The Queen's Gambit | TV Show Review

I had no interest in watching this show when it first came out. I didn't know what it was about, I had other shows to watch, and it never really appealed to me. However, I was recommended it by a co-worker, who completely raved about it, so I thought I'd see what it was all about.

Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a Chess prodigy who aspires to be the best player in the world - despite her dark past and harrowing addictions.

I went back and forth with this show. There were some episodes I loved, and others that I couldn't get into. But as I really liked the vast majority of the (7) episodes, I'm gonna say that I really enjoyed the overall show.

For a start, it does this really interesting thing of making sure that the viewer doesn't need to be interested in Chess, but also forcing the viewer to be interested in Chess. Before this show, I had no interest in Chess, but I actually found myself trying to learn more about it.

I found the show really compelling from the first episode. In fact, I wanted the first episode to form more of the show. I really enjoyed being in the mind of young Beth, and I loved watching her discover Chess. The actress who played young Beth, Isla Johnston, was amazing, and I would have loved to see her lead more episodes.

But then we got into the real story, seeing Beth not only begin her journey to becoming an incredible Chess player, but also seeing her spiral into addiction.

The thing about this story is that it's so original. It is based on a novel, but there's nothing out right now that's anything like it. And as much as that's about the writing and direction of the show, more than anything, it's about the character of Beth Harmon.

Because this is absolutely a character-driven show, and it is absolutely driven by Beth. She was an incredible character in every iteration that we saw her in, but particularly adult Beth, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. We saw a new side of ambition in her, a quiet subtle ambition that isn't always shown in TV and movies. Beth is a woman that has so many positive traits - not only being ambitious, but being dedicated and ruthless. Usually when these traits are associated with women, it is seen as a negative, but this definitely isn't the case with Beth.

I also loved all of the characters surrounding Beth - whether that's her friends, her Chess peers or the adult figures in her life, they all brought something different, but equally essential, to the show. 

Both the characters, and the story, felt realistic. But what I loved is that it was realistic in a way that still allowed you to be slightly detached from it. Beth's defeats aren't hard to watch because they don't feel like your defeats. You can live in her world, and easily transition back to living in your own. 

My absolute favourite thing about the show was the ending. And the ending of the ending. Specifically the last, most important, Chess game. My heart was pounding, I was excited, and at times I was even emotional. Even though there were one or two episodes that I couldn't get into, the ending completely sold it for me.

Overall, watch this show, and stick with it. It's an extremely interesting show with an original premise, and definitely one that people will still be speaking about in years to come.

3.5/5