Just finished The Queen's gambit on Netflix

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was Beth adopted just so Mr. Wheatley could leave Alma and she wouldn't be alone? Both said it was the other's idea. It was actually a relief to me when he left because when they were all first in the headmistress's office, I thought for sure he was a pedophile.

Yes, same. I kept waiting for some abuse to happen at either the orphanage or at the Wheatley house, but it was just the pills and alcohol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[SPOILER sort of]


So do we think she stayed in Russia? Or was that last scene meant to just hearken back to her games with the janitor in the basement?

I don't think she stayed in Russia. She went home eventually. She wanted Mr. Shaibel to be named in the paper as her first teacher. She skipped the speeches and White House thing in favor of the simplicity of playing in the park with someone who reminded her of him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[SPOILER sort of]


So do we think she stayed in Russia? Or was that last scene meant to just hearken back to her games with the janitor in the basement?

I don't think she stayed in Russia. She went home eventually. She wanted Mr. Shaibel to be named in the paper as her first teacher. She skipped the speeches and White House thing in favor of the simplicity of playing in the park with someone who reminded her of him.

Makes sense. That's was a nice ending. Very satisfying that she stopped taking the drugs and still could see the pieces on the ceiling.

[Anonymous]

I really liked the series. As I got closer to the end, I was really wondering how they could give it a happy ending. They found a way and it was sweet. But it was maybe a little too neat or glossy. I thought it'd take longer for her to get over her addiction(s). And she had some serious trauma in her childhood and maybe mental illness in the family (her birth mom).

The characters were so good. I particularly liked the woman who adopted her. Such a complex character and very sad.

[Anonymous]

SPOILER ALERT!!

Did Townes say he was gay or was it just inferred by her when the guy came in hotel room in Vegas? Did Townes say anything? I was distracted during that scene.

[Anonymous]

OK, I've just finished it.

Here's a thread that remains unresolved for me: what is up with Cleo? She seems so sinister in the way she urged Beth to stay up drinking after Beth explained why she needed to sleep: what Cleo did was not a neutral thing, but kind of malicious. Is Cleo...a Soviet plant?

Also:

I am not a Russian native speaker, but I worked in Eastern Europe for a number of years and went through some intense language training. The guy who plays Borgov is not a native speaker: his accent is worse than mine. What is up with that? So many other details are so authentic, and it would have been easy to get an actual Russian native speaker to play this guy, so I can't help but think this is a deliberate choice that must mean something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, I've just finished it.

Here's a thread that remains unresolved for me: what is up with Cleo? She seems so sinister in the way she urged Beth to stay up drinking after Beth explained why she needed to sleep: what Cleo did was not a neutral thing, but kind of malicious. Is Cleo...a Soviet plant?

Also:

I am not a Russian native speaker, but I worked in Eastern Europe for a number of years and went through some intense language training. The guy who plays Borgov is not a native speaker: his accent is worse than mine. What is up with that? So many other details are so authentic, and it would have been easy to get an actual Russian native speaker to play this guy, so I can't help but think this is a deliberate choice that must mean something.

I wondered about Cleo, too. I thought she was jealous of Beth's relationship with Benny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I've just finished it.

Here's a thread that remains unresolved for me: what is up with Cleo? She seems so sinister in the way she urged Beth to stay up drinking after Beth explained why she needed to sleep: what Cleo did was not a neutral thing, but kind of malicious. Is Cleo...a Soviet plant?

Also:

I am not a Russian native speaker, but I worked in Eastern Europe for a number of years and went through some intense language training. The guy who plays Borgov is not a native speaker: his accent is worse than mine. What is up with that? So many other details are so authentic, and it would have been easy to get an actual Russian native speaker to play this guy, so I can't help but think this is a deliberate choice that must mean something.

I wondered about Cleo, too. I thought she was jealous of Beth's relationship with Benny.

PP again, has anyone read the book and does the book answer any of the questions on this thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SPOILER ALERT!!

Did Townes say he was gay or was it just inferred by her when the guy came in hotel room in Vegas? Did Townes say anything? I was distracted during that scene.

Unless I'm misremembering I thought when they saw each other in Moscow she said to him "You were going to be my 2nd" and he said something like "I should have told you". Did anyone else hear this? I was distracted by kids during the last episode.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I've just finished it.

Here's a thread that remains unresolved for me: what is up with Cleo? She seems so sinister in the way she urged Beth to stay up drinking after Beth explained why she needed to sleep: what Cleo did was not a neutral thing, but kind of malicious. Is Cleo...a Soviet plant?

