For me it was the scene where the Janitor dies and she finds the little shrine he has for her, full of news clippings like a proud papa and she realizes how much he cared for her. That really hit me.
I think the part that is most touching is that (if I remember correctly) she kinda forgot about him, left him behind without thinking about him. She seemed to realized that this was wrong of her and it made her more aware of solicitous of the other people in her life.
The way this show ended was nearly perfect to me. They spent a lot of time building up Russians and their politics as being the bad guy, but in the end American politics were just as bad. Beth just wanted to play chess because she loves it and seeing the old Russian chess players so happy to meet her made me smile. They didn't care about politics or gender, they just love Chess and admire the talent that it takes to master it. My favorite show on Netflix so far.
He's right on about the gracious in defeat part. These men are the best in the world and yet they seem almost happy that they've been defeated. It's almost like they enjoy the game more than they enjoy the winning
@@serenityinside1 Nah. If we're outdone by a brilliant or creative move, it's a type of joy to be part of that. What losers are you hanging out with? 😄
@@Volthoom and I, equally arbitrarily, guarantee that you don't have to know someone personally to judge many types of reactions, in an age where cameras are a thing.
Another good point is that it's a limited series. There is a beginning, middle, and end. The creators don't have to come up with what will happen next season, which in many shows just gets ridiculous.
This "Go away now" was peaceful and friendly, just like this show. It gives you complex, but mostly likable characters and gives them interesting stories. I'm also happy that our Marcin Dorociński played well in it (he mostly has great roles in good movies in Poland, and it is not very common)
It all comes down to great writing and cinematography. That can make anything riveting and enjoyable. I watch an anime called Haikuu about a Japanese high school volleyball team. I know almost nothing about volleyball and care slightly less, but it’s one of the better anime I’ve seen.
Have to be honest, I didn't expect much of it, but it certainly overperformed to my expectations by a lot. The only reason I started watching it, was that I was bored, have played a lot of chess in my life and was intriqued by ATJ's beautiful alien face in this context. That last part got old really fast, but the acting and story was top notch, to keep me invested.
Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the few newer actors and actresses who has a shot at being viewed by many as one of the all-time greats. Powerhouse performances in nearly everything she is in.
I was confused because the show didn't have some ancilary character tell me how "amazing, strong, and brave" Anna's character was. I had to figure that out myself!
That janitor is problematic. He undermines the sheer perfection and sublime genius of the female MC by teaching her how to play chess instead of her learning it on her own. Oh, and he's also a man. That is unacceptable! We demand a re-write! -Twitter folks probably
@@robertx1603 To be fair, that's more just being good sports than anything else. That totally could have gone way further but it stops right at the cusp of respect and ass kissing.
My personal favorite character in this was the adoptive mother: a really unique take on feminine strengths and weaknesses. I expected she was going to be a mere trope, the middle class parent who couldn't understand why a girl would want to play a man's game. Instead, the story gave us something we'd pretty much never seen before: a flawed but ultimately likeable woman who saw something in her adoptive daughter she didn't understand, but that still made her curious and that she quickly learned to turn to her advantage. She was caring and selfish at the same time, not completely unlike the adopted daughter herself, and as a pair, each somehow made the other better while also being each other's undoing.
I have just watched four episodes on the bounce and am loving it. Its the adoptive mother that has grabbed my attention. She is clearly flawed, but some of the flawed are hidden behind subtlety. She knows good style and appearances, but clearly has to worry about money. Her forceful march to the department store to get clothes for Beth, shows someone who knows what is required, however she has to shop in the sales rack, buying clothes that woukd be ok but clearly too big to allow growing room. Also I noticed her playing beautiful piano after her husband has left, but when Beth places a hand on the lid of the piano its clearly dusty. She is a house proud mother seemingly down on her luck. These small details highlight the good writing.
A masterpiece for me. And the nuance of her childhood trauma and it’s impact of addictions and behaviors, woven through was so very well done. (E.g. her acknowledging she still owed the janitor $10 at his funeral.) the set design, lighting and wardrobe was beautiful in itself. Elevated everything. The last episode especially. And her playing chess in the park at the end. “Let’s play”.. for me, was her opening up and saying to the whole of life itself “let’s play” and welcoming it (life)with a smile. Genius.
I was struck by the drugstore owner who knew all along that she had stolen the chess magazine and kidded her about it years later. Little details like that really added to the story.
@@trequorfor me it was a major theme, the emotional abandonment by both her parents, attempted murder suicide at the beginning, car accident, laid the foundation for it all, the money, the obvious drinking, drugs and smoking, the 'burning it down' the night before big events, the funeral (recapitulation of her life in a way), loss of friends (but made amends and they all helped again at the end), the eventual admissions and facing the trauma in the last episode, tipping the pill out and facing life, free. (There is more, I'd have to watch it again, it's been a few years. But for me, it's one of, of not the central theme). Just depends on what lens you wear.
The one scene that really stuck out to me with her alcoholism is when she’s out with Benny Watts at a bar. He’s trying to talk to her about her chess playing but she keeps switching the topic to drinking and asks him if he’s going to finish his beer. At one point, he takes a beer away from her after she’s just had one before that and her eyes are completely focused on the bottle from the time he slides it over to himself to the time he sets it back down after begrudgingly taking a sip because he’s trying to keep her drinking down to a minimum. That bit with her being hyper-focused on the alcohol is almost EXACTLY how a cousin of mine who’s a recovering alcoholic described a moment in his life when he was out with his friends and all he really cared about was seeing where the waitress was with their drinks so he could get drunk.
I hang out in the board game scene, and we always mention the designers and artist when reviewing a game. It would probably be a good idea to mention the writers, producers, etc behind these movies and shows as well, so that these names will be more publicly known and their recognition will grow.
Since you mentioned board games...what amused me most about The Queen's Gambit is that the studio tried to capitalise on the growing themed board games by releasing a Queen's Gambit board game...so...a board game based on chess but it's not chess. WTF.
Star Wars walked away from that path long ago. Oh what could have been if we got the Thrawn trilogy instead of the Disney sequel trilogy. But I digress such is history now. Can't have a smart capable calculating villain. The original actors might have aged out of their roles but it still would have been much better than what we ended up with.
Chess player here. They got the visual and romantic aspects of chess right and it was nice to be treated with respect as a sport that is usualy used as a gimmick to say a character is smart. As you said Drinker they made the fights dynamics even for outsiders, and got a few references in for the chess fans without being intrusive in the show (like the Opera game in one of the blitz games). A good balance and a fantastic show
@@davidhoracek6758 Ok true, but that's for any sports show. How many boxing movies en in point decision ? ^^ I see your point but I was talking about the dynamics of "who is currently winning/loosing right now"
@@davidhoracek6758 Lol. I got into chess last year and was expecting intense back-and-forth tournaments. Instead, I watched players take 20 minutes before moving a pawn up one square.
@@Trewq79 They have some tournaments, from what I know, where there is a time limit to making a move. But I know little, so take that for what it's worth.
@@danm5911 It depends on the kind of chess tournament. "Blitz" tournaments have games that are around 10 minutes long. The classical style games (like this show) commonly range around 2-4 hours per game. It's definitely a mental endurance game at that point.
After seeing ATJ in a bunch of roles already i have to say i have a lot of appreciation for her... she really lets the characters shine... no generic modern attitudes.. no signs of her own personality influencing things... its all dedication
She’s similar to Beth in the Menu… the point about her being an escort is only important in so far as she works in service. She holds this whole life history that we know nothing about in her performance. I’ve become a big fan of her work since QG
Fun Fact : Before Netflix bought the rights of the book and turned it into a series, Heath Ledger actually had plans to adapt the book into a movie in which he would've directed it and starred Ellen Page (before she turned into a boy for sure)
Dude I loved this when it came out. The scene where she goes back to the orphanage and finds out the janitor was following her wins all those years was really good.
@@bobross1829 I meant that it wasn't radically changed to fit today's modern tropes of how females are supposed to be. You know, what the drinker said.
Really smart writing in this one. Beth is a nerd but growing up in the orphanage toughens her up so bullies don't have their way with her. She has a hard time fitting in with kids her age but is okay with it because of her single-minded determination on being the best chess player in the world. Even from an early age she likes winning but she has to learn how to lose, which as her adoptive mother points out happens more often. The characters she interacts with, especially her adoptive mother and Mr. Shaibel are very well written, each one having their own stuff to work out. The scene near the end where she goes to Mr. Shaibel's funeral and discovers he has been following her progress all along forces Beth to deal with a lot of pain she has compartmentalized and brought a tear to my eye. I watched it about a year and a half ago, then watched it again just recently. Good storytelling never goes out of style.
