TV: The Queen's Gambit: Miniseries

[Siamese Dream]

I was a bit disappointed they didn't go into any details about Beth's crazy night out with Cleo

 

[spintheblackcircle]

I am 3 episodes in and I love it. Love it.

The MC looked so familiar, but I had to check IMDB to remember she is the terribly annoying wife of a terribly annoying character on the most recent season of Peaky Blinders. She was a platinum blonde there, that's why it didn't hit me right away.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Finished it the other night. Absolutely incredible! Some of the things really didn't go the way that I wanted them to specifically...

Spoiler: Final Episode Spoiler

I was really upset that Beth and Mr. Shaibel never got to re-connect before he died. Aside from Jolene he was her biggest influence as a child, and was the most important part of the story in a way. I was very disappointed that Beth never got to have a real conversation with him as an adult. I would have loved to see his perspective as to how Beth impacted him, why he chose to go out of his way to teach her chess, and basically just a lot more about him. I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried heavily when it was shown that he followed every one of her matches.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Almost finished with the series, will probably wrap it up tonight.

It's way, way better than I expected. Going in I was afraid it would be heavy-handed with gender issues, but they finesse it really well so that it doesn't distract from the core plot and character arcs. Characters are well drawn, the screenwriting is excellent. Casting and acting is damn near perfect, even the child actors.

Also FWIW it does a nice job of 'selling' the appeal of chess for a general audience.

 

[dr robbie]

Also FWIW it does a nice job of 'selling' the appeal of chess for a general audience.

100% agree. My wife has played chess probably less than 5 times in her life. She still got hooked to the show and interested in how the game was played.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Almost finished with the series, will probably wrap it up tonight.

It's way, way better than I expected. Going in I was afraid it would be heavy-handed with gender issues, but they finesse it really well so that it doesn't distract from the core plot and character arcs. Characters are well drawn, the screenwriting is excellent. Casting and acting is damn near perfect, even the child actors.

Also FWIW it does a nice job of 'selling' the appeal of chess for a general audience.

I thought the child actors were really great!! The girl who plays Beth as a child really needs to get some consideration for an acting award. She was incredible!

 

[PK Cronin]

Late to the party but wrapped this up this past weekend. Really enjoyed nearly everything about it. The acting was good, the characters were entertaining, and they did a wonderful job with the time period. I thought the Benny Watts character was ridiculous for a while but the ridiculousness faded as the show progressed. There were references to how awful Ms. Deardorff was but I didn't get that from what they showed, she didn't seem like a wretch.

The ending had me worried...

Spoiler

When they showed Borgov and Co. helping one another to help defeat Beth, it really cheapened their accomplishments for me. Obviously they're good, but if they need to have a round table after adjourning the game in order to win, do they really deserve the title of being the best? Beth then gets help from her friends, which was heartwarming, but made me feel the same way about her potential win. It's team USA vs USSR at that point and I jus thought it was a bit weak and really lessened the title she was chasing. I was very pleased when the ending moves ended up being something they hadn't rehearsed in practice, showing her talent for being intuitive and creative can work.

...but ultimately I think they did a very nice job.

I hope the show ends there and they don't try to force a second season that will stink.

 

[Jussi]

Late to the party but wrapped this up this past weekend. Really enjoyed nearly everything about it. The acting was good, the characters were entertaining, and they did a wonderful job with the time period. I thought the Benny Watts character was ridiculous for a while but the ridiculousness faded as the show progressed. There were references to how awful Ms. Deardorff was but I didn't get that from what they showed, she didn't seem like a wretch.

The ending had me worried...

Spoiler

When they showed Borgov and Co. helping one another to help defeat Beth, it really cheapened their accomplishments for me. Obviously they're good, but if they need to have a round table after adjourning the game in order to win, do they really deserve the title of being the best? Beth then gets help from her friends, which was heartwarming, but made me feel the same way about her potential win. It's team USA vs USSR at that point and I jus thought it was a bit weak and really lessened the title she was chasing. I was very pleased when the ending moves ended up being something they hadn't rehearsed in practice, showing her talent for being intuitive and creative can work.

...but ultimately I think they did a very nice job.

I hope the show ends there and they don't try to force a second season that will stink.

Garry Kasparov was consultant on the show and outside of the chess games, he also advised them on for example the presence of KGB agents when the players were abroad. So the players teaming up, seems like it came from him.

