The Queen's Gambit (Netflix)

Associate
Joined
27 Oct 2002
Posts
700
Location
Scotland
I did enjoy it and would recommend it to others, although did have some reservations.

Things that bothered me a bit, off the top of my head:
1. found the whole 'friendship will save you, even when you've be been a complete arse' idea a bit on the nose really, and didn't feel like there was enough build-up to the help from Benny and Beltik etc at the end.

2. I was really surprised to find she never paid the janitor back his $10 or got in touch with him at all, even during one of the phases where things were going well and she seemed more open and friendly to people. Made me retrospectively dislike her younger self, having assumed she must have done it off screen. Them again maybe this should actually be a positive because it fed into the poignancy of his death and her relationship with him. Idk.

3. I found her sociability seemed to vary a little bit unpredictably and not necessarily in line with the ups and downs of the story. To start with I assumed she was meant to be a bit of an Autistic savant or something, but then she started to open up a bit more and relate to people better..
So turns out she does have the ability to relate to others, she's just really rude to people sometimes even when things are going well for her. I guess that is a very subjective point and may have been me projecting things onto her, but that's how I felt.

4. The last episode felt really rushed to me. I didn't get a sense of her getting back on track before Russia, and I felt like more could have happened there.

5. I would like to have seen more of the actual chess games, and to have got more of a sense for the style of the different players etc. I'm not any good at chess, but I've watched programs in the past that still managed to present chess games in interesting and dramatic ways, so it is possible. I guess they made a stab at this by having the commentators talk through games sometimes, bit I might have enjoyed more.
.
For point 1, if you think about when it takes place it actually makes a bit more sense, she's an American playing the Russians, and the first one to have a real shot at beating them in their own back yard. Benny even alludes to it, saying how Americans never win as they play for themselves where the Russians are a team, so it goes a bit beyond friendship, although that is clearly a part of it.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Mar 2006
Posts
8,336
Two episodes in and I am adoring this show, I'll be very surprised if it can keep the quality going throughout but so far it is a joy.

Actual story telling, with so much left unsaid, this is how you craft television.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Mar 2006
Posts
8,336
Finished this today, thought it was incredible, I actually can’t think of anything better I’ve seen on Netflix.

I could actually imagine watching this again in the future.
 

SPG

SPG

Soldato
Joined
28 Jul 2010
Posts
10,230
I didn't get the hype for this TBH, I found it predictable and a bit boring.

Your dead on the inside, No other explanation apart from Brexit or Catching Covid has done this to you :) The only hope is fine brandy and cigars to reflect on your life. If your < 18 Milk and a few ginger nuts :)
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
15,762
I didn't get the hype for this TBH, I found it predictable and a bit boring.

I'm forcing myself to watch the last episode later...it's definitely overstayed it's welcome.

There's just no substance to it, no interesting character development at all.

The lead actress is totally unconvincing and the lingering gaze on her is bordering on pornographic at times. The whole series just feels like a vehicle to show her body off.

I mean, as a dude, I can't object too much :D I was just expecting a bit more actual quality from the programme.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
15,762

Don't get me wrong, no problem with attractive women on screen, but the Queen's Gambit made me feel like I was looking through Harvey Weinstein's eyes at times.

Her sexuality is never explored in any meaningful way, like most of the themes, addiction, mental illness, loss, chess! They're all just touched on briefly, clumsily, before we get to another opportunity to perve at Anya Taylor-Joy.

If I want to watch porn, I'll watch porn, I just expect more from a TV show, as mentioned, there were no surprises, it's all very predictable. I only sub to Netflix occasionally, and honestly I'm reminded why after watching this, the quality bar is so low that stuff like this that's bang average gets raved about.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
15,762
Which parts were pornographic, there wasn't even nudity :confused:

Maybe it's just the penultimate episode that has particularly irritated me, but it's far from the only gratuitous example.

It wouldn't be as annoying if it wasn't taking away screen time from actually developing the characters and having some kind of coherent flow and arc to the series.

That episode is just infuriating...it could have been paced to be a build up to the showdown with Borgov....but it's all so disjointed and clumsy.

She's cleaned up her act and is studying hard to beat Borgov.

But wait a minute, suddenly she likes women and is led astray by a character who was introduced in the previous scene? That's how she blows the big confrontation the series has been building up to?

It's all so rushed....but then we're treated to 10 minutes of her gyrating around in her underwear and passing out....because...apparently that's what we're all here to see.
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Feb 2003
Posts
10,042
Location
Europe
Nah, the whole series is easily predictable from the first episode. I just didn't get the hype.

I don't know of a show that isn't predictable. Some have more crazy or wild twists than others, but generally everything is predictable, especially US based shows. The good guys or protaganists always come out on top. The cops/fbi tend to catch the killer, usually after going off book etc...
 
Last edited:

LiE

LiE

Caporegime
Joined
2 Aug 2005
Posts
25,601
Location
Milton Keynes
I don't know of a show that isn't predictable. Some has more crazy or wild twists than others, but generally everything is predictable, especially US based shows. The good guys or protaganists always come out on top. The cops/fbi tend to catch the killer, usually after going off book etc...

Exactly. What I loved about this show was the story telling was spot on and I enjoyed the characters. It was well acted as well.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Apr 2011
Posts
14,761
Location
Barnet, London
we get to another opportunity to perve at Anya Taylor-Joy.

If I want to watch porn, I'll watch porn

I'm not really getting this criticism? I didn't see it this way even in the slightest? Surely it's more how your taking it than how it's being presented?

I only sub to Netflix occasionally, and honestly I'm reminded why after watching this, the quality bar is so low that stuff like this that's bang average gets raved about.

No-one is right or wrong as this is of course opinion but you're very much in the minority I'm afraid... Most would agree this is good quality TV. Well made, well presented, well told, good story. Sure, it's not perfect. I'm not as high on it as others, but I recognise it's very good.
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
Posts
15,762
I'm not really getting this criticism? I didn't see it this way even in the slightest? Surely it's more how your taking it than how it's being presented?

No-one is right or wrong as this is of course opinion but you're very much in the minority I'm afraid... Most would agree this is good quality TV. Well made, well presented, well told, good story. Sure, it's not perfect. I'm not as high on it as others, but I recognise it's very good.

I don't watch a lot of TV, so try to be selective about what I do actually watch...I'm just disappointed having heard so much hype about this, I've forced myself to watch the last few episodes, and beyond the veneer of polished production there's just nothing to it, weak character development, stuttering story arcs, no flow to it at all.

It's certainly now awful, standing on it's own, I'd probably give it a 6/10, maybe 6.5.

On a scale of worst to the best on Netflix, it's probably more like an 8, which I guess is more the context people are raving about it in.
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,898
Been really enjoying this. Just read that it is based on a Walter Tevis book. He also wrote The Hustler, Color Of Money and Man Who Fell To Earth, which I would recommend to anyone to read.

Ah, I loved the colour of money, that prompted me to watch the older black and white film the Hustler. Not read any of the books mind, watched the first to episodes of the Queen's Gambit yesterday evening, enjoying it so far.
 
Back
Top Bottom