The Queen's Gambit

 

It's a show about chess.

Yet everyone is raving about it.

So often, I'm not in the cool kids' room. In fact, I mostly avoid it. 

After all, a wise man once said: "Cool is a rule but, sometimes, bad is bad."

Sometimes I'm ahead of the curve. Many times, I jump on much later. Then, I get stubborn and don't jump on at all.

I have too many examples to cite. 

I've heard all of the praise for the The Queen's Gambit, the Netflix show about a chess prodigy and I'm here to tell you that it lives up to the hype.

I pretty shut down after "Doubleheader" ended on Wednesday afternoon. I'm in this weird place of having nothing to do, so I did the unthinkable: I watched TV.

Oh I still did laundry and took care of whatever Sean needed and mowed the lawn today and cleaned leaves and whatever stuff I did. But, still, I watched TV. I feel guilty typing those words.

I finished up The Haunting of Hill House before rolling through the first three episodes of Kaley Cuocco's The Flight Attendant on HBO Max. Funny, intriguing stuff with the star power of *knock knock knock* Penny. Her character is Penny on steroids; everything that Sheldon described her as on The Big Bang Theory.

With those finished the NFL having run out of Thanksgiving games (thanks, COVID), I decided to try The Queen's Gambit.

Wow.

I know, not exactly Siskel and/or Ebert in that review, right?

The whole cast is exceptional -- led by Anya Taylor-Joy, who brings her Beth Hamon to life as a teenager. I won't give anything away, except to again say the cast is phenomenal. But, more than that, as a period piece, it does a remarkable job of taking the viewer on a unique ride through the 1950s and 60s.

Again, you'd think a story that largely revolves around chess would be snore-inducing, but that's not even close to true. You don't need to know anything about chess to understand it. I don't really know a lot about it and haven't played in years.

The sets are great. The locations are great. The representation of the era are great.

It harkens back to a time when it acceptable to smoke and everyone dressed more formally. It presents it all with a certain level of whimsy for what was, while reminding us gracefully that our past also can be cringe-inducing.

Watching the characters evolve -- especially Beth Harmon herself -- is part of the magic of this seven-episode ride.

One last thing: chess play-by-play? Really? 

So, for whatever this post is worth (read: zero), The Queen's Gambit receives the Exit 55 Seal of Approval.