 

[Muston Atthews]

Late to the party but wrapped this up this past weekend. Really enjoyed nearly everything about it. The acting was good, the characters were entertaining, and they did a wonderful job with the time period. I thought the Benny Watts character was ridiculous for a while but the ridiculousness faded as the show progressed. There were references to how awful Ms. Deardorff was but I didn't get that from what they showed, she didn't seem like a wretch.

The ending had me worried...

Spoiler

When they showed Borgov and Co. helping one another to help defeat Beth, it really cheapened their accomplishments for me. Obviously they're good, but if they need to have a round table after adjourning the game in order to win, do they really deserve the title of being the best? Beth then gets help from her friends, which was heartwarming, but made me feel the same way about her potential win. It's team USA vs USSR at that point and I jus thought it was a bit weak and really lessened the title she was chasing. I was very pleased when the ending moves ended up being something they hadn't rehearsed in practice, showing her talent for being intuitive and creative can work.

...but ultimately I think they did a very nice job.

I hope the show ends there and they don't try to force a second season that will stink.

To the spoiler:

Benny alluded to the Russians working as a team as opposed to Americans who play for themselves in earlier episodes. Explains that it's one of the reasons they are so good. Hence Benny and the friends calling Beth in the last episode

 

[Eisen]

I'm not the biggest fan of how the last game ended. Otherwise it was a nice little show. The only character I actively disliked was the cowboy chess player.

 

[PK Cronin]

Garry Kasparov was consultant on the show and outside of the chess games, he also advised them on for example the presence of KGB agents when the players were abroad. So the players teaming up, seems like it came from him.

It's probably true (I have no reason to doubt it), I was just worried about it cheapening the win a little bit.

To the spoiler:

Benny alluded to the Russians working as a team as opposed to Americans who play for themselves in earlier episodes. Explains that it's one of the reasons they are so good. Hence Benny and the friends calling Beth in the last episode

Yep. I think they did a nice job of showing the Americans working together while also allowing Harmon to shine on her own. It was just a concerning moment when watching because I wasn't sure how that was going to play out.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Just finished this up.....VERY good story. Wasn't the most exciting mini-series but it definitely drew you in for a pretty powerful story.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Great series. Was a huge reason for Netflix BANKING huge this quarter. $$$

 

[Shareefruck]

Not some all time great show or anything in my view, but it's a solid and impressive little show with a lot of attention to detail and pleasing presentation/delivery/writing sensibilities. I especially like how that plausible spy theory is kind of just thrown in there for speculation (pretty legit theory, IMO) without being a heavy-handed focus, how the gender issues are there but not made the focus (the trailer misleadingly gives those red flags in a really aggressive way, IMO), and how it tastefully and unexpectedly re-purposes a lot of familiar little story gimmicks and tropes that you would typically only find in those dorky Dragonball-style Shounen Anime series, but weirdly with a serious live action Chess drama instead

Spoiler

(the way she's underestimated and mops the floor with people, the way the competitors escalate and the rematches vindicate past losses, the training montages, the way past antagonists get dwarved/humbled by the power scaling and eventually join her side and lend her their power to take down the big bad-- she's basically just Goku).

Not sure if it's deliberate or just a funny coincidence, but either way it feels very familiar in a surprising way and adds an extra level of charm and amusement to it for me.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Late to the party but wrapped this up this past weekend. Really enjoyed nearly everything about it. The acting was good, the characters were entertaining, and they did a wonderful job with the time period. I thought the Benny Watts character was ridiculous for a while but the ridiculousness faded as the show progressed. There were references to how awful Ms. Deardorff was but I didn't get that from what they showed, she didn't seem like a wretch.

The ending had me worried...

Spoiler

When they showed Borgov and Co. helping one another to help defeat Beth, it really cheapened their accomplishments for me. Obviously they're good, but if they need to have a round table after adjourning the game in order to win, do they really deserve the title of being the best? Beth then gets help from her friends, which was heartwarming, but made me feel the same way about her potential win. It's team USA vs USSR at that point and I jus thought it was a bit weak and really lessened the title she was chasing. I was very pleased when the ending moves ended up being something they hadn't rehearsed in practice, showing her talent for being intuitive and creative can work.

...but ultimately I think they did a very nice job.

I hope the show ends there and they don't try to force a second season that will stink.

Regarding Benny: I actually really liked that they made him a weird guy. I thought having him and Harry Melling (who was also very good) be the important male figures in the show was cool because they specfiically didn't make cast these roles with overtly good-looking, cool, guys. Not that all chess players look like a stereotypical nerd/dork/geek but i thought it added some realism to the series.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The ending had me worried...

