I really enjoyed episode 2 of the Queen’s gambit because Beth is taking an active role in her life and working towards achieving what she wants. One of my favorite characteristics of Beth is her confidence in her skills and intelligence.  During the tournament, she does not let other people and their reputations intimidate her. Hence, it was really heartbreaking when Beth resorts to pills so that she can win her final tournament. It felt like all the work and effort she spent to enter this match was undermined. At the end of the episode, Beth is obviously happy and satisfied that she won, but I definitely think resorting to the pills ultimately diminishes her win and other wins henceforth.

In the second episode, Beth gets adopted by a couple who live the apparent suburban dream. However, reality becomes clear first and the couple are completely disconnected and the wife is suffering with her mental health. Beth quickly realizes that this adoption is really a chance at freedom—specifically to play chess. When Beth wind a tournament, her adoptive mother realizes Beth can make them money from winning after they were left by her husband. It almost seems as if the relationship between Beth and her mother is on the basis of exchanging resources. Beth has the ability to play chess and her mother has the chance at sustaining their home and life with prize money. While, it’s too early to tell if this relationship will stay rooted in an exchange of resources, the relationship reminded me a lot of the real world. Whether you’re a student, a celebrity, or a millionaire, it’s often hard to find people who genuinely want to make relationships that don’t guarantee some type of gain like fame, popularity, or money. I’m interested to see if Beth and her mother’s relationship bypass this harsh reality about our world.

This episode was very enlightening for me because Beth is finally able to display her talents in chess. During Beth’s encounter with the chess tournament, it was easy to see how the other characters underestimated her because she is a young girl. Most of the other players in the tournament are young and old men. It was interesting to see how Beth found it easier to be comfortable in a competitive environment that is surrounded by chess than a classroom with people that are the same age as herself. Beth seems to be more in-control of her life in chess than her own life. Especially since she has experienced a lot of hardships throughout her life. I think that this episode shows the true effect that hobbies have on a person’s life, in this case it is chess.

I really enjoyed this episode, and Beth’s character development is something that really makes this series shine. After being adopted as a teenager, Beth starts going to high school, yet retains her aloof reserved outlook. One can see that her reliance on chess has evolved to a point where it has become her primary interest in life, as she forgoes bonding with peers or focusing on school to pursue professional chess tournaments. And as her focus on chess continues through this episode, we see that she falls back on her reliance on pills as well to allow her to further focus on this interest. It was also very interesting to see how after Allston, her adoptive father, leaves the family, Beth’s dynamic with her mother changes. Her adoptive mother at first almost seemed to have some disdain for Beth and thought of her as strange, but after hearing how much money chess tournaments could earn, begins to support and bond with her daughter, regardless of her intentions being focused on money.

I really enjoyed this episode of Queen’s gambit. I think that the main characters’ struggle with addiction is a huge problem when it comes to prescription drugs especially when they are prescribed so young in a person’s life. It’s easy to develop a mental dependence on drugs and I feel that back in the 1900s they were given out too freely causing a lot of addiction problems. ITs also interesting to see the sexism when it comes to an academic sport such as chess.

The Queen’s Gambit is one of my favorite television series. I am fortunate to have been introduced to it during the Rose Scholars Program. After watching the second episode, we were able to discuss what chess means to Beth and what playing chess symbolizes for the writers in the show. Beth clearly uses chess as a form of escape, a way to distract herself from the uncertainties in her life. She also uses chess as a form of control. Beth can control her actions in a game, as everything is familiar. This is unlike her real life, where she cannot control dead and change.

I relate to Beth by wanting to control aspects of my life. I wish I had a grounding mechanism like she does, as I have recently gone through a lot of changes academically and personally. This episode made me more aware of healthy outlets in my life.

After seeing episode 2 of Queen’s Gambit I learnt that women never had it easy back then. First Beth did not have the money to enter the tournament and was told only “coloured” girls get jobs. This was shocking to me as it made me reflect on how prominent racism was back then. Even when she enters the tournament she is told there is no women’s section again showing the sexist nature of chess back then. In fact this episode made me reflect on the learnings in one of my social studies classes where we learnt how hard it was for coloured people and women to achieve success in the US.

