to go to the airport? And anyway, there's no way he would just let her leave the car.

Like everything else in this very long and boring show, the scene made no sense.

R72 It's not a documentary, hun.

I think I'll skip this, after everything I've seen and read about it, including the types of men and women who have watched it, the whole thing just screams fan fiction, I'd feel like I was intruding on someone else's fantasy, not for me

I wanted to like this. I think it started off well but then became more cartoonish.

the development was tremendous

R76, that made me laugh. Thanks.

[quote] Like everything else in this very long and boring show, the scene made no sense.

She wanted to stop being cooped up with the state dept guy watching over her, so she exerted her independence and got out of the car. She wanted to talk to everyday Russians. She will likely miss her plane--she'll take the next one, big deal.

That scene showed her as having matured and become independent.

The US government escort had no power over her.

I don't regret watching it, but am surprised it's getting such high praise. The portrayal of addiction was laughable. The chess pieces on the ceiling were... is it possible to do earnest Ken Russell?

Based on Roger's unthreatened response to walking in on his boyfriend kissing the chess darling, I'm guessing Townes is not only gay but a big ol bottom. I loved it when Townes said that he was confused. I thought all the US chess boys coming together to assist Harmon during the adjournment made perfect sense (they wanted the Russians to experience what they had) and was set up by Benny. I like to assume she defected at the end.

I agree about the addiction factor in the series. It was a very present thing when it was useful and titillating but then disappeared for episodes without a mention. Addictions don't work that way.

gays will be gays

[quote] agree about the addiction factor in the series. It was a very present thing when it was useful and titillating but then disappeared for episodes without a mention. Addictions don't work that way.

The specter of relapse was ALWAYS there.

Even when she's walking down the hotel hall in Moscow and the room service person leaves a bottle of wine outside a door. The feeling that she would not be able to resist was very strong.

Different people handle addiction in different ways. Some people can dry out when they have to -- but then not be able to other times.

I think the ending was not meant to be taken literal. Like in those indie movies where the protagonist floats into the air or drives down a countryside road, smiling at the sunrise. It's the promise of a new beginning.

I love the idea that she defected and became a hardcore Soviet.

Townes is so hot.

Yeah, I guess you have to look at the ending as symbolic, because there is no way she could just wander off in Moscow and be okay in reality. Of course, reality wasn’t the show’s strong point. A lot of willing suspension of disbelief required. Compelling story and performances though.

I think the ending with her playing chess with the old Russian men is telling us she will only play chess for fun now.

I thought it was possible Townes's presence in Moscow was the result of him being in with Benny and the others who (spoiler) helped her in the last episode. Cleo knew Townes was the love of Beth's life, and because she'd fought with Benny and Beltik before she left, he was the best means of getting her to listen to them when she needed them.

The fact that she did need them was part of the down-home cuteness the show sometimes suffered from, like the totally predictable playing chess with the old guys at the end - instead of paying Mr Schaibel back his $10, which was a lot of money to a janitor. The fact that she didn't do that was totally out of character. Aspies know what is morally right, and there was no reason not to do it, especially after she was pissy with Life for not reporting what she said about him. It was purely a set-up for (more spoilers) tear-jerking when she discovered the career clippings in the basement (as if he wouldn't have followed her career - what else was he doing?) and then that ending. Yes, Moscow airport is about 90 minutes' fast drive outside the city, on a freeway.

I did really enjoy the series as a whole, but it was like it was written by a chess nerd who didn't know how to do (or write) love. Some of the angry exchanges, by contrast, were really good, especially the quiet ones, such as the conversation between Beth and her mother after she resigns the US Open to Benny. And it was perfect writing that all we ever heard about the Wheatleys' child was, "You have a child?" "We did".

I did find it a bit unlikely that the Russian women would have been so openly cheering for Beth (asking for her autograph) after her Moscow victories. I'm not a Soviet Union expert, but I imagine that may have been seen as traitorous.

They were cheering her frocks, R90.

