Name : Karina Azzahra D.

(17)
Class : XII IPS 1
Date : Wednesday, November 11th 2020

Review Text : The Queen’s Gambit

In this bleak year of 2020, “The Queen’s Gambit” is a
smart, captivating, and thrilling TV show that will happily
surprise you. It’s that good, even if you don’t understand a
single thing about chess.
Based on the novel of the same name written by the
legendary novelist, Walter Tevis, the TV show is adapted
by Scott Frank, an Oscar nominee director. Anchored by a
magnetic lead performance of Anna Taylor-Joy (Beth
Harmon), a strong supporting cast, and the right balance of
trials and triumph, “The Queen’s Gambit”, a show about
addiction, obsession, trauma, still manages to find levity
and happiness.
We meet Beth as an eight-year-old when she’s left unharmed physically, by the
car crash that kills her mother. Her father is not on the picture, so Beth find herself
orphaned at a Christian school. In there, she develops; a friendship with Jolene, a
passion for chess from playing with the janitor, and a physical and emotional addiction
on the little green tranquilizers fed to the children to keep them compliant. As she was
adopted by the Wheatleys, an unhappy married couple, Beth gradually bonds with her
new mother, Alma, a functional alcoholic which
‘ soon became her agent/manager. Alongside her new obsession with chess, a
sizeable ego, some unexplored trauma, and an amount of self-loathe, the game drives
her, sending her both to the heights of the competitive chess world and to her hoard of
pills and alcohol.
Written and directed by Scott Frank, the show is full of quick cuts, artful framing,
and beautiful shots which gives the chess matches the tension and grandeur as exciting
as any great sports film and a real Olympic match. It also catches the true meaning of
each game to Beth, whether it is a spiritual battle, learning curve, inner reckoning,
occasional flirtation, or retreat and re-emergence into the world.
 The show surely wouldn’t fly without Taylor-Joy, who turns in one of the best
performances of her already celebrated young career. She gives the kind of
performance that only becomes more riveting the longer you sit with it. It’s a turn of both
intoxicating glamour and little vanity, heartbreakingly vulnerable and sharply funny,
often at once. She fits so perfectly into the 1960s fashions and mannerisms.
Another attraction of this coming-of-age show is how they manage to differ the
feminist tale from another conventional feminist story. One of the beautiful things about
Beth is how she’s so distant from society and its expectation of her, that she’s genuinely
baffled when people speak about her gender more than they speak about how excellent
she is at the game, or how she can’t be glamorous and a smart chess player at the
same time. That level of bewilderment is so wonderful because it shows how ridiculous
it is to categorize people in a way that only makes us feel comfortable.
However, the show has the feeling of a fairytale rather than a sports/biopic
movie. Beth’s rise is practically frictionless, she was born with a mind that vaults her to
an unstoppable global glory. And as a young woman in the male-dominated world of
60s chess, she meets with very little sexism (that actually came from a man or her
opponents).
All and all, both the sports story and the player’s story are fascinatingly portrayed
in this show. Viewers who either have vast or small knowledge of chess will easily
become invested to the game or competition. I truly recommend this to everyone
because it is a show that requires just enough thinking to leave you fully captivated with
this 7-hour long show. It’s perfect for binge-watching and will take you to a totally
different time and nuance. Time will fly by without you even notice!

STRUCTURE
1. Orientation : Paragraph 1-2
2. Interpretative/Recount : Paragraph 3
3. Evaluation : Paragraph 4-7
4. Evaluative Summation : Paragraph 8

QUESTIONS
1. The name of the actress playing “The Queen’s Gambit” lead role is?
a. Beth Harmon
b. Scott Frank
c. Anna Taylor-Joy
d. Walter Tevis
2. Which of the following statement is true based on the review text above?
a. The TV show is adapted from a screenplay
b. The TV show was shot in the1960s
c. Scott Franks is an Oscar winning director
d. The TV show is not based on true story
3. Which of the following is not the reason why the writer recommends this TV
show?
a. It was very well directed
b. Fascinating performance from the lead actress
c. Strong supporting actors
d. Great choose of wardrobe
4. Which of the following is not a character from the TV show?
a. Marianne
b. Jolene
c. Alma
d. Beth Harmon
5. How does Beth’s obsession to chess started?
a. She dreams about playing chess with her mom
b. She plays with her new friend from the orphanage
c. She plays with the janitor in the basement
d. She accidently came across a chess book in her bed