I hope a little dumb posts like mine are allowed on this sub. Really loved the show. Only criticism I have is for a show about chess, there isn’t a lot of chess shown in the show😂. Pure chess would be borring —- agreed. But they show like 4-5 moves each game, which aren’t nearly enough to get the viewers interested in keeping track of the games.
So I initially loved this show after seeing it for the first time. I think the excitement of finally seeing my favorite boardgame be represented in the Netflix mainstream was pretty cool. I loved Beth Harmon, love the lore and the worldbuilding. She's obviously the female Bobby Fischer in an alternate timeline and I'm here for it. But after having recently rewatched the show.. I have many problems with it.
I think the chief issue I have with the show is that the ending.. kind of felt empty at the end. She's lost so much in her life; her mom, Mr. Shaibel, and her adoptive mother are all gone. She practically made no friends or relationships in Methuen besides Jolene, who was fine but I don't think she and Beth had a strong enough bond. Jolene even reveals she stole Beth's book and Beth is just like "oh, okay."
I don't feel like her motivation to be the best chess player in the world was expressed well enough, other than her saying it feels good to destroy her opponents. I couldn't really sympathize with it, it made her feel like some terminator type character but in chess. I get that Borgov is supposed to be the Spassky stand in, so he was shown to be a polite gentleman, but he was kind of just.. there as an antagonist. In real life, Bobby Fischer's run to the championship was wayyyy more dramatic than this.
Her love life: Townes is who she falls for?? I guess because his younger Willem Dafoe look is so irresistible. But they didn't really have much chemistry because they didn't spend enough time with each other. She does have a bit more chemistry with Benny Watts, but I can't help but feel that he's so cringe with the stupid hat, the trench coat and the unabashed arrogance. That's more of a personal taste though. Her sleeping with Beltik was just sad, but perhaps that was the point.
The actual chess. They explain a few basic stuff about the game, but I feel like the show just has us assume Beth has a superpower and everyone around her falters when she uses it. It's not a huge gripe or anything though. What I do wish they did was make the matches longer like in real life. There's no way Beth becomes world chess champion just by winning a round robin against the field? Her real life counterpart Fischer had a 24 game match against Spassky, which made their eventual matchup feel that much more grueling and epic, and I think is what needed to happen in the show with how they hyped Borgov up. Also in real life, chess players would draw very, very often. It seemed like the only option in this show's universe is to win or lose. With how they portrayed the format surrounding chess tournaments and matchups, I can tell this show is more for the casual viewer than hardcore chess enthusiasts, which is fine but slightly disappointing.
A few more things that I think got left out: politics and misogyny. The Fischer-Spassky match wasn't just a regular chess match; it very much had a strong political undertone about it, with the match being deemed a Soviet vs. USA thing. I get why they didn't delve into this particularly touchy subject, but also it feels weird for them to portray the show during some politically tense years between two nations and not address it whatsoever.
They do touch upon how Beth is incredibly unusual for a girl not only playing amongst boys but destroying them in chess. However in real life there were so many male chess players very vocal about how women are inferior to men in a mentally grueling sport such as chess. It would've been cool to see Beth routinely destroy those with that misogynistic mindset, but in the show they just accept that she's good and she's dominant. It's not a huge deal but it would've made her rise to fame that much more meaningful.
I just think the show didn't have the bones to have the kind of wholesome ending it got at the end. Or is there an underlying point? I think it would've worked as a tragic story better, with Beth succumbing to her addictions or something.
I'm sorry I roasted tf out of the show. I just had to express my thoughts somewhere. It's still very much a good show and Anya Taylor-Joy is absolutely magnificent in the role. If it's not the quality of it, then the exposure it gives chess to the casual masses is helpful to expand the game. What do y'all think? Thanks for reading if you made it here.
tl;dr: show good first watch, see flaws in rewatch
Was the 2 people she met at the end of the finale her father and Mr. Shaibel playing each other?