When it was released in 2020, I watched the first episode, and was stunned how well the writing and cinematography was done. I watched the remaining series nonstop and gushed to friends how well it was done. To this day, I still think it is one of the best miniseries I've ever seen.
I watched this on your recommendation, Drinker. Boy am I glad I did. I practically cheered when Beth takes that deep breath in her final match, looks to the ceiling, and she can see her mental chessboard again. It was heart wrenching at points watching this poor damaged young woman self destruct, but man was it satisfying when she pulled through. I honestly couldn't call the final episode - would she win? Would she do something unexpected and lose but have beaten her demons? I also liked how you see her evolve. She starts out so unemotional, but by the end you see her cry both from happiness and sadness. It was a brilliant show, cheers for the recommendation!
I also liked how even once she was nigh unbeatable at chess, there were still *styles* of chess (namely, speedchess) that she wasn't just inherently good at and had to work and be trained at separately. From the way it started, I was worried about it being an endlessly bleak and miserable story, but I was pleasantly surprised at the way it managed excitement and enjoyment even amidst tragedy.
My favorite scene in the entire series is the end of Beth's match with Luchenko (the Einstien looking fellow). It was an intense match, one that required help on both sides for each competitor. Beth didn't just magically come up with the solution on her own with magical girl powers. She sat down, adapted, and worked it out through the night. The best part being Luchenko's beautiful words of respect and admiration for her skill, and her response, which wasn't pretentious and rude like most Hollywood writers would conjure up, but one of grace and equal admiration for her opponent and the impact that he had on her chess career. Such a refreshing scene from a brilliant series.
I think Western writers, especially screenwriters, are a little bit hung up on the "gotcha moment". The WW II fighter pilot saying "Sayanara, sucker!" as he shoots down a Zero, James Bond making a snappy remark as the villain du jour gets his comeuppance, every single Bruce Willis character stating some variation of "Yippie-ki-yay, MFer." Japanese popular culture is different. I think there's something in the Bushido Code about having respect for your opponent. This comes out in movies and such as a sometimes comically trite post-combat scene where the combatants spend a few minutes gushing on how good one another are before the loser expires. Also, chess culture is that way. The game itself is more important than winning or losing in many ways. A little personal note. I am, or was since I haven't played more than a few games in the last 20 years, a competent chess player. Not great, but I probably could have been very good if I had ever actually applied myself to it. Back in the mid-1990s I started hanging out at a coffee shop on Seattle's Capitol Hill (right across the street from what would become the CHAZ/CHOP a quarter century later) and getting to know the chess players there. These guys were good. The sort who play a lot of speed chess. They accepted me as I was and were ready with pointers for ways to improve my game. Fun time, really. But the place also got a lot of college kids coming in looking to prove their talent and the crew used me to vet this herd if mostly neophyte players. They had to beat me before anyone else there would even bother with them. Two games from this setup stand out. The first was a kid with the common inability among starting players to see the entire board. The sort who concentrate so much on how they are going to attack you that they leave themselves wide open for a quick defeat. About 15 moves in I made a move threatening mate, like my next move would be mate and he had to respond to it. But he didn't. He moved to continue his attack development, not even seeing that he was in danger. I decided to give him some time to notice, pulled out my tobacco abs papers, deliberately rolled a cigarette, put the tobacco and papers back in my pocket, grabbed an ashtray, calmly lit the cig and took a long drag...and then made the mate move. Have you ever seen someone's face actually drop. His did. He had been studying the board intently while I had been going through the cigarette routine but it wasn't until I actually made the move that he even noticed. I was not feeling very charitable so I told him to just go home and learn to actually play well before coming back...or else stick with checkers. Another match was more satisfying. Again, a common mistake is thinking that casting is all the defense you need. Start with the classic P-KN1, N-B3, B-R3, 0-0... and you are impregnable. Nothing could be further from the truth, which is why only early players do that. Good players who intend to possibly castle will develop the center and castle at a later point if the opportunity to do so arises and there is something to be gained in doing so. That said, having a bishop at R3 is called a fianchetto and it's a potentially powerful formation. So, this one evening I got called over from a pleasant discussion I was having it someone about something to give some newb a tryout. He was White and immediately started with the castling sequence. So, I naturally started setting up an assault on that position. His fifth move was to finally start developing in the center but I was way ahead of his tempo by that point. About ten moves in I was lined up for a forced mate but it was 8 moves and his black bishop was on the king file, blocking my path. I had to get him to move it out of the way. So I attacked it with a pawn, leaving the knight the pawn had been covering unprotected. At this point he should have been suspicious. Why was I just giving him a knight for free? But no, he jumped on the knight and I started my attack. Moved, said "Check...Eight." His eyebrows shot up in confusion as he made his only possible move. "Check...Seven." Okay, I was going for style points. Sue me. "Check...Six." "Check...Five." All the way down to Kate. The I reset the board to the place where I had offered up my knight and explained to him exactly what I had done. The knight was bait and he had jumped at it because he was too focused on attacking and believed that being castled was a safe position.
I watched it for the first time fairly recently but it was on my watch list for years. I was crying by the end of it, which only happens if I've really connected with a story and its characters, suffering with them and their losses. It was clever and engaging and I wish more shows were released with that much thought put into them.
@@peetky8645 no doubt. I only signed up for disney + for the anime they bought. I was so pissed off. They have nothing good in their own catalogue these days so they have to swipe from other countries.
"it's almost like you can elevate women without denigrating men, who knew?" disney writers everywhere: LALALALALALALALALAAAAA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALA
Yeah, this is why I still have a Netflix subscription. For all their repeated horrible mistakes like live-action anime adaptations, they still sometimes produce some gems…especially if you don’t mind reading subtitles. A lot of their good stuff comes in Korean, or German, or Norwegian. To me, good cinema is good in any language and it’s actually nice to hear the rhythms of different languages.
If u see the real life person this is based on, i find it bizarre the casting? In teal life she was just a very regular looking woman , like a dignified aunt. Kinda ruins it when they insert an absolute beaufiful woman for snazzy glossy foto shoots.
Really so good? Never gave it a try. You know when a show does not attract you even tho you don't know why? Also I am not a fan of Anya so maybe that puts me off as well. But it is so good?
@@sicthemutt Judit Polgár??? Ive just read a messy article fumbling around the question?. Was she a real person? Ha. So its just totally made up??? Well netflix just got a green light for a whole new plethera of sh*t show series... Olivia rodriguez stars in first solo space flight of 60s russian astronaut Anya moluvevo, she finds herself alone in space , only she has got the skills & technical ability to get back. home
Everything about this show works, EXCEPT the main protagonist being a female. Chess competitions are not unisex for a reason! While there are probably millions of female that can beat most men, that is not true for the top level. Top 1000 chess players have always been just men.
I stumbled across this show on Netflix one night thinking it would be a pleasant background noise whilst I scrolled the screen on my phone. Within 5 minutes, I felt my interest enlarging. Within 10 minutes, I was invested. Invested enough to binge the whole show in one evening. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest miniseries to ever be produced. Hollywood would do well to take notes and start delivering well written characters and stories like this. 10/10
The show had so many layers to enjoy. One I loved is how her costumes basically symbolize her rise in the chess world. She starts of as a black pawn and ends as the white queen. Fabulous! And the set designers really hit it out of the park too.
agree! so much going on. the way her outfits made her look young and innocent vs. experienced and worldly was very well done. that final coat and white hat were amazing
I actually just finished watching this series last week. The only thing I will add is they did dismiss her as "just a girl" in the beginning. Both in the high school as a little girl and in her first chess tournment. Her sex was also punched on by the adoptive mother. But it wasn't an endless battery of hits. It was more of a product of the time. And when she showed she was competent in both living her life, earning income, and playing the game, there was no longer any doubt about her being a girl in a man's world. And, like I said, it was more of a commentary of societal views of the time instead of the characters being blatant misogynist assholes needing to be put in their place. Instead the film showed how they were wrong to pre-judge Beth and thus have a mini learning experience of their own. Wonderfully shot. Beautiful sets and costume design. A fairly decent score and excellent music selection. A thoughtful and engaging story told over a few episodes. I give it a solid 9/10.
