The Queen's Gambit (TV Mini Series) Middle Game (2020) User Reviews

Good show

[cruise01 · 8/10 · 13 November 2020]

4 out of 5 stars.

Great performances. Taking Harmon to Mexico for a tournament which she starts questioning herself. What happens next after she wins all time championship. Well moving script and direction. And performances.

Spoiler

[theknownames · 9/10 · 13 November 2020]

While I can't change my review this is meant for the last episode "I am starting to become concerned by her lack of emotions. She plays determined and beautiful quite well but I am hoping there is a reason this character is lacking the depth her circumstances should provide. I understands she is angry but this is also been difficult to ascertain. I quite thoroughly enjoy this series this issue with emoting is causing me some fatigue.

A Hidden Sacrifice

[kinglear009 · 7/10 · 26 January 2021]

Middle Game: High 7

The best episode yet. Beth leans into bohemia with her Russian classmates before travelling to Mexico City for games against a mini-Borgov and the titan himself.

There's a lot of playfulness in this episode. Beth's first experience with drugs and sex has a rebellious fun to it. Roaming around the house with lipstick on, wearing just a towel and a blunt, we see Beth unlace the tight collar of her propriety. It's a freeing and fun sequence. There's several lovely cross-cuts too: Beth's daytime drinking, one indelible night-time swim amidst the hotel's neon signs interlaces with the opening chess game, Borgov's stoic face mixes with Beth's recollection of her defeat. The music is excellent throughout, light on its toes and dancing around the plot.

The same lightness is brought when Beth plays a Russian child prodigy. Before long, the usual stuffiness has been replaced by a discussion of drive-ins and Beth's impatient ticks while she waits for this child to realise she's won. Then she runs aground against Borgov in the final. His impassive face is genuinely intimidating and set up beautifully by chance meetings at an orangutan exhibit and an elevator (in a nice piece of plotting, Beth's Russian lessons pay dividends here).

And the episode's mirth hides the punch perfectly - Mrs. Wheatley is dead. She spends most of the episode uniting with pen pal Manuel, and plays the piano for a lobby of people in a highpoint for her character. It's a real loss, for us and for Beth.

Now, the collar is back on, and Beth's as unmoored as we've seen her.

This episode is underrated

[jonsuttles · 10/10 · 12 February 2021]

I love the show in its entirety. But I think this episode presents an amazing turn. We see Beth turn from child prodigy to troubled young adult. That transition is exemplified in her match with the new young prodigy. She beats him - which isn't surprising or seemingly a big deal - except its symbolism showing that she isn't the child anymore. She has joined the ranks of the greats while also taking on the pains and struggles of adulthood that is tainted by a traumatic childhood.

I should note that I thought the videography and music in this episode are the best yet in the series. The night swim. The shot of the Aztec Palace. The videography leading up to Beth's finding her mother. All of it was great.

The maturing of Beth alongside the deterioration of her mom - all while sharing some similar traits is really great parallelism. Beth begins abusing alcohol while mom suffers the consequences of it. Beth loses her virginity - but also shows her lack of ability to emotionally connect while her mom has her own sexual escapades but becomes overly emotionally connected. She calls her dad and he clearly expresses he doesn't want anything to do with her, so Beth begins life on her own, for the second time... due to a parent's choice. And then, symbolically, she has her mother's drink on the flight home perhaps showing her becoming like her mom in more ways than 1.

Appropriately, this is also the "middle game" of the series. And I thought it was masterfully done.

Meio de Jogo

[foxbrvar · 10/10 · 13 May 2024]

The Queen's Gambit (2020)

Series

1st Season

Episode Four - Midgame

Beth's stepfather is too horrible, he didn't even care about his wife's death.

At that time, virtual love already existed.

Wow, the second best character died, I felt bad.

The cool thing is that Beth's mother managed to make her dreams come true, which was traveling the world, playing the piano for an audience, meeting her virtual friend.

Beth's stepfather is too horrible, he didn't even care about his wife's death.

Episode four of the first season of the Miniseries O Gambito da Rainha watched on May 12, 2024.

Rating: 10/10.

8

[Edvis-1997 · 8/10 · 16 December 2020]

Again it was really decent episode but I can't feel the same hype two episodes in a row which is disappointing.

Boring

[pandit-55724 · 6/10 · 26 November 2020]

The first half of episode was very slow and boring. There was no proper commentary or description of her first matches or the match with the Russian boy. Still I would have given 7/10 if they had not screwed up her most anticipated match against Borgov with Spanish commentary. Are these guys for real? Who uses Spanish commentary? The show was fabulous till episode 2. Her match against Beltic was truly exciting. It just keeps getting worse after that.

I think this is probably the most filler episode so far

[TheCorniestLemur · 5/10 · 16 February 2021]

Still well acted and with great production design, and decently shot and directed, you know the drill by now blah blah blah.

That said, I have no idea what the first eight entire minutes added to this at all, there is an unusual focus on Beth opening up sexually that adds nothing to her character, there's an equally unusual focus on her mother meeting her pen pal that only makes sense when you realise they were leading up to a pretty obvious twist, and Beth is still just not interesting to me because there's virtually n o t h i n g interesting about her or the story. And those Russians in the elevator talking about chess like they're in the bloody secret service was plain comical.

At this point I really can't summon much enthusiasm for talking about this show, so I'm sorry if at this point it's not interesting to read anymore.

It'll be over soon.