Queen's Gambit was a great premise but so much in the production didn't hang together. Just me personally, but I hate revisionist history. There were no female grandmasters in 1967. The first was in 1978. The men in Beth's life were so encouraging, which was not true for women trying to play chess in those days. The movie was filmed in Berlin and Montreal and the scenes in Russia looked totally fake, because they were. Beth didn't have anything near a Kentucky accent, which I'd think any decent actor would be able to pull off. I do have an interest in playing chess again, so there's that.

Some things seem so thought out and others are total throw aways.
The Cleo / KGB stuff. The closure with Townes helping her to see herself in a better light. Her relationship with Benny. talking about the apple pies and then getting invited episodes later. All of that is so nuanced or at least intentional and planned

Other things are just so unclear and not well planned.
But then they make a point to lie about her age with no consequences and no closure - she started in high school but why?
The time she steals the chess magazine, she does it by buying an newspaper. No way the mom didn't ask for the change.
The school would have noticed that she was "sick" all the days of the chess wins. And in the 60s would attendance have mattered? Couldn't the mom have just said "taking her from school" without the lies?
The hotel comping everything but the doctor saying it was hepititis. Clearly they are not responsible for that but they seem to think that they are at fault for that.

Anonymous wrote:I enjoyed this miniseries - especially the acting, the sets and costumes - but I wasn’t blown away by it like everyone else seems to be. I didn’t really think about it much afterward. It drew me in and it was beautiful and interesting to watch, but that’s it. Maybe it’s me, because clearly I’m in the minority.

+1
I felt the same way. I’m kind of astounded by all the glowing reviews it’s received. I thought it was pretty good, but there was so much about it I didn’t like.

Anonymous wrote:I enjoyed this miniseries - especially the acting, the sets and costumes - but I wasn’t blown away by it like everyone else seems to be. I didn’t really think about it much afterward. It drew me in and it was beautiful and interesting to watch, but that’s it. Maybe it’s me, because clearly I’m in the minority.

We binged it in two days. Loved it. Moved on. If I had the body and budget I’d be looking for many of those clothes, and a few of Midge’s from Ms Maisel.

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps she is socially awkward because she seems to have spent the first years of her life secluded with only her mentally ill mother for company or socialization. We didn't see her with other children until the orphanage.

Or she could have inherited a predisposition to mental illness. It is genetic sometimes.

Perhaps she is socially awkward because she seems to have spent the first years of her life secluded with only her mentally ill mother for company or socialization. We didn't see her with other children until the orphanage.

I enjoyed this miniseries - especially the acting, the sets and costumes - but I wasn’t blown away by it like everyone else seems to be. I didn’t really think about it much afterward. It drew me in and it was beautiful and interesting to watch, but that’s it. Maybe it’s me, because clearly I’m in the minority.

In the book, I found the fact that her best (only?) friend, Jolene, sexually assaulted her rather telling. And sad.

Beth hasn't experienced many good, supportive, non-abusive relationships at all, so her sense of what is normal is slightly askew.

I think Beth was just how her mind worked - she was no nonsense. She was into chess when no other girl was - of course she's different. She found something she loved to do and given she had nothing else it was all about focus on that. She functioned on a different plane because she was not into nonsense. Also her background left her shy and insecure. There was nothing wrong with her it was her personality that differed from most. She was an alcoholic and the orphanage created her drug dependency.

I think this is the best miniseries I've ever seen. Enjoyed characters, plot, acting, script, visuals. I loved the 7th episode tying everything together. It's the last damn episode but it was all consistent. Things came together for her because she was ready. She thre away the drugs. She got closure with Townes. She wasn't alone anymore because she was ready to accept the love from Jolene and Mr S. Ultimately this is not real life but TV so yeah a happy ending for the final episode to conclude was what I wanted to see. It all came together for her as she deserved it.

I wish I could forget so rewatch and love it again lol

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sad she never returned the custodian’s $10.

I think that's the point. All the coulda woulda shoulda, how she was incapable of being emotionally involved with anyone. He saved her yet again after his death when she saw how much he cared about her. Despite the $10.

NP. I don't want to get into the weeds of specific diagnoses, but I think the script including these points point more to RAD (based on trauma/abuse/neglect) than autism.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What bothers me is when one can't attribute genius to a "normal" person, there's often an explanation that points to a "disorder".