Thanks for hitting this one, Drinker. Honestly I'd love to see a full 20 mins on this one. I was gripped by how tense the playing scenes were, and the flip flop between the legendary opponents playing mid games with her, defeating her and giving her the ultimate respect - with almost no dialogue spoken. The visuals of the chess pieces moving was masterful, the exploration of her distractions and let downs of her male partners, her adopted mother and in the end - as she peaks in her powers, she learned to respect what the game had given to her, and that she could master it and her life without the the crutches of codependence on people or subsstances. Anya Taylor-Joy is an IMMENSE talent.
so many things were done so well in this series, drinker should do a month long breakdown on dialog, lighting, set design and costumes for each segment.
it is an absolute masterpiece of storytelling that will grab you from start to finish. Acting is excellent, story is excellent, an undeniable work of art in its own goal.
The way in which you describe the audience being able to understand what’s going on through the actors’ expressions without understanding chess itself reminds me of the mahjong scene at the end of crazy rich Asians. I think that was really well done
She was an amazing lead. Obviously, she's lovely, but there is also how she moves that is fascinating. Minute movements and very controlled actions make her a joy to watch. She came off as human, and as you mentioned, we haven't been allowed to see a woman be human in a long time.
It's as close to flawless as anything I've seen. I'm not kidding. The dedication to quality on every dimension is unwavering. The plot, characters, dialog, acting, sets, costumes, historical reconstruction, editing, pacing, cinematography, themes, tone, symbolism, consistency... and it's entertaining & engrossing... it's nailed everything. It's just damn perfect. As mentioned in this review, despite many opportunities to do so, it never stoops to reaching for the cheap & easy way out - no agenda, heavy handed moralizing, or exaggerated _drama!._ it relentlessly stays committed to the story and the characters. It even shows her sex life without that becoming a dominant subplot - something you still almost never see. I was learning about color theory a few months after watching it, and had a "hey... wait a minute!" moment. I went back through it, and sure enough, it's a damn master class in color theory, scene after scene, episode after episode. The only flaws I could come up with are: 1. Even the greatest geniuses lose, but the show made it seem like winning & losing a single game can only happen if you're a better or worse player, rather than being determined by a win-loss record from LOTS of games. And worse, the show, save for the final game, the show doesn't seem to even acknowledge that draws occur in chess. (I'm happy to overlook this - doing it 100% right would've added complication and exposition that would've detracted from the story.) 2. The adult Jolene was a bit cliche. Not bad, but a noticeably less well written character compared to the others. 3. Nothing makes me cringe like a rousing Mission Control celebration. That was the only segment in the whole damn series that was actually bad. (Of course, they immediately made up for it with the Platonic Form of the perfect concluding scene.) I'm genuinely curious if anyone can find anything else that can be persuasively argued as being objectively flawed about this show.
Glad you took the time to make this review. I'm in total agreement with pretty much everything you said here, and it's pleasant to find that out about a series I took a chance on a while back and genuinely enjoyed for a change.
It's been a long time since I last watched this show but I remember really enjoying it... One thing I recall is being upset over the fact that we haven't seen more character development with the janitor who taught the main character to play chess in the basement. He didn't have much screen time, but I liked him, and wished to see some of his backstory, or just give him some more dialogue.
@Hostmann Socrates If you have a free weekend, I recommend binging it, it goes by real quick. And I don't remember there being any filler, it's just constant plot and character development.
@Hostmann Socrates best miniseries i have ever seen. excellent acting, casrting, costumes and set design. they captured the era very well. I grew up in KY in the 60's and the department stores and homes and schools were all perfectly done.
I love the cinematography in this show as well, everything has some soft of beauty to it, the lighting and camera angles are just perfect. Even the old janitor is well presented on camera.
Such an amazing show. It tells an interesting story with great characters with a protagonist learning and growing through struggles. Why is that so hard to find now a days?
Queen's gambit is an incredibly well done series to me. It's a great adaptation of the source material, the acting is top notch and it rekindled my love for chess again. This is one of the best TV shows I've ever watched.
agree- casting, acting, set design, costumes, dialog-- all top notch. i wrote the drinker maybe 15 comments to do a review after I saw it. I was glad he liked it.
I think what I love most about the series are the relationships Beth forms with the men she's competed with. It could have gone down the traditional route of them always holding their defeats against her in a negative manner and continually try to undermine her as she goes along, but no. They're actually incredibly supportive of her and become her biggest cheerleaders the higher she goes up the ladder. It's really interesting to watch them all interact and change and learn from each other, whether it be realizing they no longer love the game as much as they thought or even that they may have been a bit too short sighted in regard to what it's really about. It's a really great show.
I love your extra shot reviews. You tell us just enough of the story to get us interested and then the cliffhanger. Very well done good sir. Now I want to watch this movie.
Do eeeeeet! It is seems fantastical that a movie centered around frickin’ chess could capture the attention of an audience. It overcame that hurdle because it is that entertaining!
I finally just watched this, and it was absolutely one of the most enjoyable times I've had in front of a screen in years. I felt a wave of sadness when I realized I was watching the last episode of the series. Everything about this made me happy and gave me hope about future entertainment.
Same here, she's phenomenal in this. Which in turn has made me want to check out whatever project she's in from now on. Best part is that she's not choosing middle of the road scripts/movies - I can't say I've absolutely loved everything I've seen her in (through no fault of her own), but damn sure it's at least interesting! Take someone like Jennifer Lawrence for instance, who quite a few of her movies you know exactly what you're getting when you see that trailer. Not so for ATJ.
One of the best seasons of television I've ever seen. It has joined season one of True Detective in my Pantheon of Greatness. Plus, it's nice to hear you review something you enjoy. Thank you.
I have to say that the Queens Gambit is perhaps one of the BEST shows i have watched in a very long time, i know it came out sometime ago and i was very skeptical at the moment but i loved it! It was really well done, i was not really interested in watching it and i really like it! I only found out about this, because she was (The Actress) was on Peaky Blinders and i wanted to look her up, she is awesome as an actress this show had a TRUE depth, story and writing was just great.
The wardrobe and set design are a subtle perfect choices that complement the good narrative. Had my mom watch the show, she grew up in the era and was immediately impressed with the show's design and clothing choices.
My sister recommended this movie about a year ago - she also watched it on Netflix. At first I was hesitant, because I was tired of the Mary Sue Problem that was in Hollywood. But after your review...I'm gonna rent it and watch it. Thanks for highlighting good stories we can watch to know what good writing is!
Apparently the end game Beth has with Borgov is based on a real life game, but that game ended in a draw. Modern day GM reviewed that game and made it into a different result. Fair sure, Agamentor TH-cam channel reviews the chess games in the show, and goes into the actual moves, and who played the original game.
Many years ago, I used to watch CBS Sunday Morning, specifically to listen to John Leonard talk about whatever he was going to talk about. There's really not been anyone else that I have cared to listen to since Mr Leonard's passing, but I have to say that The Drinker fills that void. His shtick aside, his assessments and critiques are well thought-out, articulate and thought provoking.
Anya is a Joy and a great pick for The Queens Gambit. I got into it enough to start thinking it was based on someone real but fooled myself. We need more like it. Great pick Drinker.
I've been wanting to see you review this show ever since I saw it and I'm not disappointed with your thoughts. This is one of the best shows on Netflix and one of the best things to be made on the past few years! A show that truly understands how to develop a great character and that has been hable to turn chess matches into edge of your seat tense filled scenes! No need to talk about the performances, because everyone is amazing, especially Anya, Taylor-Joy, who is one of the best actors of this generation
A couple things I really loved: -Beth being very imperfect. She's dominant and talented, but she still has struggles to overcome -Mr. Shaibel NOT being a creep. I kept waiting for it. Media needs more good father figures -I really like that they didn't explain in depth. They allowed the intricacies of chess to go over our heads, but the show is so well acted that you understand. -They did a very good job of showing Beth's genius, with the chess pieces on the ceiling. -Just a really good job by the props and costume department. Really captured the aesthetic of the 60s
Yep, it's really good. And when you know that all the chess games are "real", I mean, they were constructed as real game chess, it adds an even more interesting layer to an already very well crafted TV show.
I grew up in louisville KY in a similar time period. the depiction of the shopping district, the buses, the school, and the department store were all spot on. well done! the radical black activist paralegal was a hoot in her Corvair.
I just loved Queens Gambit. A character I was rooting for. C'mon Beth, you can do it, I said on more than one occasion. And the ending. The conclusion was so good. She found herself and that elusive "meaning of life" A really good and emotional ending.