Spoiler

When they showed Borgov and Co. helping one another to help defeat Beth, it really cheapened their accomplishments for me. Obviously they're good, but if they need to have a round table after adjourning the game in order to win, do they really deserve the title of being the best? Beth then gets help from her friends, which was heartwarming, but made me feel the same way about her potential win. It's team USA vs USSR at that point and I jus thought it was a bit weak and really lessened the title she was chasing. I was very pleased when the ending moves ended up being something they hadn't rehearsed in practice, showing her talent for being intuitive and creative can work.

...but ultimately I think they did a very nice job.

I agree, but

Spoiler

There has to be some sort of core character development associated with the final showdown. At this point we've seen half a dozen cases of her beating a powerful rival, so that wouldn't be very satisfying in its own right. And while they dance around with "will she get drunk and blow her chance?", that's a pretty superficial type of tension.

I think the point of the "USA vs USSR" sequence is to finish the show with a tight focus on her self-reliance, which is the double-edged sword that defines her. Throughout the show, it keeps coming up -- Benny is a rugged individualist who relies on his inner circle to sharpen his skills, Jolene is a self-made success who puts her friendships first. Beth gradually learns from them how to connect with people, but going into the final episodes she keeps finding herself on an island. In the end, she simply can't do it alone. That point gets driven home when she sees the supposedly invincible Borgov collaborating toward victory. After that, she has a choice: go it alone and fail, or connect with others and succeed. I think you have a great point that she takes the latter option, and then transcends Borgov on her own raw talent.

This all almost like the anti-"Miracle". Instead of making an absolute choice between the American and Russian worldviews (personal initiative vs collective action) she internalizes them both and transcends the conflict. In the end, she beats Borgov, tells the CIA and the fundamentalists to go **** themselves, and befriends some nice Russian peasants who don't care about the politics... they just want to play chess.

 

[Dubi Doo]

The first two episodes are really f***ing good. This woman is badass.

 

[x Tame Impala]

This show got me super into playing chess and learning about it. I’m probing HF’s chess interest in this thread over at the Geek Emporium...

Any Chess players in our Emporium?

Stop by if you’re interested. Maybe we can get a tournament going or some forum banter about the game.

 

[peate]

I liked her mom's character, just great acting.

 

[tarheelhockey]

This show got me super into playing chess and learning about it. I’m probing HF’s chess interest in this thread over at the Geek Emporium...

Any Chess players in our Emporium?

Stop by if you’re interested. Maybe we can get a tournament going or some forum banter about the game.

Question: as a beginner just breaking into the scene, when should I start abusing prescription drugs?

 

[chicagoskycam]

Question: as a beginner just breaking into the scene, when should I start abusing prescription drugs?

Immediately, better to find out early if you have the gift.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Immediately, better to find out early if you have the gift.

Ok, so I'm looking at the ceiling and all I see is HFBoard shitposts

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

Recently finished it. I liked it a good bit, thought it was pretty good, but expected just a bit more. The people that recommended it were hyping it out the whazoo though, so maybe that negatively impacted my expectations. I was surprised the ending was so tidy (neither a negative or a positive, just a comment).

I was shocked to find the excellent song from episode 6, "I Can't Remember Love," was actually an original song written for the mini-series (and not something from like, 60 years ago). That's quite uncommon, no? I wonder if down the line there will eventually be a best original song category for the Emmy's like there are the Oscars. Trying to think of other shows that had songs written just for the show (that weren't beginning/end title credits).

 

[x Tame Impala]

Question: as a beginner just breaking into the scene, when should I start abusing prescription drugs?

Adderall immediately. Better off chasing the dragon from the beginning so it’s all you ever know

 

[Shareefruck]

Recently finished it. I liked it a good bit, thought it was pretty good, but expected just a bit more. The people that recommended it were hyping it out the whazoo though, so maybe that negatively impacted my expectations. I was surprised the ending was so tidy (neither a negative or a positive, just a comment).

I was shocked to find the excellent song from episode 6, "I Can't Remember Love," was actually an original song written for the mini-series (and not something from like, 60 years ago). That's quite uncommon, no? I wonder if down the line there will eventually be a best original song category for the Emmy's like there are the Oscars. Trying to think of other shows that had songs written just for the show (that weren't beginning/end title credits).

I agree that it is a bit overhyped (feels like just a normal/expected progression done well rather than something super special/interesting), but most things that get really hyped these days tend to fall under that category anyways, IMO. I actually thought that given that it was hyped up the way that it was and the way these things tend to work out, I was actually surprised that I liked it as much as I did. I was much more underwhelmed by things like Westworld or Chernobyl, personally.