1. Too much in the show was just hinted at or skated over without being adequately explained.
2. The sudden transformation in Beth from full on alcoholism in episode 6 to sudden sobriety in episode 7 was not believable.
Otherwise I really enjoyed it. I hope Netflix releases it on Blu-ray and DVD.
1. That's how a quality movie/show is done ...
Personally i'm sick of movies that explain everything.
Well it is a limited series. And it maybe (probably) would have messed up the pace of the show if there had to be in depth explanations to clear up every little thing.
As for the alcoholism, all her focus went into beating Borgov. It's easier when you have a goal like this to be hyper motivated and make big sacrifices. And who says her sudden sobriety lasted and that she did not relapse right when she got back in the US, to her day-to-day life? To go in depth with this and add an episode or two just to show a struggle or whatever would have been useless in the end, I think.
To me the show was fine as it was.
It's always a pleasure to hear what a couple of sock puppets have to say...
The book explained Beth's recovery much better than the series. Beth looked up Jolene and while they were together Jolene whipped Beth into shape with lots of exercise and a proper diet.
shareHave you read the book?
shareYes.
Beth called Deardorff and obtained Jolene's phone number. Jolene brought Beth to the gym for weight lifting and handball. Jolene made Beth change her diet; Beth threw out her TV dinners and canned food at home. Beth had a friend for support, so she was able to give up the booze and pills even though she still craved them at times.
My only complaints are she should have kept in touch with the janitor and paid him the promised 10 bucks! I mean after all, it was he that taught her everything including the Queens Gambit.
shareYeah and that bit of thoughtlessness came back to bite her on the arse hard towards the end.
Beth had thought she was unloved and unwanted as a child. Well her mother loved her but she was a loony and she tried to kill Beth so she wasn't helping. Then when Beth went back to the Orphanage and found Mr Shaibel's little shrine to her she realised he had really cared for her all along and she hadn't known. And now he was dead and it was too late to do anything about it. And to make it even worse the miserable, ungrateful bitch that she was she hadn't even paid him his $10 back ! Floods of tears.
That was a two way street. Beth is a child for most of the book/series; she was 18 when Shaibel died. It seems that Shaibel did not try to get in touch with Beth either after sending her the tournament entry fee.
Beth did not play any chess between the time she tried to steal the pills and when she entered the tournament; other than games in her head. Shaibel gave her the start she needed, the rest of the considerable effort was Beth's for the most part. Until Beltik and others took an interest in training her.
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Why was she terrible? She was a child who was product of her environment. She and her adoptive mother obviously loved each other. Mrs Wheatley's only means of support was the $80 a year she got from the orphanage and the money she got from Beth's winnings. Beth probably paid the mortgage also. Mrs. Wheatley also schemed to get Beth out of school to attend the chess matches.
Beth actually seemed to be more mature and better able to take care of herself than her adoptive mother.