Excellent review, Drinker! I'm an amateur chess player, so I thoroughly enjoyed how the series managed showing the game. Aspects of it reminded me of the movie _Searching for Bobby Fisher_ (1993), based on the story of Joshua Waitzkin. It's very refresing to see a contemporary series that treats the characters with respect and properly develops a coherent story.
God this was such a good show. I really wish we could get more like this. It undoubtedly proves Hollywood wrong & shows that all we really crave is well written stories and characters.
When playing, a good chess game IS an edge of your seat sort of thing and there's a LOT of adrenaline. I used to play Hockey and I've never gotten nervously shaky and unable to think clearly when skating around whacking the Puck. I have gotten comments about how shaky I get when playing against someone who is giving me a really good game. It's really strange! I'm no World Master, but I'm pretty good when I play regularly, Chess is such a great game!
You mentioned that the show doesn't bog itself down with chess games and mechanics. I'm a professional chess coach. They had Gary Kasparov and Bruce Pandolfini as chess consultants to get the games right, how the actors sit, how they move pieces, how they hit clocks, everything. Every game the actors played is a famous game played by real famous players. In fact, I was able to ask my students to tell me which famous games they recognized. Almost all of them recognized the game vs. Benny in episode 6 because I teach all of them that game, the famous Opera Box Game, because it has so many good lessons for beginner students. So I just wanted to say that all your points about this show are true, but also, the makers of the show went the extra mile for those of us who live and love chess.
I did find it funny how many people came to me after this series premiered to ask why they'd never heard of this woman who was such a fantastic player that she obliterated all the men. Why was she not talked about? Why had she not inspired legions of women to play the game back then, when it was clear now that a woman was just as good at the game as a man. I had to explain, over and over and over again, that this woman did not actually exist. That the character was based primarily on Bobby Fischer... you know... a man. Some of them just deflated like punctured balloons when I told them this. A number of them fought me, saying they had heard this was a true story and I was simply in denial that the greatest chess player who ever lived was actually a woman. People are having an increasingly difficult time telling fact from fiction even when the fiction never purported to be fact. They simply NEEDED it to be true. I tried pointing them toward some really great female chess players like Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan, but that didn't seem to help.
Thank you for pointing out Beth and her chess mastery is make believe. If the primary character was a male played by a skillful actor, would the Drinker and the commenters have fawned over that character, too.
I've had this on my wish list just sitting there for a while, decided to finally start watching it and then literally the day after you do a video on it. I do wonder how many shows are still hidden away on Netflix or other streaming services, waiting for me to be surprised by them.
Incredible series, great review. ATJ is just ungodly talented and this showed it. Since other people are reading these comments, let me recommend one more sports show to you, and that's "Twenty-Five Twenty-One," a Korean show about a plucky girl fencer trying to make the school then national teams, with only one of the best fencers in Korea in her way. Short discriptions doesn't do it justice. Like "Queen," "25-21" is about people struggling to survive the financial crisis that destroyed the country for awhile, and their own struggles with competing and insecurities. The two female leads are fantastic as a wary friendship forms even though they know only one of them can be champion. The stars also trained months before shooting so they could do their own fencing work and they got good. You should really check it out.
Anya-Taylor Joy is a very great actress and i also loved her performance in The Witch and Last Night In Soho. And also can't wait to see her In & As Furiosa in George Miller film. Edit: Drinker if you loved The Queen's Gambit then you should also watch an underrated masterpiece, Pawn's Sacrifice with Tobey Maguire in the lead.
Pawn Sacrifice is an excellent film. Tobey Maguire looks absolutely nothing like Bobby Fischer but brings a really terrifying intensity to Fischer's florid mental illness.
Screen Two's The Grass Arena about John Healy is a great watch, especially paired with the more recent documentary Barbaric Genius. Plus Drinker would like him, he's an alky just like us. Doubt you will find it on the high seas, DVD can be found by shopping around.
For me it was the scene where the Janitor dies and she finds the little shrine he has for her, full of news clippings like a proud papa and she realizes how much he cared for her.
That really hit me.
Hits you right in the feels that bit.
Really does.
Excellently done.
Same. That was crushing.
I think the part that is most touching is that (if I remember correctly) she kinda forgot about him, left him behind without thinking about him. She seemed to realized that this was wrong of her and it made her more aware of solicitous of the other people in her life.
Thanks, I haven't watched it yet.
I watched the whole series but never saw that bit
The way this show ended was nearly perfect to me. They spent a lot of time building up Russians and their politics as being the bad guy, but in the end American politics were just as bad. Beth just wanted to play chess because she loves it and seeing the old Russian chess players so happy to meet her made me smile. They didn't care about politics or gender, they just love Chess and admire the talent that it takes to master it. My favorite show on Netflix so far.
Same. Especially the one last dude, not looking for autographs from celebrities but taking the one and only chance to compete with the master.
He's right on about the gracious in defeat part. These men are the best in the world and yet they seem almost happy that they've been defeated. It's almost like they enjoy the game more than they enjoy the winning
Which is utterly unrealistic!
@@serenityinside1 Nah. If we're outdone by a brilliant or creative move, it's a type of joy to be part of that.
What losers are you hanging out with? 😄
@@Iron-Bridge I guarantee that no Soviet-era Russian grandmaster ever took any joy in losing. Dachas were for closers.
@@johnkeck307 And how many Russian grandmasters do you know on a deep personal level to guarantee that? Just checking.
@@Volthoom and I, equally arbitrarily, guarantee that you don't have to know someone personally to judge many types of reactions, in an age where cameras are a thing.
Another good point is that it's a limited series. There is a beginning, middle, and end. The creators don't have to come up with what will happen next season, which in many shows just gets ridiculous.
This is a huge part of telling a good story. There needs to be a conclusion, not simply a death march to the next season.
Post-credit scene: Gets a phone call from the President, she must go to China and beat the top Chinese Checkers player. For America
@@LucaChuck25Oh you joke, but this is literally why Fast and the Furious is on the 10th movie now. They never stop raising the stakes.
I completely agree.
You would love Dark. A beginning, a middle, an end. All three seasons thought through from the start. #masterpiece
This "Go away now" was peaceful and friendly, just like this show. It gives you complex, but mostly likable characters and gives them interesting stories.
I'm also happy that our Marcin Dorociński played well in it (he mostly has great roles in good movies in Poland, and it is not very common)
Like a grandpa telling the kids to go now, the story is done. :p
Who would have thought that a show based around chess could be so exhilarating?
That is exactly what I was coming here to post
Tough to do with chess, last time I really remember enjoying a movie about chess was 'Searching For Bobby Fischer'
It all comes down to great writing and cinematography. That can make anything riveting and enjoyable. I watch an anime called Haikuu about a Japanese high school volleyball team. I know almost nothing about volleyball and care slightly less, but it’s one of the better anime I’ve seen.
If they can make a musical about it, then...
Have to be honest, I didn't expect much of it, but it certainly overperformed to my expectations by a lot. The only reason I started watching it, was that I was bored, have played a lot of chess in my life and was intriqued by ATJ's beautiful alien face in this context. That last part got old really fast, but the acting and story was top notch, to keep me invested.
Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the few newer actors and actresses who has a shot at being viewed by many as one of the all-time greats. Powerhouse performances in nearly everything she is in.
That's because she's intelligent in real life.
both Taylor Joy and Timothée Chalamet are the top young actress on the stage RN
Everything I've seen her in she's in every way a more compelling female performer than Margot Robbie. She's much more deserving of "it-girl" status.
I was confused because the show didn't have some ancilary character tell me how "amazing, strong, and brave" Anna's character was. I had to figure that out myself!
Not to mention the fact that she wasn’t born knowing how to play chess like a Grandmaster.
That janitor is problematic. He undermines the sheer perfection and sublime genius of the female MC by teaching her how to play chess instead of her learning it on her own. Oh, and he's also a man. That is unacceptable! We demand a re-write!
-Twitter folks probably
All of her main opponents heap praise and validation on Beth. To me it was the only part of the show that was a bit over-done.
@@robertx1603
To be fair, that's more just being good sports than anything else. That totally could have gone way further but it stops right at the cusp of respect and ass kissing.
Her friend that she started sleeping with found her toxic. That seemed realistic!