In episode 2 of The Queens Gambit, we see Beth get adopted from the orphanage and meet her new parents. While I’m sure it’s never easy to get a new family and move into a new house with people you barely know, it was particularly difficult for Beth. Her parents only seemed vaguely interested in her, with the father seeming downright annoyed at her presence, and the mother, while not seeming annoyed, wasn’t entirely enthusiastic either. This episode also continued to show Beth’s resilience though. She was able to deal with whatever came her way, whether it be a new family, starting at a new school, or trying to play chess despite the strict lack of support for it. Her determination though proved itself. After successfully entering, and winning, the tournament with a cash prize, her mother’s attitude quickly changed. Although it was unclear whether she was simply interested in the money, or because she was genuinely impressed with Beth’s talent is yet to be seen though. Either way, Beth’s determination allowed her to gain support for her chess ambitions.

The Queen’s Gambit continues to be interesting, if not a little cliché.

At first I was annoyed at the lighting and drab colors in the beginning of the episode, although I later realized this was actually a good directorial decision. By making the orphanage bleak and dim visually and metaphorically, the contrast is more apparent when Beth goes to the new home and the walls are suddenly bright and colorful. I think it is a good indicator of her life taking a turn for the better and her mood lightening.

I was upset that Jolene is gone; she had a very fun personality and offered some diversity in the show. Although I think the show was trying to make a statement about period racism by showing her being left behind at the orphanage, the show also falls into its own trap by getting rid of an interesting black character.

I like how they demonstrate how Beth is starting to engage more with the world around her in positive and negative ways, by growing into her sexuality and being tempted to fuel her drug addiction while also becoming more serious about chess.

This episode of the Queen’s Gambit was really intriguing. It was interesting to see how Beth became accustomed to her new family and new school. It was sad to see her return to using tranquilizers and it really scares me because she’s very young. However, the progression of the tournament Beth entered was really fun to watch. I loved seeing her prove everyone wrong, especially in that final match against Beltik. He made me so angry with how dismissive he was, so I’m glad Beth crushed him. I will say the progression in terms of her family life was completely unexpected. I had initially thought it wouldn’t be the best, but I did not expect the father to abandon the mom and Beth. What was even more surprising was that the father was the one who thought to adopt Beth. The mother was a very interesting character in my opinion. She seemed neglectful and discouraged Beth’s interest in chess until she saw how much money Beth could make. I don’t really like how she showed immediate interest because of profit. I really hope that she doesn’t exploit and take advantage of Beth. Overall, this was a really good episode! I’m excited to see how the show progresses.

In this episode, I saw the rise of Girl’s Power. Beth won all the chess tournament despite being the only female in male competition. This shows that Beth has the courage and determined to put in all her efforts. During the shows, I was surprised by how smart she was, and very methodological in tackling chess tournament.

We got introduced to a bunch of new characters in this episode (the parents, the students at school, the tournament competitors, etc) but I felt like it did a good job of characterizing them in the short amount of screen time they were featured in. I thought it was really interesting to see how Beth’s relationship with her parents changed especially after Allston leaves them. The way the show used facial expressions and small movements to show how most of Beth’s opponents weren’t taking her seriously was also well done. I’m interested to see how Beth’s relationship to chess changes in episode three, especially now that she’s starting to win prize money from the tournaments and is also dependent on it after the dad leaves.

I am the kind of person who asks lots of questions about a show. After watching the second episode, I cannot wrap my head around Beth’s adoptive parents and their lives. Alma seems to be a caring individual who will watch over Beth, but like Allston, she interacts with here at a distance. I had attributed this to her personality; but, after seeing how she interacts with her husband and her demeanor mentioning her deceased child, I wonder if she has dealt with abuse and neglect similar to Beth. She was unwilling to get attached because of those around her. There’s also the case of her always getting sick, but I do not think that is plot-relevant. Allston was apparently the person who wanted a child, yet he does not talk to Beth nor does he seem interested in mere existence. He has a job (currently unknown) that allows them a suburban lifestyle, but it is shown to irritate him. I wonder if Alma knows what he is doing on his business trips; after seeing her reaction to his detainment, I suspect she knows. The dynamic between these two does not seem to phase Beth. This may have to do with the broken relationship of her own parents. She is used to dysfunctional relationships and the emotional toll it has. Yet, I think Beth wants to have people to take care of her. She saw something in Mr. Shaibel and the memory of her mother continues to haunt her. Moving forward, I wonder how her conception of parents will reveal itself as she dives deeper into the chess world. Even more so, I wonder how the Wheatleys will respond to her imminent fame.