PS R51 is blind. The wigs were indeed reprehensible throughout, but she had muiltiple different hairstyles during the show. She started with the short-bangs look, which makes everyone look like Children of the Corn, then after AGES the bangs grew longer, then they grew out and that piece of hair was curled back, and at various times her hair was quite long (OP's photo: her late-stage Patty Lane look) and a short bob (R51's photo). The final look, where the layers were all cut in a flat diagonal at the bottom like horsehair, was especially hideous, but was made up for by the fashions.

[quote]I did find it a bit unlikely that the Russian women would have been so openly cheering for Beth (asking for her autograph) after her Moscow victories.

It's tricky. Technically she was considered a celebrity. They cheered for Taylor and Loren in the 60s but they were competing with Russians in chess.

*weren't competing.

It went from good to terrible. Felt like I was watching a Disney movie by the end. Very corny.

No women are like that.

Women love chess

[quote] I did find it a bit unlikely that the Russian women would have been so openly cheering for Beth (asking for her autograph) after her Moscow victories. I'm not a Soviet Union expert, but I imagine that may have been seen as traitorous.

From what I know, Russians openly cheer contestants from other countries of they are better--I've read this in interviews from American pianists, ballet dancers, opera singers etc who have participated in Russian competititions.

Is true. When you be best, we throw potatoes.

Gary Kasparov says TQG is the number one show in Russia.

There have been many women who have been world renowned chess players and achieved Grandmaster r97, though so far one hasn't managed to actually win the world championship.

I didn’t understand what she lived on. She never worked and she needed the prize money from the tournaments. She won $500 in Cincinnati but what was the take in the other tournaments? And she writes a check for $7000 to the guy that adopted her?

When she paid back the Christian Ladies, she was almost broke, so she didn't have alot more

I liked the pair of fuckable twins who kept showing up throughout the movie for no reason other than they probably fucked the casting director.

I know, right? not good actors at all, but nice eye candy

Loved the show but one question: why set the show in Kentucky (it could have taken place anywhere) when most of your actors are Brits and you’ve decided against attempting southern accents?

very strange

R106, it's based on a book and the book set it in Kentucky.

But they can deviate from the book where it makes sense and if you aren’t going to attempt the accents, why not? We spent the early going trying to figure out if it was in California or somewhere because of the rather neutral accents.

Just finished watching TQG. Based on the pilot, I expected the show to be a lot more cutsey and sugary sweet than it actually was. Overall, I liked that the characters were complex and nobody was completely good or bad...although it completely mischaracterized addiction.

Good: - The story - The direction - The fuckable twins and chess journalist guy - The clothes

Bad: - The acting (especially the fuckable twins, trans Nurse Ratched-like teacher, and her adoptive mom) - The decor in Beth's parents' house. When the mom died I aas hoping for a scene where she sells all the furniture and tears away the wallpaper) - The lead actress's earlier wigs

I disagree. Adoptive mom, Marielle Heller, was richly layered. Loved her.

There was a redecorating scene. She tore down the draperies.

How likely would it have been for a woman of Alma's age to have been drinking beers in the very early '60s? The cocktails and pills, I can see..

r110 wh waste money on redecorating a home that hardly has guests and is in the middle of fucking KY. The drapes were enough, no use throwing money into that pile of bricks.

Good but the last 2 episodes seemed rushed.

I didn't get why she felt a need to stay in that awful house or for that matter, to live in small town Kentucky once her step-mother died and she started earning big prize money.

Orphan...home...

It’s all she knew.

You can take the girl out of the orphanage, but you can't take the opiods out of the girl.

In the 1960s women drank shandies - part beer, part lemonade. Certainly cocktails when at smart venues. However, as Mrs Wheatley was an alcoholic who usually drank alone at home, the world was really her oyster in that regard.

The comments about the wallpaper are all true, and highlight another of the show's flaws: the set designer's taste positively screams at the costume designer's. Neither Beth nor her adoptive mother would have worn the clothes they did AND decorated their house like that. (In the early 60s feature walls were very much the thing: you might have wallpaper or a deep color - even a handpainted mural! - on one wall, but the others would be plain pale paint. The house in the show is that of a person with no taste at all, even for the era.