My personal favorite character in this was the adoptive mother: a really unique take on feminine strengths and weaknesses. I expected she was going to be a mere trope, the middle class parent who couldn't understand why a girl would want to play a man's game. Instead, the story gave us something we'd pretty much never seen before: a flawed but ultimately likeable woman who saw something in her adoptive daughter she didn't understand, but that still made her curious and that she quickly learned to turn to her advantage. She was caring and selfish at the same time, not completely unlike the adopted daughter herself, and as a pair, each somehow made the other better while also being each other's undoing.
I have just watched four episodes on the bounce and am loving it. Its the adoptive mother that has grabbed my attention. She is clearly flawed, but some of the flawed are hidden behind subtlety. She knows good style and appearances, but clearly has to worry about money. Her forceful march to the department store to get clothes for Beth, shows someone who knows what is required, however she has to shop in the sales rack, buying clothes that woukd be ok but clearly too big to allow growing room. Also I noticed her playing beautiful piano after her husband has left, but when Beth places a hand on the lid of the piano its clearly dusty. She is a house proud mother seemingly down on her luck. These small details highlight the good writing.
A masterpiece for me. And the nuance of her childhood trauma and it’s impact of addictions and behaviors, woven through was so very well done. (E.g. her acknowledging she still owed the janitor $10 at his funeral.) the set design, lighting and wardrobe was beautiful in itself. Elevated everything. The last episode especially. And her playing chess in the park at the end. “Let’s play”.. for me, was her opening up and saying to the whole of life itself “let’s play” and welcoming it (life)with a smile. Genius.
I was struck by the drugstore owner who knew all along that she had stolen the chess magazine and kidded her about it years later. Little details like that really added to the story.
I have to disagree. Her addiction wasnt woven through at all. It arrived and vanished as the writers willed.
@@trequorfor me it was a major theme, the emotional abandonment by both her parents, attempted murder suicide at the beginning, car accident, laid the foundation for it all, the money, the obvious drinking, drugs and smoking, the 'burning it down' the night before big events, the funeral (recapitulation of her life in a way), loss of friends (but made amends and they all helped again at the end), the eventual admissions and facing the trauma in the last episode, tipping the pill out and facing life, free. (There is more, I'd have to watch it again, it's been a few years. But for me, it's one of, of not the central theme). Just depends on what lens you wear.
The one scene that really stuck out to me with her alcoholism is when she’s out with Benny Watts at a bar. He’s trying to talk to her about her chess playing but she keeps switching the topic to drinking and asks him if he’s going to finish his beer. At one point, he takes a beer away from her after she’s just had one before that and her eyes are completely focused on the bottle from the time he slides it over to himself to the time he sets it back down after begrudgingly taking a sip because he’s trying to keep her drinking down to a minimum. That bit with her being hyper-focused on the alcohol is almost EXACTLY how a cousin of mine who’s a recovering alcoholic described a moment in his life when he was out with his friends and all he really cared about was seeing where the waitress was with their drinks so he could get drunk.
The only problem with the show is that women aren't good at chess
I hang out in the board game scene, and we always mention the designers and artist when reviewing a game. It would probably be a good idea to mention the writers, producers, etc behind these movies and shows as well, so that these names will be more publicly known and their recognition will grow.
agreed
Since you mentioned board games...what amused me most about The Queen's Gambit is that the studio tried to capitalise on the growing themed board games by releasing a Queen's Gambit board game...so...a board game based on chess but it's not chess. WTF.
"To defeat your enemies, you must know them. Not simply their tactics but their history, philosophy,... *art."* - Grand Admiral Thrawn
Thats what worries me about ChatGPT…
Love Thrawn!
Having enemies is not entirely up to you tho is it.
Star Wars walked away from that path long ago. Oh what could have been if we got the Thrawn trilogy instead of the Disney sequel trilogy. But I digress such is history now. Can't have a smart capable calculating villain. The original actors might have aged out of their roles but it still would have been much better than what we ended up with.
Truly a man of culture.
The Queen's Gambit is truly sublime. I recently watched it for the second time and realized how much I love it.
Chess player here. They got the visual and romantic aspects of chess right and it was nice to be treated with respect as a sport that is usualy used as a gimmick to say a character is smart. As you said Drinker they made the fights dynamics even for outsiders, and got a few references in for the chess fans without being intrusive in the show (like the Opera game in one of the blitz games). A good balance and a fantastic show
Yeah, right, real chess dynamics. How many draws did you see in the show?
@@davidhoracek6758 Ok true, but that's for any sports show. How many boxing movies en in point decision ? ^^
I see your point but I was talking about the dynamics of "who is currently winning/loosing right now"
@@davidhoracek6758 Lol. I got into chess last year and was expecting intense back-and-forth tournaments. Instead, I watched players take 20 minutes before moving a pawn up one square.
@@Trewq79 They have some tournaments, from what I know, where there is a time limit to making a move. But I know little, so take that for what it's worth.
@@danm5911 It depends on the kind of chess tournament. "Blitz" tournaments have games that are around 10 minutes long. The classical style games (like this show) commonly range around 2-4 hours per game.
It's definitely a mental endurance game at that point.
After seeing ATJ in a bunch of roles already i have to say i have a lot of appreciation for her... she really lets the characters shine... no generic modern attitudes.. no signs of her own personality influencing things... its all dedication
She was great in Split, where I think you could argue she was the lead or at least the co lead. Strong female character without being preachy
She’s similar to Beth in the Menu… the point about her being an escort is only important in so far as she works in service. She holds this whole life history that we know nothing about in her performance. I’ve become a big fan of her work since QG
Fun Fact : Before Netflix bought the rights of the book and turned it into a series, Heath Ledger actually had plans to adapt the book into a movie in which he would've directed it and starred Ellen Page (before she turned into a boy for sure)
Damn, I so would have watched that!
I'd say it will age much better on this iteration
Thank God that didn't happen.
She never turned into a boy. She mutilated her boy to look like one.
She's still a girl, just got some stuff sliced off.
Dude I loved this when it came out. The scene where she goes back to the orphanage and finds out the janitor was following her wins all those years was really good.
it made me a little sad that she had never reached out to him before he died. i think that pain and guilt helped mature the character.
she never sent the 10 bucks tho
As the author of the book said, the story was partially based on the life and career of infamous chess player Bobby Fischer
@Cristian Araujo Fischer was right about them.
Fischer was way, way, way more unhinged that Harmon, even at her lowest in the series.
Did he pay back the janitor? Cause that was kind of a dick move.
Walter Tevis, right? I've heard it's an incredibly good book.
Weird they had to use the real life story of a boy chess prodigy to tell their fictional story about a girl chess prodigy.
This show feels like it was made decades ago. Great series
That is because the book was written in the 1960's, and you can tell by how well done the story is.
@@bobross1829 I meant that it wasn't radically changed to fit today's modern tropes of how females are supposed to be. You know, what the drinker said.
@@bobross1829 That actually says a lot on how great this story is.
There was a Black woman in it though, isnt that a problem for y'all?
@@witchplease9695 seems to only be a problem for you since you are the only one who mentioned it.
Really smart writing in this one. Beth is a nerd but growing up in the orphanage toughens her up so bullies don't have their way with her. She has a hard time fitting in with kids her age but is okay with it because of her single-minded determination on being the best chess player in the world. Even from an early age she likes winning but she has to learn how to lose, which as her adoptive mother points out happens more often. The characters she interacts with, especially her adoptive mother and Mr. Shaibel are very well written, each one having their own stuff to work out. The scene near the end where she goes to Mr. Shaibel's funeral and discovers he has been following her progress all along forces Beth to deal with a lot of pain she has compartmentalized and brought a tear to my eye. I watched it about a year and a half ago, then watched it again just recently. Good storytelling never goes out of style.
The way it’s shot, the locations chosen, the music the costumes it’s all absolutely brilliant.
I grew up in louisville KY in this era- the department store, the main street, the schools were all spot on. her outfits were awesome.
When it was released in 2020, I watched the first episode, and was stunned how well the writing and cinematography was done. I watched the remaining series nonstop and gushed to friends how well it was done.
To this day, I still think it is one of the best miniseries I've ever seen.
I watched this on your recommendation, Drinker. Boy am I glad I did. I practically cheered when Beth takes that deep breath in her final match, looks to the ceiling, and she can see her mental chessboard again. It was heart wrenching at points watching this poor damaged young woman self destruct, but man was it satisfying when she pulled through. I honestly couldn't call the final episode - would she win? Would she do something unexpected and lose but have beaten her demons? I also liked how you see her evolve. She starts out so unemotional, but by the end you see her cry both from happiness and sadness. It was a brilliant show, cheers for the recommendation!
