# Queen's Gambit on Netflix

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, netflix\
**Created:** [November 6, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900 "2020-11-06T16:11:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/21 "2020-11-09T17:44:11Z")

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He wasn’t a real tough guy. Just a top chess player, so not so bad. He was kind of a poser.

For spoilers, type what you want to hide, then click the Gear symbol at the end of the tools. and choose either Hide Details or Blur.

Hide Details does this …

> **Summary**
>
> 1  
> 2  
> 3  
> 4

Blur does this instead.

Now blur is what you get from the old [spoiler] tags.

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/22 "2020-11-09T17:45:25Z")

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> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> Really good show. Perhaps things tied up a little too neatly in the end, but that’s OK - I like (not sure how to hide spoilers).

Two ways. You can get to either of them by highlighting the text you want to spoiler and then clicking the little gear icon. (looks a bit like a six-sided star). One choice is “blur spoiler”, which is what I used above. The other is “hide details”, which gives a little drop-down triangle to open up the “details”.

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**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/23 "2020-11-09T17:56:34Z")

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My wife and I just finished it and we both loved it. Thought the casting was great.

One question (which I’ll spoiler):

The old guy that Beth’s birth mother visited, and who rejected her: Was that Beth’s dad or grandfather?

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/24 "2020-11-09T18:05:16Z")

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I got the strong impression that was her biological father.

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**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/25 "2020-11-09T19:29:06Z")

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Same here.

What I wanted to say is I like

> **Summary**
>
> happy endings!

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**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/26 "2020-11-09T20:46:00Z")

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Something I think I missed toward the beginning. . .young Beth picks up a book and we see the author’s name. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to what that name was but I think it was her mother’s name(?) Was her mother supposed to be someone brilliant who just suffered from mental illness?

Another thing, and I don’t mean this to be derogatory in any way. One of the teachers at the orphanage was pretty obviously (to me anyway) trans. Do you think that was an odd choice for a story taking place in that particular time and situation(a Christian orphanage)? Was there any purpose for hiring that particular actress except that they simply thought she was the best in the role?Again, I’m not disparaging the actress it just stuck out to me and since everything is very deliberate when making a film it got me to wondering.

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/27 "2020-11-09T20:55:24Z")

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I didn’t notice that, but you’re correct. [Rebecca Root](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2340289/) played Miss Lonsdale.

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/28 "2020-11-09T21:30:01Z")

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> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#):
>
> I wasn’t paying close enough attention to what that name was but I think it was her mother’s name(?) Was her mother supposed to be someone brilliant who just suffered from mental illness?

We stopped the video to read that. Yes, I believe her mother was supposed to be a brilliant mathematician. The title of the book looked very mathy, but my husband, a mathematician, squinted at it for a while and didn’t think it actually made sense. I heard that they hired actual grandmaster chess players to help design the chess games, but I don’t think they hired an actual mathematician to write the title of that book.

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/29 "2020-11-09T21:30:59Z")

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> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#):
>
> One of the teachers at the orphanage was pretty obviously (to me anyway) trans.

I, too, wondered if we were supposed to read anything into that. But I think not. She’s just one of the teachers.

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**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/30 "2020-11-09T22:24:05Z")

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So what was the French model’s motivation for getting her drunk that one night? Just irresponsible?

Apologies if too spoilery.

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**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/31 "2020-11-09T22:42:34Z")

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It crossed my mind too if she had some agenda, like she was jealous or something and was sabotaging her, but she seemed to have genuinely like her. Are we meant to think they had sex? Most likely it was just a way to show Beth’s further descent into alcoholism and self destruction.

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**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2020, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/32 "2020-11-09T22:52:19Z")

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I didn’t interpret it as having an agenda other than being a hedonist and doing whatever is self-serving.

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**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/33 "2020-11-10T05:19:50Z")

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> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#):
>
> Something I think I missed toward the beginning. . .young Beth picks up a book and we see the author’s name. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to what that name was but I think it was her mother’s name(?) Was her mother supposed to be someone brilliant who just suffered from mental illness?

It was her mother’s doctoral thesis in math.

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**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/34 "2020-11-10T05:42:40Z")

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> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#):
>
> Are we meant to think they had sex?

I don’t think so. The French gal was in the bed in the morning, Beth was sleeping in the tub

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**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/35 "2020-11-10T15:18:39Z")

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Just a thanks to my fellow Dopers for bringing this to my attention. I humbly admit I had not even heard of it before, but it sounds great, and the clips I’ve seen look very promising. It has amazing ratings, too. Will definitely binge-watch this.

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**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/36 "2020-11-10T15:24:52Z")

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My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. A great story, well told, excellent character development. Just an all around great drama.

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**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/37 "2020-11-10T15:58:18Z")

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> [@Enright3](#):
>
> I didn’t interpret it as having an agenda other than being a hedonist and doing whatever is self-serving.

my conclusion as well. But as it was happening, I wondered:

- is she a Russian Spy?
- is this an effort by her supporters to “relax” her before the match?
- resentment over her sleeping w/ Benny?

BTW - both times they showed it, my wife commented on how quickly her hair was done after coming out of the tub! 😉

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**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/38 "2020-11-10T16:18:15Z")

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> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#):
>
> Another thing, and I don’t mean this to be derogatory in any way. One of the teachers at the orphanage was pretty obviously (to me anyway) trans.

I only thought “Wow, she has a deep voice!” I think they just hired her as a good actress for the role and didn’t give her birth gender a second thought.

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**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/39 "2020-11-12T20:33:48Z")

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Finished it last night and my immediate reaction was being angry it was over as I wanted that ride to last a bit longer. I loved it and Anya Taylor-Joy was simply hypnotic. I found myself so many times captured by the curve of an eyebrow, the shape of her neck or face, her eyes. It’s been many years since an actress on screen captured me in quite that way.

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**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/queens-gambit-on-netflix/924900/40 "2020-11-13T01:33:42Z")

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I also loved it. It was kind of nice to see a story in an orphanage without any abuse as well (aside from medicating all the children of course).

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