Just finished The Queen's gambit on Netflix

[Anonymous]

Ok. I'm not going to argue with you about it. Agree to disagree.

So no other clues? Got it.


If you insist... here's a discussion about this very thing. And again, you can see it differently. I don't know why you're getting so defensive.

https://valneil.com/2020/10/30/accidentally-autistic-the-queens-gambit/

NP. Thanks for posting the article. I completely assumed that Beth was autistic, her mannerisms seemed to make it obvious. And there was the fact that her mom had a PhD in math in the 1950s and also had trouble conforming to regular society.

[Anonymous]

I thought she defected in the end...her state department minder had warned her of anyone trying to make contact, hand her things...and then later obviously he warned her she would miss her flight back to the US.

The crowds outside the Moscow hotel which she obviously enjoyed, I thought were a ploy to get her to warm to Russia.

And finally when Borgov handed her the chess piece.

But I googled immediately after finishing and there was a story where the actress addressed this and said she didn’t think that was what happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved how in the end it was a black woman that "saved" her.

I was cringing at this trope. The Magical African American Friend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro

I think it’s pretty clear the writers were aware of the trope and avoided it.

[Anonymous]

Just finished watching on one of the tv shows torrent sites and really enjoyed it. I thought her awkwardness as a child was completely believable.

My only issue with the show is I found the pacing to be very inconsistent and often distracting. I don't have a specific example, but I thought it was very noticeable.

[Anonymous]

She said at the end she went to the front desk of the hotel to try and get more pills but they told her no. I think she realized she needed to stay a while there to kick her addiction.

And she realized playing how popular chess was in the USSR, that she liked all the fans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really loved the show. I just wish they had more American actors. Tired of entire casts being British when the show is supposed to be American.

I do agree with this. We have wonderful American actors and we are constantly using British actors to play the parts of Americans. SMDH

$$$$$

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved how in the end it was a black woman that "saved" her.

I was cringing at this trope. The Magical African American Friend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro

I think it’s pretty clear the writers were aware of the trope and avoided it.

They skated the line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I loved how in the end it was a black woman that "saved" her.



I was cringing at this trope. The Magical African American Friend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro



I think it’s pretty clear the writers were aware of the trope and avoided it.




They skated the line.

I don't think this. The trope features people with "the sight," or some other superpower. Jolene was a street-smart girl who was trying to make something of herself. I thought the actress who played her was terrific.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
SPOILER DO NOT READ if you haven't seen the show! - how did her mom die? was it hepatitis? Is it related to her alcoholism? Yes

She said she was in love with Townes? Is that the reporter? Why didn't she pursue that? Because Townes was gay

Who was the man her real mom Alice was talking to before she died? What were they saying? He was her father. He had a new family and wanted her to leave. He had already tried to reach out to her before and warned her that he wouldn't be there for her again in the future (not that this makes it okay)



I thought her mom died in the car wreck? Wasn't exactly an accident, looked more like suicide to me. Her mom's last words to her were "Close your eyes." The mom was trying to kill them both. That's why she said that to Beth. Chilling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I loved how in the end it was a black woman that "saved" her.



I was cringing at this trope. The Magical African American Friend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro



I think it’s pretty clear the writers were aware of the trope and avoided it.




They skated the line.

I don't think this. The trope features people with "the sight," or some other superpower. Jolene was a street-smart girl who was trying to make something of herself. I thought the actress who played her was terrific.

Oh I love to Jolene I thought she was one of the best parts of the movie. But she really did arrive at exactly the right moment. That’s more of the magical black friend. Her character was not falling into that trope as much as the timing of her reemergence. I wish they had picked up her story earlier and stitched in better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
SPOILER DO NOT READ if you haven't seen the show! - how did her mom die? was it hepatitis? Is it related to her alcoholism? Yes

She said she was in love with Townes? Is that the reporter? Why didn't she pursue that? Because Townes was gay

Who was the man her real mom Alice was talking to before she died? What were they saying? He was her father. He had a new family and wanted her to leave. He had already tried to reach out to her before and warned her that he wouldn't be there for her again in the future (not that this makes it okay)



I thought her mom died in the car wreck? Wasn't exactly an accident, looked more like suicide to me. Her mom's last words to her were "Close your eyes." The mom was trying to kill them both. That's why she said that to Beth. Chilling.

Well...yes. When the got in the car she told Beth when asked what was going on her mom said 'trying to find what to do with you'. Birth dad turned mom away and then they drove off...mom told her to close her eyes---YES. OBVIOUS suicide and wanting to kill her daughter with her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
SPOILER DO NOT READ if you haven't seen the show! - how did her mom die? was it hepatitis? Is it related to her alcoholism? Yes

She said she was in love with Townes? Is that the reporter? Why didn't she pursue that? Because Townes was gay

Who was the man her real mom Alice was talking to before she died? What were they saying? He was her father. He had a new family and wanted her to leave. He had already tried to reach out to her before and warned her that he wouldn't be there for her again in the future (not that this makes it okay)



I thought her mom died in the car wreck? Wasn't exactly an accident, looked more like suicide to me. Her mom's last words to her were "Close your eyes." The mom was trying to kill them both. That's why she said that to Beth. Chilling.

Well...yes. When the got in the car she told Beth when asked what was going on her mom said 'trying to find what to do with you'. Birth dad turned mom away and then they drove off...mom told her to close her eyes---YES. OBVIOUS suicide and wanting to kill her daughter with her.

It was hard to tell if it was Dad or grandparents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was Beth supposed to be autistic?
I thought this was a fantastic portrayal of someone with autism without making it the defining aspect of the character's life/personality.

There was something definitely off/different about her. She had no idea what to do with the doll the high school chess coach gave her and couldn't relate to the Apple Pi girls at all. Maybe it was due to her rough start in life or maybe something else like autism.

Uh. She didn’t want the doll because that didn’t interest her. Same with the vapid HS girls.

She was precocious, not autistic.

I must have missed the part where that was specifically stated. Can you remind me when it was said or when we hear a diagnosis?

Episode 3, 18:34

Try again. I remember Miss Deardorff talking about her talent for chess but don't think she used a specific word for it other than "gifted child" in Episode 1 with the high school coach. There are a lot of other clues in the series about Beth that point to something more than just precocity. Either way its all speculation. In the 1960s that wouldn't have been a common diagnosis for a girl. This was the era of "refrigerator mothers". But given what we know today, we might call it something else.

What “clues”?

She didn’t want to play with a doll and thought the girls were vapid. Nothing at all “off” about that.

I agree with the PP. She seemed unable to relate to most people; very wooden, walled off, and often humorless. I definitely was under the impression that she might be on the spectrum in some capacity.

I think the trauma of having your mother attempt to murder-suicide you aged 9 might have something to do with it.

It was probably PTSA. She also witnessed a lot in the early days from addiction to abuse.

[Anonymous]

I was expecting the father to walk up to her house, since she was famous and could easily be found.

[Anonymous]

Debating. I thought the orphanage was too overdone as a weird place, and not a fan of the chess pieces coming out of the ceiling. But I have a cold and don't feel like doing anything else.