I also liked how even once she was nigh unbeatable at chess, there were still *styles* of chess (namely, speedchess) that she wasn't just inherently good at and had to work and be trained at separately.
From the way it started, I was worried about it being an endlessly bleak and miserable story, but I was pleasantly surprised at the way it managed excitement and enjoyment even amidst tragedy.
My favorite scene in the entire series is the end of Beth's match with Luchenko (the Einstien looking fellow). It was an intense match, one that required help on both sides for each competitor. Beth didn't just magically come up with the solution on her own with magical girl powers. She sat down, adapted, and worked it out through the night. The best part being Luchenko's beautiful words of respect and admiration for her skill, and her response, which wasn't pretentious and rude like most Hollywood writers would conjure up, but one of grace and equal admiration for her opponent and the impact that he had on her chess career. Such a refreshing scene from a brilliant series.
I think Western writers, especially screenwriters, are a little bit hung up on the "gotcha moment". The WW II fighter pilot saying "Sayanara, sucker!" as he shoots down a Zero, James Bond making a snappy remark as the villain du jour gets his comeuppance, every single Bruce Willis character stating some variation of "Yippie-ki-yay, MFer." Japanese popular culture is different. I think there's something in the Bushido Code about having respect for your opponent. This comes out in movies and such as a sometimes comically trite post-combat scene where the combatants spend a few minutes gushing on how good one another are before the loser expires.
Also, chess culture is that way. The game itself is more important than winning or losing in many ways. A little personal note. I am, or was since I haven't played more than a few games in the last 20 years, a competent chess player. Not great, but I probably could have been very good if I had ever actually applied myself to it. Back in the mid-1990s I started hanging out at a coffee shop on Seattle's Capitol Hill (right across the street from what would become the CHAZ/CHOP a quarter century later) and getting to know the chess players there. These guys were good. The sort who play a lot of speed chess. They accepted me as I was and were ready with pointers for ways to improve my game. Fun time, really. But the place also got a lot of college kids coming in looking to prove their talent and the crew used me to vet this herd if mostly neophyte players. They had to beat me before anyone else there would even bother with them. Two games from this setup stand out. The first was a kid with the common inability among starting players to see the entire board. The sort who concentrate so much on how they are going to attack you that they leave themselves wide open for a quick defeat. About 15 moves in I made a move threatening mate, like my next move would be mate and he had to respond to it. But he didn't. He moved to continue his attack development, not even seeing that he was in danger. I decided to give him some time to notice, pulled out my tobacco abs papers, deliberately rolled a cigarette, put the tobacco and papers back in my pocket, grabbed an ashtray, calmly lit the cig and took a long drag...and then made the mate move. Have you ever seen someone's face actually drop. His did. He had been studying the board intently while I had been going through the cigarette routine but it wasn't until I actually made the move that he even noticed. I was not feeling very charitable so I told him to just go home and learn to actually play well before coming back...or else stick with checkers.
Another match was more satisfying. Again, a common mistake is thinking that casting is all the defense you need. Start with the classic P-KN1, N-B3, B-R3, 0-0... and you are impregnable. Nothing could be further from the truth, which is why only early players do that. Good players who intend to possibly castle will develop the center and castle at a later point if the opportunity to do so arises and there is something to be gained in doing so. That said, having a bishop at R3 is called a fianchetto and it's a potentially powerful formation. So, this one evening I got called over from a pleasant discussion I was having it someone about something to give some newb a tryout. He was White and immediately started with the castling sequence. So, I naturally started setting up an assault on that position. His fifth move was to finally start developing in the center but I was way ahead of his tempo by that point. About ten moves in I was lined up for a forced mate but it was 8 moves and his black bishop was on the king file, blocking my path. I had to get him to move it out of the way. So I attacked it with a pawn, leaving the knight the pawn had been covering unprotected. At this point he should have been suspicious. Why was I just giving him a knight for free? But no, he jumped on the knight and I started my attack. Moved, said "Check...Eight." His eyebrows shot up in confusion as he made his only possible move. "Check...Seven." Okay, I was going for style points. Sue me. "Check...Six." "Check...Five." All the way down to Kate. The I reset the board to the place where I had offered up my knight and explained to him exactly what I had done. The knight was bait and he had jumped at it because he was too focused on attacking and believed that being castled was a safe position.
Take notes Hollywood; this is how you write a compelling female lead.
Hollywood won’t listen. Not that most of us care.
isn't this show hollywood? or do you think the directors and writers of this series were plucked of the street.
@@chocochib9913
Flew right over your head, didn't it? 🙃
Tbh though all of this is basically based on real life man so it is still a gender swap in the end
@@jormungandr4690absolutely not.
Have you seen Akeelah and the Bee, Drinker? They somehow made a movie about a spelling bee a super compelling and interesting narrative.
I watched it for the first time fairly recently but it was on my watch list for years. I was crying by the end of it, which only happens if I've really connected with a story and its characters, suffering with them and their losses. It was clever and engaging and I wish more shows were released with that much thought put into them.
if disney put out stuff even 1/10th this good, they wouldn't be in such a pickle.
@@peetky8645 no doubt. I only signed up for disney + for the anime they bought. I was so pissed off. They have nothing good in their own catalogue these days so they have to swipe from other countries.
"it's almost like you can elevate women without denigrating men, who knew?"
disney writers everywhere: LALALALALALALALALAAAAA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALA
It's an absolutely magnificent TV show, the best I saw since many years, maybe even a decade. Not to mention the great soundtrack. Flawless.
Yeah, this is why I still have a Netflix subscription. For all their repeated horrible mistakes like live-action anime adaptations, they still sometimes produce some gems…especially if you don’t mind reading subtitles. A lot of their good stuff comes in Korean, or German, or Norwegian. To me, good cinema is good in any language and it’s actually nice to hear the rhythms of different languages.
Also worth mentioning the fashion and the decor, which were superb and gave the series a sense of time and place.
Everything about this show is brilliant. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s not yet seen it.
If u see the real life person this is based on, i find it bizarre the casting? In teal life she was just a very regular looking woman , like a dignified aunt. Kinda ruins it when they insert an absolute beaufiful woman for snazzy glossy foto shoots.
Really so good? Never gave it a try. You know when a show does not attract you even tho you don't know why?
Also I am not a fan of Anya so maybe that puts me off as well.
But it is so good?
@@armondtanz in real life it was a man
@@sicthemutt Judit Polgár???
Ive just read a messy article fumbling around the question?. Was she a real person?
Ha. So its just totally made up???
Well netflix just got a green light for a whole new plethera of sh*t show series...
Olivia rodriguez stars in first solo space flight of 60s russian astronaut Anya moluvevo, she finds herself alone in space , only she has got the skills & technical ability to get back. home
Everything about this show works, EXCEPT the main protagonist being a female.
Chess competitions are not unisex for a reason! While there are probably millions of female that can beat most men, that is not true for the top level. Top 1000 chess players have always been just men.
I stumbled across this show on Netflix one night thinking it would be a pleasant background noise whilst I scrolled the screen on my phone. Within 5 minutes, I felt my interest enlarging. Within 10 minutes, I was invested. Invested enough to binge the whole show in one evening. In my opinion, this is one of the greatest miniseries to ever be produced. Hollywood would do well to take notes and start delivering well written characters and stories like this. 10/10
The show had so many layers to enjoy. One I loved is how her costumes basically symbolize her rise in the chess world. She starts of as a black pawn and ends as the white queen. Fabulous! And the set designers really hit it out of the park too.
agree! so much going on. the way her outfits made her look young and innocent vs. experienced and worldly was very well done. that final coat and white hat were amazing
I actually just finished watching this series last week. The only thing I will add is they did dismiss her as "just a girl" in the beginning. Both in the high school as a little girl and in her first chess tournment. Her sex was also punched on by the adoptive mother. But it wasn't an endless battery of hits. It was more of a product of the time. And when she showed she was competent in both living her life, earning income, and playing the game, there was no longer any doubt about her being a girl in a man's world. And, like I said, it was more of a commentary of societal views of the time instead of the characters being blatant misogynist assholes needing to be put in their place. Instead the film showed how they were wrong to pre-judge Beth and thus have a mini learning experience of their own. Wonderfully shot. Beautiful sets and costume design. A fairly decent score and excellent music selection. A thoughtful and engaging story told over a few episodes. I give it a solid 9/10.
Great series. Wasn’t bored once. Joy is an excellent actress.
