The Queen’s Gambit Review

It’s been an awfully long time since I’ve been absolutely itching to write a review, but my god do I need to talk about Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit because this is without a doubt the limited series of the year and frankly one of the best limited series ever made.

The Queen’s Gambit follows a young girl named Beth Harmon, who after losing her mother in a tragic accident grows up in an orphanage and discovers that she has a brilliant knack for chess. We see this prodigy throughout her adult life go through the trials and tribulations of an athlete in the sixties as she works towards the title of the worldwide chess champion.

Now, to give it the title of limited series of the year is a large claim considering its competition ranges from I Am Not Okay With This to We Are Who We Are, but The Queen’s Gambit is breathtakingly riveting: a picture-perfect period piece that you can’t go into next year without watching.

I frankly cannot put into words how good this show is because it’s practically perfect, but I’ll do my best to try. Two things that stood out to me as I was watching was first, that it followed a woman in a male-dominated sport where the men were actually respectful. Frankly, this is what confirmed to me that it wasn’t a true story, but in all seriousness, it was a breath of fresh air to see a beautiful, confident, intelligent female protagonist continuously beat out men in competition that actually treat her with respect, without expecting anything in return. Characters such as Benny and Henry really added something to the story as well as Beth’s journey, and both were able to provide mentor, love interest, and antagonist roles, which made them both more human and more effective than a traditional counterpart in a show like this.

The second feat was that of how the prodigy trope was handled. I personally am abysmally sick of “chosen one” tropes where the protagonist constantly gets everything handed to them on a silver platter simply because they’re special, and something The Queens Gambit did so effortlessly was enhance the fact that yes, Beth is a prodigy, she’s brilliant, she has natural born talent and wit and skills, but she really works her way to the top; she’s studious and hardworking and determined, and you as a viewer really root for her because she actually deserves her success. She encounters some roadblocks with the typical biopic trope of gifted substance abuse, but it is handled intricately and with thought, and Beth proves time and time again that she doesn’t need any drugs or prodigal expectation to be a success. I’ve been a fan of Anya Taylor Joy for years, and her performance as Beth has practically secured the Emmy for lead actress already. She gives a dashing performance as the lead, and really carries the show on her back, despite the fabulous supporting cast.

Overall this show is a hidden masterpiece and has made me seriously rethink my top 10 shows of the year. As someone who didn’t know a damn thing about chess going in, I was still on the edge of my seat, because this show is simply riveting, in its writing, production, and performance, and I beg you not to let it pass you by.

Originally published on November 9th, 2020 on alinasmedianalysis.com