Where TQG came into its own was in its depiction of a very cerebral obsession. I am amazed at how popular it is, given that that's what's at its heart. The scene where she leaves the Apple Pi party to the tune of "You're the One that I Love", and with the song still playing she lies down and the shadow of the queen on the ceiling surrounds her head like a halo as the credits roll - that was the Best in Show, for my money.

I agree

Does no one else think Benny and Beth look like they could be the same person? I could not get into this corny mess because I kept seeing it as a drag king Fight Club/Patty Duke show situation. Which did make it more interesting to me than it’s original chess Amelie vibe.

HA! Chess amelie, indeed

Loved the 50's clothes and furniture

60's

R122, I was watching it with a friend who said, at the first sight of Benny, "Is that her brother?"

Your interpretation is satisfyingly twisted, but I fear it's really just Aspie Chess Barbie. Mattel are mad if they don't put out a Beth Harmon Barbie with all those cute outfits.

The only thing missing was dong.

I'm surprised at how positive everyone is

[quote] It could have been 3-hour mini-series.

This could be the tagline for any and all Netflix series.

[quote]I didn't get why she felt a need to stay in that awful house or for that matter, to live in small town Kentucky once her step-mother died and she started earning big prize money.

She found some sort of normalcy there with her mom. The home was important to her. She argued with her adopted father over it and then eventually paid for it when he decided he wanted it. As someone else said, also she was used to it.

Then again, it didn't matter much that she lived in a small town in Kentucky when she was barely in town anyway except in between competitions. When she was in town, she wasn't really social. She spent her time studying chess.

It also seems that Jolene wasn't that far away and the show made it clear the two had stayed in contact over the years. She was the only real friend she had for most of her life. (Besides the photographer she met later.)

Jolene!

[quote]She was the only real friend she had for most of her life. (Besides the photographer she met later.)

And those fuckable twins.

My partner and I LOVED it - we would've watched it all in one day, but I wanted to savor the last three episodes.

I loved the sets, the costumes - all of that - but I love shows from the 50s/60s era anyway.

I especially loved Beth's relationships with Jolene and with her adoptive mother.

The actors who played Alma and Jolene (both as a child in the orphanage and as a adult) were wonderful

Jolene should get an Emmy just for the way she screamed "Cocksucker"

and the way she taught Beth to enjoy her dolls

"Save the green ones for the night time"

What happens in a 1970s Queen's Gambit Season 2?

[quote] Certainly cocktails when at smart venues.

Where you wear hostess pants?

[quote]And those fuckable twins

Then imagine this x2, R132!

Their names are Russell and Matthew Dennis Lewis. I kind of got the impression that one of them might be gay.

There’s a reason why this show is getting lots of love...it’s a fucking great show. Superbly written, directed, DESIGNED, and acted.

If you didn’t like it ...well, it’s all subjective. We all have our likes and dislikes. But, if you snark on something like the terrific design elements, or the casting, or a fantastic performance like Marielle Heller’s as the mom, then I just know you have really shitty taste and will not so silently judge you for it.

Loved this show. The way addiction is portrayed in the last episodes is my only complaint - not realistic at all. I loved Anya Taylor-Joy, Moses Ingram, Marielle Heller, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

R15 Jolene was Black in the book, so I assume this is why Jolene is Black in the show.

Soundtrack is great too.

uh, thanks

One of the show's greatest strengths is that it clearly was not done on the cheap. Everything (accept Beth's earliest adult wigs) is of the highest quality. The ending credits, with the beautiful music and sleek graphics reminded me how well-produced it was.

Kudos to Netflix for dropping so much money on a chess movie - that was a gamble.

I like it

How Netflix and HBO spend so much on their movies? Are subscription costs enough to fund they obviously expensive productions?

Anya Taylor Joy looks like an adorable alien, I love her.

Actually, R144, it was a gambit.

