The Queen's Gambit

Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy (7 episodes), Chloe Pirrie (6 episodes), Bill Camp (5 episodes), Marcin Dorocinski (5 episodes), Marielle Heller (5 episodes), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (4 episodes), Moses Ingram (4 episodes), Harry Melling (4 episodes), Isla Johnston (4 episodes), Janina Elkin (4 episodes), Matthew Dennis Lewis (4 episodes), Russell Dennis Lewis (4 episodes), Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (4 episodes), Patrick Kennedy (3 episodes), Christiane Seidel (3 episodes), Rebecca Root (2 episodes)
Directed by: Scott Frank (7 episodes)
Rating: TV-MA
Genre: Drama
2020

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a chess prodigy who battles to the top of a male-dominated sport.

Review:
Tim: We're certainly living in a golden age of television. There's never been more options available and the quality of many of these series is outstanding. Take Netflix's The Queen's Gambit. Who could have predicted a miniseries about chess would have taken the world by storm? This was the series that everyone was talking about during our pandemic year, and for good reason. Scott Frank's series is outstanding. It's the kind of character-driven drama that we need more of. It was a brilliantly crafted, entertaining series. It's certainly one of the best I've seen in a while.

Perhaps the biggest compliment I can give the story is that you wish it was true. It's such a remarkable story of the underdog overcoming all challenges, the kind of story that makes you feel proud to be an American. You wish Beth Harmon was a real person. That's high praise- I love fiction, but it's rare that I feel such a strong desire for the story on screen to be true. It's obviously fiction, albeit inspired by an amalgamation of stories.

What I loved most about this series is the depiction of its character. The story is really good, but only so far as it allows us to get to know the remarkable character of Beth Harmon. She's complicated and flawed, but inspiring. Over the seven episodes of this miniseries, you get to see her early life and rise to fame. Along the way, you see the ups and downs that help explain her meteoric rise. It's mesmerizing at times, how this character comes fully to life on screen. By the time the big chess matches occur, Harmon has won us over- we're undeniably in her corner. We feel a strong emotional attachment to the character. Scott Frank deserves much credit for this, but even his best efforts wouldn't have mattered if they didn't get the right actress to play Beth. With Anya Taylor-Joy, they absolutely did.

It certainly feels like Taylor-Joy is a once-in-a-generation talent. I was so taken by her performance in The Witch, and she added much to M. Night Shaymalan's Split and Glass. As good as those performances were, though, none of them compare to what she does here. Taylor-Joy is fully in control of this character. Her performance feels effortless, which suggests how much effort she put into it. She allows the audience in, allows us to understand and connect with her character. Much of this she does in small, subtle ways. It's rare to see that kind of talent- an actor who can deliver big emotional moments with the smallest of gestures and facial expressions. Taylor-Joy is stunning here, it's one of the best television performances I've ever seen. When I say I love The Queen's Gambit, I'm really saying I loved Taylor-Joy's depiction of Beth Harmon. The story is great but it's secondary. This is a miniseries about an incredible young woman and none of it happens without Taylor-Joy's star-making performance.

While this is all about Taylor-Joy, the supporting cast was so effective, too. I loved Bill Camp's performance as Mr. Schaibel. He only gets a few minutes of screen time here, and a few minutes there, but it adds up to one of the most memorable performances of the series. He was outstanding. I loved every second of his screen time. Marielle Heller did some remarkable work as well. You find yourself thinking about her performance long after the series ends. Thomas Brodie-Sanger did some excellent work, too. His performance didn't win me over out of the gate, but it grew on me as the series progressed. By the end, I was a big fan of his performance. Moses Ingram was so good, you just wanted more and more time with her character. Harry Melling did fantastic work, too. There's a few quiet moments with his character when you just sit up and stare at what he does on screen. As a whole, the cast is top notch.

Suffice to say, I'm a massive fan of The Queen's Gambit. We need more series like this. It features a brilliant, fascinating female lead. It dives deep into a world (chess) that most of us aren't part of. It focus on character first. Scott Frank did outstanding work here. I haven't really liked the movies he's done, but he created something enduring here. This is one of the best series of 2020.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



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