In my opinion, extreme success requires obsession, whether it be in chess, art, or athleticism - whatever. What gets a person to that point is usually interesting; I loved Beth's story.

It's not the genius its the other things that have been said in here again and again. Someone upthread listed like 7 examples of the social interactions which have nothing to do with the genius aspect. I'm sure there are plenty of genius people who don't struggle as much socially, but Beth was not one of those characters. Everyone agrees that she had a traumatic past but it just doesn't easily explain away all the other instances people have cited here. The bizarre instance that it definitely and cannot be autism is very odd here.

It's more a general statement about genius, and maybe I'm missing examples of where that's not the case. I guess my question is do you think that's what the original author or screenwriter was trying to convey? For it me it doesn't matter whether it's definitively Autism or not. She is a complicated character and that makes her interesting.

I don't know what the screenwriter was trying to portray. That maybe she could be on the spectrum was just a discussion point. Maybe she is, maybe not. She's obviously a complicated character who has demons she's fighting like addiction, loneliness, depression, etc. Some people thought they noticed some ASD quirks and for some reason that became controversial. Why? It doesn't take away from Beth's genius. She clearly is a chess prodigy and highly intelligent but that doesn't mean she can't also be on the spectrum. At this point I'm tired of talking about it. It doesn't matter if anyone disagrees but that someone/people just keep trying to shut the idea down without offering up any rationale for why they disagree has become interesting in its own regard as if it takes anything away from the character or its a dirty insulting accusation which it absolutely isn't.

No one said it’s a dirty, insulting accusation. People just disagree with you - why are you reading more to it than that?

I think that poster has a fixation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What bothers me is when one can't attribute genius to a "normal" person, there's often an explanation that points to a "disorder".

In my opinion, extreme success requires obsession, whether it be in chess, art, or athleticism - whatever. What gets a person to that point is usually interesting; I loved Beth's story.

It's not the genius its the other things that have been said in here again and again. Someone upthread listed like 7 examples of the social interactions which have nothing to do with the genius aspect. I'm sure there are plenty of genius people who don't struggle as much socially, but Beth was not one of those characters. Everyone agrees that she had a traumatic past but it just doesn't easily explain away all the other instances people have cited here. The bizarre instance that it definitely and cannot be autism is very odd here.

It's more a general statement about genius, and maybe I'm missing examples of where that's not the case. I guess my question is do you think that's what the original author or screenwriter was trying to convey? For it me it doesn't matter whether it's definitively Autism or not. She is a complicated character and that makes her interesting.

I don't know what the screenwriter was trying to portray. That maybe she could be on the spectrum was just a discussion point. Maybe she is, maybe not. She's obviously a complicated character who has demons she's fighting like addiction, loneliness, depression, etc. Some people thought they noticed some ASD quirks and for some reason that became controversial. Why? It doesn't take away from Beth's genius. She clearly is a chess prodigy and highly intelligent but that doesn't mean she can't also be on the spectrum. At this point I'm tired of talking about it. It doesn't matter if anyone disagrees but that someone/people just keep trying to shut the idea down without offering up any rationale for why they disagree has become interesting in its own regard as if it takes anything away from the character or its a dirty insulting accusation which it absolutely isn't.

No one said it’s a dirty, insulting accusation. People just disagree with you - why are you reading more to it than that?

Anonymous wrote:Back to the autism thing: I think the director intended it.

Interview?

Back to the autism thing: I think the director intended it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear god, can we move on and talk about something other than whether or not Beth has autism?

Did you know the actress who played Alma the adoptive mother, is actually a movie director?

She directed the recent A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks

and

Can you Ever Forgive Me? Starring Melissa Mccarthy. One of my all time favorite movies.

I thought her performance as Beth's mother was multi-faceted and brilliant. \\

New poster. Wait, what? I didn't watch Queen's Gambit when DH did, but now would go back and at least see some scenes with this actor/director in them. Both "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" and "Can You Ever Forgive Me" were terrifically done movies, to me. I didn't realize their director also acted so I'm curious. I am not a fan of Anya Taylor-Joy (though I know others do like her and my DD thinks she's briliiant), so I just wasn't keen on spending a whole series watching her, but I'd probably watch for the mom now.