No, r146. They operate as a public trust to educate and entertain the people of the world. Soros is behind it.

The timeline was a bit hard to follow. She went from extremely awkward teen to relatively outgoing and "normal" adult in three/five years? Can one really overcome that much lack of socialization, especially when they are transfixed in the world of chess, that quickly? With that said, the romance between nearly every male she met felt forced.

I forgot she hooked up with her female friend. I will change my statement to "nearly every person she met."

So did Beth make the lez-lez with that clea French bitch? Is she lesbian? Is that why she’s awkward and funny about clothes and shit?

Yeah, that Cleo scissored Beth all night

and caused her to lose her first match against the Russian

Almost as if the Russian had arranged it.

I forgot about the French lesbian. That "relationship" was the worst part of the series, there was no point to it.

The actress playing Cleo was awful; she barely read as a real person. I get that she might have been a Russian saboteur though. I have no idea where anyone gets the impression that Beth was anywhere near normal, though. She felt so unloved and unwanted her entire life and only came to realize her found family loved her very much as an adult. I loved the last scene a lot.

Me too. Lesbians suck at chess

So Townes was a gaybee?

On the other hand, Cleo was the only one who knew Townes was the name of the love of Beth's 20-year life, and thus the only one who could have told Benny and co that if they wanted to talk to her from Moscow, he was the one to send. He was clearly in cahoots with them before he left the US.

Yes, Townes was a gay man with a boyfriend/partner. As he said the really great scene in the last episode, he'd become infatuated with her in a Breakfast at Tiffany's kind of way (the novel, not the movie) and it had felt confusing, but he had really wanted very badly to be her friend, which they ended up as.

I loved the scene with her friends cheering around the phone, and agree the actress who played Jolene was amazing considering it was her first professional role ever.

The soundtrack is flawless.

Oh, Mary!

A simple “Mary!” will do.

Lots of gays in the gambit

Absolutely loved this. The 5th and 6th episodes could have been sharper but beautifully acted, written, directed and shot.

Anya Taylor Joy looked and sounded like Emma Stone in parts, but overall she reminds me of Sarah Polley. So many of the early scenes were without dialogue and her eyes did all the work.

So many familiar British faces in the supporting cast - early on there was Rebecca Root and Sophie McShera (Daisy the kitchen hand in Downton), Patrick Kennedy then Love Actually boy, Harry Potter boy.

Marielle Heller was amazing - I knew 9her name but didn't recognise her - she should have got an Oscar nom for directing Can You Ever Forgive Me. Who knew she was such a great actress as well?

Much better than Chess The Musical, save for I Know Him So Well and Someone Else's Story.

[quote]Sophie McShera (Daisy the kitchen hand in Downton)

i WONDERED why she looked familiar

Who did Sophie McShera play? I totally missed her in this.

And who did Marielle Heller play in Can You Ever Forgive Me? That film was very underrated.

Love Patrick Kennedy in the UK series I've seen. I wish his role in this (the step-father) had been more fleshed out. I wonder if there was more when he signed on.

[quote]Who did Sophie McShera play? I totally missed her in this.

She was one of the teachers at the children's home, I think she taught maths? There were shots of her in the hall watching the films.

[quote]And who did Marielle Heller play in Can You Ever Forgive Me? That film was very underrated.

She wasn't in it, she directed it. She also directed A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood and The Diary Of A Teenage Girl. 3 films, 3 Oscar nominations for actors she directed.

THank you, r168.

I loved Marielle Heller's character. I was expecting her to be the typical evil abusive adoptive parent trope, but no, she really loved being Beth's mom and cheering her on. I agree that she really radiated true maternal love despite being a flawed and sad character. This show subverted a lot of tropes with its characters.

[quote]I loved Marielle Heller's character. I was expecting her to be the typical evil abusive adoptive parent trope, but no, she really loved being Beth's mom and cheering her on. I agree that she really radiated true maternal love despite being a flawed and sad character. This show subverted a lot of tropes with its characters.