Edit: and the younger actress was great too
Yeah, all the casting was superb. God knows how long it must have taken to find the younger version of Anya that could match her acting too.
I was amazed how well they youthed and aged her through the series by changing makeup and wardrobe plus her change in mannerisms/
Thanks for hitting this one, Drinker. Honestly I'd love to see a full 20 mins on this one. I was gripped by how tense the playing scenes were, and the flip flop between the legendary opponents playing mid games with her, defeating her and giving her the ultimate respect - with almost no dialogue spoken. The visuals of the chess pieces moving was masterful, the exploration of her distractions and let downs of her male partners, her adopted mother and in the end - as she peaks in her powers, she learned to respect what the game had given to her, and that she could master it and her life without the the crutches of codependence on people or subsstances. Anya Taylor-Joy is an IMMENSE talent.
so many things were done so well in this series, drinker should do a month long breakdown on dialog, lighting, set design and costumes for each segment.
it is an absolute masterpiece of storytelling that will grab you from start to finish. Acting is excellent, story is excellent, an undeniable work of art in its own goal.
The way in which you describe the audience being able to understand what’s going on through the actors’ expressions without understanding chess itself reminds me of the mahjong scene at the end of crazy rich Asians. I think that was really well done
She was an amazing lead. Obviously, she's lovely, but there is also how she moves that is fascinating. Minute movements and very controlled actions make her a joy to watch. She came off as human, and as you mentioned, we haven't been allowed to see a woman be human in a long time.
It's as close to flawless as anything I've seen. I'm not kidding. The dedication to quality on every dimension is unwavering. The plot, characters, dialog, acting, sets, costumes, historical reconstruction, editing, pacing, cinematography, themes, tone, symbolism, consistency... and it's entertaining & engrossing... it's nailed everything. It's just damn perfect. As mentioned in this review, despite many opportunities to do so, it never stoops to reaching for the cheap & easy way out - no agenda, heavy handed moralizing, or exaggerated _drama!._ it relentlessly stays committed to the story and the characters. It even shows her sex life without that becoming a dominant subplot - something you still almost never see. I was learning about color theory a few months after watching it, and had a "hey... wait a minute!" moment. I went back through it, and sure enough, it's a damn master class in color theory, scene after scene, episode after episode.
The only flaws I could come up with are:
1. Even the greatest geniuses lose, but the show made it seem like winning & losing a single game can only happen if you're a better or worse player, rather than being determined by a win-loss record from LOTS of games. And worse, the show, save for the final game, the show doesn't seem to even acknowledge that draws occur in chess. (I'm happy to overlook this - doing it 100% right would've added complication and exposition that would've detracted from the story.)
2. The adult Jolene was a bit cliche. Not bad, but a noticeably less well written character compared to the others.
3. Nothing makes me cringe like a rousing Mission Control celebration. That was the only segment in the whole damn series that was actually bad. (Of course, they immediately made up for it with the Platonic Form of the perfect concluding scene.)
I'm genuinely curious if anyone can find anything else that can be persuasively argued as being objectively flawed about this show.
One of the best mini series I have ever watched. Really loved it. Thanks for another amazing review. 👏🏻
Glad you took the time to make this review. I'm in total agreement with pretty much everything you said here, and it's pleasant to find that out about a series I took a chance on a while back and genuinely enjoyed for a change.
It's been a long time since I last watched this show but I remember really enjoying it...
One thing I recall is being upset over the fact that we haven't seen more character development with the janitor who taught the main character to play chess in the basement. He didn't have much screen time, but I liked him, and wished to see some of his backstory, or just give him some more dialogue.
@Hostmann Socrates If you have a free weekend, I recommend binging it, it goes by real quick. And I don't remember there being any filler, it's just constant plot and character development.
@Hostmann Socrates best miniseries i have ever seen. excellent acting, casrting, costumes and set design. they captured the era very well. I grew up in KY in the 60's and the department stores and homes and schools were all perfectly done.
I love the cinematography in this show as well, everything has some soft of beauty to it, the lighting and camera angles are just perfect. Even the old janitor is well presented on camera.
It is one of the best series I have seen a very long time. Worth every minute.
Such an amazing show. It tells an interesting story with great characters with a protagonist learning and growing through struggles. Why is that so hard to find now a days?
Queen's gambit is an incredibly well done series to me. It's a great adaptation of the source material, the acting is top notch and it rekindled my love for chess again. This is one of the best TV shows I've ever watched.
agree- casting, acting, set design, costumes, dialog-- all top notch. i wrote the drinker maybe 15 comments to do a review after I saw it. I was glad he liked it.
I think what I love most about the series are the relationships Beth forms with the men she's competed with. It could have gone down the traditional route of them always holding their defeats against her in a negative manner and continually try to undermine her as she goes along, but no. They're actually incredibly supportive of her and become her biggest cheerleaders the higher she goes up the ladder. It's really interesting to watch them all interact and change and learn from each other, whether it be realizing they no longer love the game as much as they thought or even that they may have been a bit too short sighted in regard to what it's really about.
It's a really great show.
I love your extra shot reviews. You tell us just enough of the story to get us interested and then the cliffhanger. Very well done good sir. Now I want to watch this movie.
Do eeeeeet! It is seems fantastical that a movie centered around frickin’ chess could capture the attention of an audience. It overcame that hurdle because it is that entertaining!
so good. maybe the best miniseries ever.
This actress has a really good eye for picking good scripts. She's also a great actress . I see good things in her future. Good for her
the script changed very little from the novel
The Queen's Gambit is basically the hero's journey meets professional chess in place of warfare.
I finally just watched this, and it was absolutely one of the most enjoyable times I've had in front of a screen in years. I felt a wave of sadness when I realized I was watching the last episode of the series. Everything about this made me happy and gave me hope about future entertainment.
Brilliant show. Brilliant actress.
Loved this show, for all the reasons you mentioned. I went in not expecting much, but was very pleased.
I was bored and decided to watch the first episode a while back. I was hooked. I have watched everything Joy's been in since.
Same here, she's phenomenal in this. Which in turn has made me want to check out whatever project she's in from now on. Best part is that she's not choosing middle of the road scripts/movies - I can't say I've absolutely loved everything I've seen her in (through no fault of her own), but damn sure it's at least interesting! Take someone like Jennifer Lawrence for instance, who quite a few of her movies you know exactly what you're getting when you see that trailer. Not so for ATJ.
One of the best seasons of television I've ever seen. It has joined season one of True Detective in my Pantheon of Greatness.
Plus, it's nice to hear you review something you enjoy. Thank you.
Queen's Gambit is one of the best stories I've seen in years. Absolutely flawless.
the short novel was written in the 60's and is good too.
I have to say that the Queens Gambit is perhaps one of the BEST shows i have watched in a very long time, i know it came out sometime ago and i was very skeptical at the moment but i loved it! It was really well done, i was not really interested in watching it and i really like it! I only found out about this, because she was (The Actress) was on Peaky Blinders and i wanted to look her up, she is awesome as an actress this show had a TRUE depth, story and writing was just great.
Joy’s best acting for sure! Although Last Night in Soho was great too
She’s a great actor
A good script does help, as I've seen her in other media and she wasn't great there. Here, she shines in a beautful solo role. Big props.
@@pinobluevogel6458 what has she been poor in? Not doubting you just wondering.
last night in soho was so good, totally didn't expect it
@@jamescarr1265 she was in "New Mutants" but noone could have save that one.
It’s amazing how often the symbolism of the janitor/ maintenance guy mentor thing pops up.
Such a great series. One of my favorites. The emotion in the acting feels so real
The wardrobe and set design are a subtle perfect choices that complement the good narrative. Had my mom watch the show, she grew up in the era and was immediately impressed with the show's design and clothing choices.
Anya Taylor Joy is a fantastic performer.
We will watch her career with great interest.
I recently saw her in The Menu. Great movie and she was the best part of it.
@@barbiquearea Watched it yesterday and I think the movie wouldn't be as good as it is without her. She really is a star
@@vindobonaification she's single handedly redefining the final girl. She was great in split too.
My sister recommended this movie about a year ago - she also watched it on Netflix. At first I was hesitant, because I was tired of the Mary Sue Problem that was in Hollywood. But after your review...I'm gonna rent it and watch it. Thanks for highlighting good stories we can watch to know what good writing is!
Funny timing, I’m big into chess and just started playing again and then saw this on Netflix. Really good and actually has good chess in it!