Also:

I am not a Russian native speaker, but I worked in Eastern Europe for a number of years and went through some intense language training. The guy who plays Borgov is not a native speaker: his accent is worse than mine. What is up with that? So many other details are so authentic, and it would have been easy to get an actual Russian native speaker to play this guy, so I can't help but think this is a deliberate choice that must mean something.

I wondered about Cleo, too. I thought she was jealous of Beth's relationship with Benny.

Russian plant occurred to me too. Her showing up right before the final was very suspicious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I've just finished it.

Here's a thread that remains unresolved for me: what is up with Cleo? She seems so sinister in the way she urged Beth to stay up drinking after Beth explained why she needed to sleep: what Cleo did was not a neutral thing, but kind of malicious. Is Cleo...a Soviet plant?

Also:

I am not a Russian native speaker, but I worked in Eastern Europe for a number of years and went through some intense language training. The guy who plays Borgov is not a native speaker: his accent is worse than mine. What is up with that? So many other details are so authentic, and it would have been easy to get an actual Russian native speaker to play this guy, so I can't help but think this is a deliberate choice that must mean something.

I wondered about Cleo, too. I thought she was jealous of Beth's relationship with Benny.

Russian plant occurred to me too. Her showing up right before the final was very suspicious.

I am a native Russian speaker, Bogrov's accent is noticeable but light. The Russian accent of the "Russian chess prodigy" in Mexico was painful to hear, like a bad attempt at standup comedy.

As to the plant, wouldn't it be easier to have one in Russia than in Paris? I feel Cleo was jealous of Beth and also wanted to sleep with her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I've just finished it.

Here's a thread that remains unresolved for me: what is up with Cleo? She seems so sinister in the way she urged Beth to stay up drinking after Beth explained why she needed to sleep: what Cleo did was not a neutral thing, but kind of malicious. Is Cleo...a Soviet plant?

Also:

I am not a Russian native speaker, but I worked in Eastern Europe for a number of years and went through some intense language training. The guy who plays Borgov is not a native speaker: his accent is worse than mine. What is up with that? So many other details are so authentic, and it would have been easy to get an actual Russian native speaker to play this guy, so I can't help but think this is a deliberate choice that must mean something.

I wondered about Cleo, too. I thought she was jealous of Beth's relationship with Benny.

Russian plant occurred to me too. Her showing up right before the final was very suspicious.

I am a native Russian speaker, Bogrov's accent is noticeable but light. The Russian accent of the "Russian chess prodigy" in Mexico was painful to hear, like a bad attempt at standup comedy.

As to the plant, wouldn't it be easier to have one in Russia than in Paris? I feel Cleo was jealous of Beth and also wanted to sleep with her.

Beth had her US minder with her in Russia, so probably not as easy there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK, I've just finished it.

Here's a thread that remains unresolved for me: what is up with Cleo? She seems so sinister in the way she urged Beth to stay up drinking after Beth explained why she needed to sleep: what Cleo did was not a neutral thing, but kind of malicious. Is Cleo...a Soviet plant?

Also:

I am not a Russian native speaker, but I worked in Eastern Europe for a number of years and went through some intense language training. The guy who plays Borgov is not a native speaker: his accent is worse than mine. What is up with that? So many other details are so authentic, and it would have been easy to get an actual Russian native speaker to play this guy, so I can't help but think this is a deliberate choice that must mean something.

I wondered about Cleo, too. I thought she was jealous of Beth's relationship with Benny.

Russian plant occurred to me too. Her showing up right before the final was very suspicious.

I am a native Russian speaker, Bogrov's accent is noticeable but light. The Russian accent of the "Russian chess prodigy" in Mexico was painful to hear, like a bad attempt at standup comedy.

As to the plant, wouldn't it be easier to have one in Russia than in Paris? I feel Cleo was jealous of Beth and also wanted to sleep with her.

Beth had her US minder with her in Russia, so probably not as easy there.

Oh, forgot about him. The minder was terrible at his job - left her with Towson alone and then let her escape altogether to play chess.

[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?

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

Who was the man her real mom Alice was talking to before she died? What were they saying?

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."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was Beth adopted just so Mr. Wheatley could leave Alma and she wouldn't be alone? Both said it was the other's idea. It was actually a relief to me when he left because when they were all first in the headmistress's office, I thought for sure he was a pedophile.

Yes, I think so. It reminded me of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, when Kesley Grammar got Camille on the show so she'd have something before he left her. Especially when later he told Beth he got Mrs. Wheatley a piano but that didn't help. So, he got her Beth in the hopes she would help. Which she did. Beth came to be a very good daughter to her adoptive mom.