There was something about her look that reminded me of Betty Heslop in Muriel's Wedding, and she had the same emptiness too. Unlike Betty, Alma got to experience happiness and satisfaction.

she got to fuck a hot mexican

What are those magic green tranquilizer pills that allow Beth to hallucinate upside-down chess moves on her ceilings? I want some!

[quote] I didn’t understand what she lived on. She never worked and she needed the prize money from the tournaments. She won $500 in Cincinnati but what was the take in the other tournaments?

She said in the second episode she could win thousands in tournament after she won the $500 in Cincinnati. They were quite clear on the show she was getting her money entirely from tournaments.

[quote] The Queen’s Gambit sucks and anyone enjoying it is lying to themselves --- or he/she is a Netflix rep. The Queen’s Gambit fucking sucks. I’m sorry I had to say it. I’ve been wanting to SCREAM it out of my window every night like the now defunct NHS clap but I’ve held it in. Until today. All I see on social media and in reviews is people saying it’s astounding, it’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s “LIFE CHANGING”. But it’s not!!!

Mary, take a goddamn green pill!

God it’s boring.

they go watch reruns of Drag Race, mary

Just heard some song on the radio about queens. There is a chess reference. Is chess cool now?

....

when was chess NOT cool?

[quote]R34 I hated the last episode. [spoiler alert] / She just decided not to be a drunk and an addict? / Everyone who’d abandoned her in frustration just got together to support her? / Magic negro.

Yes, that was all tied up rather conveniently. Did she even go into withdrawal? Wouldn’t you?

[quote]R48 Did no one else suspect that Beth was autistic (more likely Asperger's)?

She didn’t kill anyone and wasn’t really a danger to others - so she clearly did not have that dread disease.

The show has apparently sparked a huge surge of interest (and sales) in chess sets.

Yes, I did think Beth was autistic-coded and several characters seemed to think so too. Many autistic people are extremely left-brained and good at chess. Autism often presents very differently in women/girls than in men/boys, and a girl like Beth would have never been diagnosed in the 50s/60s as such. She would have just been called "odd" and "bookish."

Some of you act like she was a 30 year boozer. She was...what? 20 by the last episode? Girl had addiction issues but she'd only been boozing it up for a couple years and the show made it clear she wasn't drinking ALL the time...she went through periods where she didn't drink or use pills.

Going on a multi week bender ain't good for you but she wasn't exactly a hardcore established boozer. She certainly wouldn't have booze withdrawal issues after only two years or so of drinking and then stopping.

It was a vacation from Trump.

R100, thanks for the link to Slate's interview with Kasparov. He advised on the film, and worked hard to make the chess scenes realistic, down to recreating an actual game using the Queen's Gambit--with a real crux move when they adjourned-- for the final match between Borgov and Harmon. He also says "And the last moments of the show, when she went to the park, that’s typical Soviet tradition."

It's an illuminating read. Re-linking below

The Angels' Gambit

Townes was hot af. Borgov was extremely attractive to me also.

he looked like a typical russian prick

Benny looked like David Spade. He was the type of guy I would friendzone

Benny looked like a junkkie

This is the most watched Netflix show EVER (just set a record). Now every jerk sexist producer/director who says shows with a female lead will never be as popular as with a male lead can shove this falsehood up their assess. Good writing (and sometimes a little promotion/marketing) is all it takes.

Also, people are buying chess sets like crazy!

Most-watched SCRIPTED, LIMITED SERIES, bitch.

Bitch graduated from the Emma Stone School of Acting.

[quote]R193 This is the most watched Netflix show EVER (just set a record). Now every jerk sexist producer/director who says shows with a female lead will never be as popular as with a male lead can shove this falsehood up their assess.

The novel it’s based on is from 1983. Maybe this will also give hope to disillusioned authors whose early works were never picked up.

God help us. Does this now mean they'll try to shove "Meryl Streep Sings ABBA in Chess - The Musical!" down our throats?

What r194 said is true. The language netflix uses is important. Its their most watched LIMITED series.

