One of Netflix’s most recent limited series has been gaining a ton of traction over the past two weeks, it is called The Queen’s Gambit. Oddly enough it was a show about chess, which seems like a subject matter that would not be too interesting to most, but they made the story incredibly compelling, and once I started watching, it was hard to stop, so the seven episodes went by quickly. There was much more to the story than just chess, it was a story about an orphan overcoming her past and overcoming addiction, and the acting, especially by Anya Taylor Joy, as Beth Harmon, was exceptionally well done.
At a young age, Beth Harmon’s mom died in a suicidal car crash, but Beth, in the back seat, survived and was placed into a Christian girl’s orphanage. While there she formed a bond with the janitor, and he taught her chess. He helped to foster her love and talent for the game until she got adopted by a family. There was an interesting family dynamic between the couple, the mom, Alma, and the dad, Allston. Alma clearly wanted Beth, but she seemed more in need of a friend than a daughter, and Allston did not really want anything to do with either of them, and he left the picture fairly quickly. Beth continued her rise to chess fame quickly becoming one of the best players in the U.S. Soon she was going to international tournaments, and she met her match when she played Borgov from the Soviet Union. The story climaxes with Beth traveling to the Soviet Union to play the best chess players in the world, including a chance to play Borgov again.
One of the biggest themes of the series was the overcoming of addiction. Beth struggled with addiction throughout the whole series. It started out when she was young in the orphanage. She was given daily tranquilizers to help increase her mood and the mood of the others there as well. Eventually the state decided that it was not good to give children these kinds of medications, but at that point it was too late, Beth was hooked. It got to the point where she broke into the medication room and started shoveling them in her mouth. This problem followed her into her adopted home. Alma had the same pills and Beth would steal some of them to have the good feeling. It also did not help that Alma was also an alcoholic, a trait that she passed on to Beth. Initially it seemed like these pills were helping Beth become a better chess player because she could visualize the board better, but it quickly becomes a negative where she could not truly meet her potential when on the medication. The same was true about Beth and alcohol as well. It truly took a village for her to overcome these problems. She had to have a strong support system from her fellow American chess players to overcome this problem, and she had to find in herself a willingness to accept the help from the others.
The most interesting dynamic in the series came between Beth and her adopted mom Alma. It was hard to decide if they were good for each other or not. Alma clearly wanted to adopt Beth and needed the relationship, and once Beth started to become famous Alma’s mood did start to improve. Alma also gave Beth a home, a place that was much nicer than the orphanage she had been staying. Alma also gave Beth a travel partner that she much needed in her early stages of reaching chess fame. There were also many problems that arose due to this relationship. Beth was able to continue her addiction to the pills because Alma was not in a fit state to recognize that she was being short changed. Then once they started to travel Alma started to get Beth booze and got her hooked. So then the two of them were addicted to alcohol and helped foster the problem amongst themselves. Even though they had these problems it seemed like they made each other happier, and that they were in a better place than they were before, but it also raised the question as to whether Alma was truly happy and in love with Beth, or that Alma had the chance to be so closely attached to fame and a small fortune, and that caused her happiness, not necessarily her adopted daughter.
So not only did Beth have to overcome her addiction, but she also had to overcome a very troubled childhood. Her birth mom was not in a fit state to raise her properly, and her mom did not want to be involved with the birth dad, who seemed like he was trying to help the mom. Eventually it got to the point where Beth’s mom decided it was best to try and kill them both in a head on collision than to keep raising her daughter. Clearly this was very traumatic for Beth, and it was partially the cause for her addiction problems later in life because she was trying to drown out what had happened in the past. Then when she was in the orphanage, it was not the worst situation, but her time there also had a negative affect on her, and she had to go back and face her demons there before she was able to move on and go to the Soviet Union.
While she traveled around doing tournaments, she garnered a group of men who became her trainers and fan club. They realized how great she was, and they wanted her to become champion. The only problem was that Beth had a hard time maintaining relationships. She always seemed to start out strong, but then she would falter and push everyone away. So one of the biggest problems she needed to solve was how to accept the help from others and not self-sabotage it. It became the key to her being the best chess player she could be, and she could not have done it without having the strong support system behind her.
One of the greatest achievements of this series was that it was about chess, a topic that the average person does not know too much about, at least in the detail in which that it was being discussed in the show, but it did not matter. It created a sport like atmosphere and had the viewer rooting for Beth like they would for their favorite player on a team. A large part of this must be due to the excellent acting in the show. Anya Taylor Joy as Beth did an amazing job. She plays the troubled genius so well. Even her facial expressions alone display such emotion that she was hard to look away from. The exposition that she and the other characters have together was the key part into understanding a world in which I knew little about, and they were able to keep my attention drawn the entire time.
I highly recommend watching this series. The story was incredibly compelling throughout the entirety of the seven episodes. It was uplifting and gave me something to cheer for. It would be the perfect piece of content to digest on a Thanksgiving break. It was so well done that on Bill Simmons’s podcast that he said that it was one of the best limited series he has ever watched, and he has watched a ton of TV. It is a story of triumph and overcoming personal demons, and it was even very visually appealing. The set inside of the house and all the outfits fitting into the style of the mid-20th century was incredibly well done. They even blended in chess patterns into the designs of the house and in the wardrobe. I would give this series a 90, and it is probably the best or close to the best series I have watched from this year, but obviously it is hard to beat Tiger King.
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