The first episode of Queen’s Gambit depicted tranquilizers being given to orphans, some as young as elementary students. The main character, Beth Harmon, quickly became addicted to them at the age of only 9. Though this practice was common for the time period and there likely wasn’t enough scientific research about the negative developmental effects of drugs, I was still surprised at this reality. The Queen’s Gambit adds some humor to Beth’s serious and terrible addiction to drugs by having her comically steal tranquilizers from the medicine cabinet. However, in a way, the Queen’s Gambit also mentions positives of drug use. Beth finds that taking tranquilizers helps her stay up at night and “see” a chessboard on the ceiling, allowing her to improve her chess skills. While Beth has a natural ability for chess, it is not clear whether she is able to see this chessboard without the use of tranquilizers (she hasn’t yet tried), which may be a problem for her later in the series if she can’t get the drugs. Overall, I like how the Queen’s Gambit manages to combine two distinct themes, chess and drug addiction, into a cohesive story that highlights the many obstacles Beth faces, both as a woman in the male-dominated field of chess and as an orphan struggling with drug addiction, with no family to help her.