[quote]God help us. Does this now mean they'll try to shove "Meryl Streep Sings ABBA in Chess - The Musical!" down our throats?

Cynthia Erivo needs to re-record this and get the lyrics right next time.

I'd definitely fuck Jacob Fortune-Lloyd

I'd rather do the Twins. But it has to be at the same time.

Not a problem.

Fortune-Lloyd has a Johnathan Schaeck vibe to him

[quote]Fortune-Lloyd has a Johnathan Schaeck vibe to him

I hope he doesn't have a Johnathon Schaech career arc in front of him.

I like that none of the guys are typically handsome, but they're attractive in more unusual ways.

R173 the green and white pills were librium. They actually did give librium to kids in orphanages until it became illegal.

I think the only weak part of the show were the flashbacks to her unstable biological mother -- there was not enough character development there to feel any connection to her.

It’s a spooky haunted house feel

I did feel for her mother, a gifted math genius who was expected to set that all aside to be a wife and mother which exacerbated her worsening mental illness. It was a realistic depiction of what happened to a lot of gifted women, people of color, and LGBT people at the time.

timely

I'm mildly sad thinking about all those people who have gone out and bought chess sets, and how disappointed they're going to be when they realise that to be any good you have to either be born a chess genius or you have to learn big chunks of the history of the thing. Just learning the moves is to Beth's game as learning arithmetic without understanding its role in the development of quantum physics.

I bought a chess set today

Bless, R212.

[quote]R211 I'm mildly sad thinking about all those people who have gone out and bought chess sets, and how disappointed they're going to be when they realise that to be any good you have to either be born a chess genius or you have to learn big chunks of the history of the thing. Just learning the moves is to Beth's game as learning arithmetic without understanding its role in the development of quantum physics.

They’ll just play against other beginners.

I’ve never known anyone who was really great at it.

I just bought the chess set to stick the pieces up my ass.

I’m not going to actually try to play chess!

The show seems even more popular than The Crown. Wow.

R216, it's much more relatable than The Crown. A show about those boring British Royal people sounds like medieval torture.

Next hit: “the crown’s gambit”. Young princess who lives in an orphanage has her life change irrevocably after playing chess with a big old queen!

[quote] I'm mildly sad thinking about all those people who have gone out and bought chess sets, and how disappointed they're going to be when they realise that to be any good you have to either be born a chess genius or you have to learn big chunks of the history of the thing. Just learning the moves is to Beth's game as learning arithmetic without understanding its role in the development of quantum physics.

I'm mildly sad you're so naive you think that the people who are buying chess sets after this show expect to be grandmasters.

cant stand that smug actress....she ruined EMMA

I was sorry she had to learn the true meaning of friendship in the last episode, but at least she did not learn the true meaning of chess (as I was worried she might).

No shit, she was a total turd in Emma....great hotties in it but she was a furd for sure.

People being inspired to take up chess after watching this is a good thing. No, they will not become Grandmasters, but that's not the point. It's a good game, especially for children as it teaches strategy and helps improve concentration. It's much better than sitting around watching TV and playing video games all day.

I haven’t seen Emma but I loved her in this.

I dont like her weird way of acting, like she is ho ho ho..

I don't know much about the main actress or her other roles, but I thought she was good in this. I think her unique look and mannerisms contributed to the plot.

[quote] Also the CGI of Moscow and Mexico City looked pretty bad.

I loved the Moscow CGI - I think it was [italic]supposed[/italic] to look artifical, both as a nod to Old Hollywood films and to reflect the slightly surreal feeling of being in such an alien country.

Although Beth lived in Lexington, KY, no one in Lexington seems to have even a trace of a Southern accent.

Oversight, directorial decision or do people in Lexington not sound Southern?

^^No one at the orphanage either or the high school students from the chess club near the orphanage

Miss Beth certainly had a nice figure for a gal who was downing multiples beers/gibsons/whiskeys/wines/etc.

A lot of the non-Lexington shots were filmed in eastern Germany, including the Vegas scenes

I've seen a lot of comments here and elsewhere with people bothered by how they depict her pill/booze addictions, primarily that they feel it was unrealistically portrayed and also questioning her quick recovery times.