Apparently the end game Beth has with Borgov is based on a real life game, but that game ended in a draw.
Modern day GM reviewed that game and made it into a different result.
Fair sure, Agamentor TH-cam channel reviews the chess games in the show, and goes into the actual moves, and who played the original game.
@@ZFosterZ I didn’t know that! And thanks for telling me about that channel that analyzes the games from the show, I’ll have to check it out!
Based on a novel by Walter Tevis, who also wrote The Hustler, and The Man Who Fell to Earth, amongst others.
This was so well written, I almost looked up on Google halfway through viewing to see if this was a work of fiction or if this woman actually existed.
I've seen this series 3 times now and due for a forth. Brilliant piece of script writing and actors that nail their roles.
The final scene in the Russian park with all the chess players, is the most perfect ending to this show.
Not really wouldn't they be watching the game?
@@grlmgor no idea what you are talking about.
@@pieandsauce1595 She just left a huge chess tournament, why weren't they watching the game?
@@grlmgor she left the tournament at night, it was the next day, and pretty freaking obvious they knew who she was and that she had won.
I was wondering if you ever saw it. This shows execution of story, direction and production was one of the very best I have eve seen.
I thought this show was incredible
what i love most about drinker is that he comes straight to the point. "you know..." and we're in. no intro, no bullshit, no nothing.
Between this, The Northman, and Peaky Blinders, I've got a lot of respect for Anya.
Many years ago, I used to watch CBS Sunday Morning, specifically to listen to John Leonard talk about whatever he was going to talk about.
There's really not been anyone else that I have cared to listen to since Mr Leonard's passing, but I have to say that The Drinker fills that void. His shtick aside, his assessments and critiques are well thought-out, articulate and thought provoking.
Anya is a Joy and a great pick for The Queens Gambit. I got into it enough to start thinking it was based on someone real but fooled myself. We need more like it. Great pick Drinker.
the script followed the novel very closely.
Glad you watched this one. It was much needed in its time of release. 👍
Anya Taylor Joy is genuinely one of the best actresses of our generation. she is phenomenal in anything she's in.
She’s also pretty hot…
…which helps
Paul Chato says she has the Royal Jelly, which you either have or you don’t.
She wasn't phenomenal in the New Mutants. That probably wasn't on her though.
@@kroft6799 oh we don't talk about that movie
The Witch was so awesome
For me the mark of a good movie critic is that you enjoy their positive reviews as much as you enjoy their negative ones. Well done
I've been wanting to see you review this show ever since I saw it and I'm not disappointed with your thoughts. This is one of the best shows on Netflix and one of the best things to be made on the past few years! A show that truly understands how to develop a great character and that has been hable to turn chess matches into edge of your seat tense filled scenes! No need to talk about the performances, because everyone is amazing, especially Anya, Taylor-Joy, who is one of the best actors of this generation
A couple things I really loved:
-Beth being very imperfect. She's dominant and talented, but she still has struggles to overcome
-Mr. Shaibel NOT being a creep. I kept waiting for it. Media needs more good father figures
-I really like that they didn't explain in depth. They allowed the intricacies of chess to go over our heads, but the show is so well acted that you understand.
-They did a very good job of showing Beth's genius, with the chess pieces on the ceiling.
-Just a really good job by the props and costume department. Really captured the aesthetic of the 60s
Yep, it's really good. And when you know that all the chess games are "real", I mean, they were constructed as real game chess, it adds an even more interesting layer to an already very well crafted TV show.
I grew up in louisville KY in a similar time period. the depiction of the shopping district, the buses, the school, and the department store were all spot on. well done! the radical black activist paralegal was a hoot in her Corvair.
I just loved Queens Gambit. A character I was rooting for. C'mon Beth, you can do it, I said on more than one occasion. And the ending. The conclusion was so good. She found herself and that elusive "meaning of life" A really good and emotional ending.
I love that her eyes are in different timezones and his are so close together he could use one side of a pair of binoculars. Balance.
Why isn't this on the main channel?
Happy to hear the Drinker finally talk about it!
Excellent review, Drinker! I'm an amateur chess player, so I thoroughly enjoyed how the series managed showing the game. Aspects of it reminded me of the movie _Searching for Bobby Fisher_ (1993), based on the story of Joshua Waitzkin. It's very refresing to see a contemporary series that treats the characters with respect and properly develops a coherent story.
God this was such a good show. I really wish we could get more like this. It undoubtedly proves Hollywood wrong & shows that all we really crave is well written stories and characters.
When playing, a good chess game IS an edge of your seat sort of thing and there's a LOT of adrenaline. I used to play Hockey and I've never gotten nervously shaky and unable to think clearly when skating around whacking the Puck. I have gotten comments about how shaky I get when playing against someone who is giving me a really good game. It's really strange! I'm no World Master, but I'm pretty good when I play regularly, Chess is such a great game!
I've heard of Queen's Gambit but never really looked into it. Sounds interesting. I'll check it out.
watch with friends so you can discuss later. very complex characters and themes
I enjoyed this show far more than I ever expected to - it literally had nothing I thought I would want to see.
This show was the only reason i still have Netflix just in case gems like this will be dropped.
You mentioned that the show doesn't bog itself down with chess games and mechanics.
I'm a professional chess coach.
They had Gary Kasparov and Bruce Pandolfini as chess consultants to get the games right, how the actors sit, how they move pieces, how they hit clocks, everything.
Every game the actors played is a famous game played by real famous players.
In fact, I was able to ask my students to tell me which famous games they recognized. Almost all of them recognized the game vs. Benny in episode 6 because I teach all of them that game, the famous Opera Box Game, because it has so many good lessons for beginner students.
So I just wanted to say that all your points about this show are true, but also, the makers of the show went the extra mile for those of us who live and love chess.
I did find it funny how many people came to me after this series premiered to ask why they'd never heard of this woman who was such a fantastic player that she obliterated all the men. Why was she not talked about? Why had she not inspired legions of women to play the game back then, when it was clear now that a woman was just as good at the game as a man. I had to explain, over and over and over again, that this woman did not actually exist. That the character was based primarily on Bobby Fischer... you know... a man. Some of them just deflated like punctured balloons when I told them this. A number of them fought me, saying they had heard this was a true story and I was simply in denial that the greatest chess player who ever lived was actually a woman. People are having an increasingly difficult time telling fact from fiction even when the fiction never purported to be fact. They simply NEEDED it to be true. I tried pointing them toward some really great female chess players like Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan, but that didn't seem to help.
they just cant accept there wasnt a female world champion
Thank you for pointing out Beth and her chess mastery is make believe. If the primary character was a male played by a skillful actor, would the Drinker and the commenters have fawned over that character, too.
I've had this on my wish list just sitting there for a while, decided to finally start watching it and then literally the day after you do a video on it.
I do wonder how many shows are still hidden away on Netflix or other streaming services, waiting for me to be surprised by them.
The Queen's Gambit is a delightful little masterpiece
Incredible series, great review. ATJ is just ungodly talented and this showed it. Since other people are reading these comments, let me recommend one more sports show to you, and that's "Twenty-Five Twenty-One," a Korean show about a plucky girl fencer trying to make the school then national teams, with only one of the best fencers in Korea in her way. Short discriptions doesn't do it justice. Like "Queen," "25-21" is about people struggling to survive the financial crisis that destroyed the country for awhile, and their own struggles with competing and insecurities. The two female leads are fantastic as a wary friendship forms even though they know only one of them can be champion. The stars also trained months before shooting so they could do their own fencing work and they got good. You should really check it out.
She has such an otherworldly beauty. Truly mesmerizing
This was what got me back into chess that I used to play as a kid, for a ton of people this show either brought them into chess or brought them back
Anya-Taylor Joy is a very great actress and i also loved her performance in The Witch and Last Night In Soho. And also can't wait to see her In & As Furiosa in George Miller film.
Edit: Drinker if you loved The Queen's Gambit then you should also watch an underrated masterpiece, Pawn's Sacrifice with Tobey Maguire in the lead.
Pawn Sacrifice is an excellent film. Tobey Maguire looks absolutely nothing like Bobby Fischer but brings a really terrifying intensity to Fischer's florid mental illness.
Queen's Gambit, Pawn's Sacrifice. Seems like all the best chess games are named after strategies from the game.
Screen Two's The Grass Arena about John Healy is a great watch, especially paired with the more recent documentary Barbaric Genius. Plus Drinker would like him, he's an alky just like us. Doubt you will find it on the high seas, DVD can be found by shopping around.