Her pill issues started young obviously at the orphanage but...I would imagine they were very low dose downers since very young children were taking them. And, Beth quickly figured out the high was better if she saved up several doses of pills and took them all at once which established her as a binge addict.

And, her new mom introduced her to the booze which she obviously liked but she wasn't immediately a hard core boozer. And, this happened when Beth was around...15 or 16?

The show ends with her at 19 so she's been dealing with her pills (off and on) for about a decade and she's been drinking for about 3 years, again off and on. She gets into depressed states and binges very heavily but...you don't get DTs from casual binge drinking (well, seldom) and she's way too young to have messed herself up too bad with the booze and pills. There are plenty of 20 year olds out there with messy addictions who still function when they have to and look great.

Now, obviously if she keeps that shit up, she's in big trouble. She's a big mess but she's still a cute and functioning mess.

a hot mess

That’s Miss World Champion Hot Mess, if you please.

This gets extremely boring after her adopted mum passes away. I am having a hard time finishing this.

R217 A lot of people watch that show and hate the fucking useless inbred royals. The show makes people hate them even more and laugh at them..The queen’s Annus Horribilis is when three of her stupid brat children’s sham marraiges ended? Fucking old man face!

I finally finished this earlier tonight and definitely enjoyed it.

although it's good to know I'm not the only one who rolled my eyes a little bit at the ending - in what world would she would be able to walk the streets of 1960s Moscow alone? and she's supposed to be walking all the way to the airport? lol also when you think about how significant chess was in the Soviet Union, it didn't seem believable that there would be hoards of ordinary Russians so openly cheering her on when she's a foreigner - esp. an American - competing against their compatriot.

I liked that the show wasn't grittily realistic but was instead slightly hyperreal, like an urban fairytale. The visuals and her hallucinating and the fashions and CGI all contributed to it.

Honestly, this show was a bit of uplifting escapism at the end and I welcomed it. I’m VERY relieved that she didn’t die, lose, or end up winning because the boys told her what to do and she won from that alone. I would’ve been pissed if they ended it that way—that only help from men could seal her win, which would’ve been an extremely anti feminist ending to an empowering depiction. I think they did it just right and it felt good! Yes, a bit sappy, but dammit this year has been hell so we needed a good period drama series with a happy and empowering ending!

I don't have any problem with lots of Russians cheering her on even when she beat a Russian. They LOVE chess.

Australian cricket crowds will go wild for an opposition player who scores 200, makes an amazing catch or plays bravely with an injury, even if it puts their side at a disadvantage. Can't see why Russian chess fans wouldn't do the same. I hope you're not suggesting that in 1967 the State would penalise them?

Of course the state would not penalize them. What a ridiculous suggestion.

They’d just quietly disappear.

Are all Americans that paranoid, or is it just a little faction on here?

You're talking about the era between Stalin and Gorbachev. If people disappeared, it assuredly wasn't over who they fancied for the chess tournament.

It turned me into a chess fan.

The entire time I was watching i somehow expected Marlo Thomas in That Girl to make an appearance.

Yes, Russian are known to cheer on people from other countries that can beat native Russians at games or sports that usual excel in.: chess, ballet, piano, etc.

Beth is too pretty.

Is it true what Kasparov said, that this is basically the Bobby Fischer story?

I was surprised to learn that most of the show was filmed in Germany and Canada.

R247, if Fischer's Wikipedia page is anything to go by there are a lot of similarities, right down to the switch from awful clothes to couture (well, handmade suits, at least). Except that Fischer was unfortunate enough to retain his hopeless mother instead of getting a nice adoptive one. He was more inherently nuts than Beth, but I don't know whether he had substance abuse problems as well.

The Murray Head character on the Chess concept album is based on Fischer.

R206 So it wold be something like today's Xanax?

Didn't Fischer's mental illness take over his life? I don't know his story well.

Off topic, but why do so many Brits have hyphenated last names? I think they call it "double barreled?"

Late to the party but just binged this and LOVED it. I'll second (or third, fourth, whatever) the kudos to Moses Ingram and Marielle Heller, the gorgeous set design, the music, etc.

[quote]I’m VERY relieved that she didn’t ... end up winning because the boys told her what to do and she won from that alone. I would’ve been pissed if they ended it that way—that only help from men could seal her win

AMEN! I was thinking the exact same thing during the scenes when the guys were on the phone in NYC coaching her. I was ready to fume because I feared that's where the story was headed... but was very happy she won on her own merit.

Also, what really struck me (in a good way) about the series -- and I haven't seen it mentioned yet -- is that NONE of the male characters were predatory towards Beth. Each time a new male character was introduced (the janitor, the adoptive father, the chess opponents, etc.), I kept bracing myself for the moment that Beth would somehow be victimized... but she never was, and it was SO refreshing! It's sad that movies and TV have conditioned audiences (or maybe just me) to expect that, but what a relief to see that trope NOT happen here.

Yeah I thought for sure the creepy adoptive father was going to abuse her. He was a creep nonetheless.

He was a creep, and he did victimise Beth, though not in the way we feared. He was clearly intending to leave the wife all along, and was worried about her drinking herself to death unsupervised, so he bought Beth to look after her or provide some interest for her. Beth was nothing but a pawn to him.

I'm glad this show got some love at the Golden Globes. For me, it was [italic]the[/italic] show of 2020.

my fave show on netflix of that year, thrilled she and others won awards for it.

they got it right!

Yes, I loved this show too.

He’s is looking too much like Audrey Meadows

She’s not he’s

I liked the first few episodes but it’s just dragging on & on. It’s a candy box version of the 60s that got tired after awhile. Like most tv shows that start out with an interesting concept, it got dragged down by itself because it just wanted to go on & on & on.

R262 go on & on & on? It only has 7 episodes. The fuck are you talking about?

R261 I thought the episodes had a good flow and buildup to the finale, personally, but to each their own.

She plays a chess game, she wins

But she also dresses better and better for seven hours. That's where the suspense lies - how great will the next outfit be?

They really needed to use the 1960s Casino Royale when they got to Mexico, not the horn song they played. It was either faux Herb Alpert or one of Herb’s much lesser numbers,

A Taste of Honey would’ve been a good Herb Alpert song too, when arrived & did Mexican things,

Just watched the finale. It was made clear that Jolene wasn’t in contact at all with Beth until she showed up at her house.

And I want the Polish actor who plays the Soviet champion inside me quite deeply.

What ABC amazingly good series! No words. Except to say some of you cunts know nothing about good film.

Moses Ingram, who plays Jolene, will play Whitney Houston as a young woman in I Wanna Dance With Somebody, shooting in Massachusetts from next month through December.

[quote] And... MILD SPOILER ALERT! I was shocked to find out that it was not a true story

No!

You mean southern orphanages weren’t desegregated in the 1950s/1960s? And they weren’t drugging children in US orphanages with myriad uppers and downers? And there weren’t any female American chess champions in the US in the 1960s? No American females competed with males & consistently won? And still don’t? And there’s never been a female world chess champion? Surely you jest.

I’m sure I read all of these things happened.

Oh wait…none of them did. Nothing about this show is the slightest bit real. It’s the Harry Potter of chess.

[quote] NONE of the male characters were predatory towards Beth

That’s how you know it’s pure fiction.

craving the dumb fuckboy version of this. ‘The King’s Gambit’ or sth idk

like every match opens with a grob and the pieces are all in the wrong file lmao. the lads can’t hardly play but they’re egocentric and stupid and himbo sexy enough to believe they’re prodigies

Benny disturbingly reminded me of David Spade.

I LOVED when Black Power Jolene came back!

Story I heard is Moses Ingram bailed from I Wanna Dance with Somebody because the Houston family is involved and are totally downplaying the romance between Whitney and Robyn Crawford, who Ingram was lined up to play.