I absolutely adored this episode of Queen’s Gambit. At the second episode, the plot starts to pick up with Beth being adopted. I really hated that the writers split up Beth and Jolene because they had such a deep relationship. I hope they keep in contact with each other in the future. The rest of the episode is based on Beth’s focus in a local chess match. This was such a nail-bitting moment because towards the last match you could see how much her competitor was angering her.  I’m so glad that she won the match because it really showed a turning point in her chess career.

This week, we watched and discussed the second episode of “The Queen’s Gambit,” which followed Beth as she gets adopted at age 13 and enters a chess tournament.  Like the first episode, the second episode was a targeted flashback of her life that followed her at a specific time in her life; for this epidode, what was when she leaves the orphanage and begins going to highschool.  It was interesting to see this change in Beth’s life and see how her prior experiences affected the way she navigated highschool.  As chess becomes her priority, she stops focusing on school or developing a social life.  It was interesting to see how she reacted to typical teenager events, such as school, bullies, and getting her period for the first time, as well seeing how she pursuses the very non-traditional (at the time) path of becoming a chess master. This episode did a good job of showing the viewer life through Beth’s perspective as she struggles through her young teen years.  While some of the obstacles that she faces can seem to be a highschool cliché, such as dealing with bullies, the show remains interesting by focusing on chess and how Beth uses it to cope with her situation and take control of her own life.  Overall, I thought that the characterization and plot in this episode were really well done and made for an intruiging show!

A world without chess for Beth is bland. I have watched this show once through before, but I decided to watch it again to catch anything I may have missed the first time around. In the beginning of this week’s episode of Queen’s Gambit, the lighting that was used while at the orphanage was cool toned, but as Beth makes her return to chess, there is a drastic change in the background’s lighting. You see brighter colors and more sunlight. The audience can make a reasonable assumption that chess is a getaway from real life for Beth, which we see when she visualizes moves on the board on ceilings and become more sociable and like herself when competing against other people. This hobby, which soon becomes the center of her life, is something she can not separate herself from.

With that being said, it made me think about what particular hobbies or activities I take part in that I cannot see myself without. For me, it is dance. In one shape or another, growing up I was in some dance class, whether that be ballet, praise dance, tap, etc. Even now, in college, I am a part of a dance team that I truly enjoy.

The second episode of “The Queen’s Gambit” honestly exceeded my expectations. I loved watching every minute of it and felt so invested in the characters and storyline. It was so different from the first episode, and I felt like it was less predictable and exciting.

I loved watching Beth and her relationship with her adoptive parents, which initially seemed tense. Beth didn’t really care for them, and it seemed like her adoptive father the same towards her. But it seemed like everything changed when he left, and Mrs. Wheatley fell into an unstable mental and physical state. I noticed how Beth and Mrs. Wheatley had their first genuine connection when they both agreed they would lie that Mr. Wheatley left them (I still don’t know why he did that and I want to know more, but it felt like a very brief moment in the show that won’t come up again), and it seemed like she was upset but free from the pressures of being a good wife and housewife, and Beth is the distraction she needed. I can’t wait to see how their relationship continues to progress, especially now that Mrs. Wheatley wholeheartedly supports Beth’s interests in chess.

One thing I enjoyed throughout this episode were the competition scenes. After learning to play chess before she was adopted, Beth had minimal experience playing against other opponents. When she entered her first competition, it was nice to watch Beth finally receive recognition for her skill level, despite not having formal chess ranking. I was not previously aware that each individual player was given a score to rank themselves before watching this episode. Additionally, it was also nice to see Beth’s mother interested in her daughter’s skills to benefit both of them in the future. I can’t wait to see how much Beth will win or lose in the coming episodes!

The second episode of The Queen’s Gambit introduced a slew of new characters and circumstances that are sure to bring about interesting plot points in the future. One particularly interesting plot element is Beth’s rekindled dependence on tranquilizers. At the climax of the episode, Beth is shown to utilize the tranquilizers as a way to calm her nerves and get the edge she needs in order to win the final match. This seeming dependence on the drug is sure to have consequences both in terms if the plot and themes, and I’m excited to see how it all develops in following episodes!

After watching the second episode of the Queen’s Gambit, I can’t help thinking about how abuse representation can differ in media and how we’ve grown accustomed to what it looks like.

For example: when I was younger Harry Potter’s abuse that he received from the Dursleys and his eventual transformation at Hogwarts was always discussed when talking about abuse cases. The trope of the happy, kind character despite perilous circumstances can be found in multiple sources of media. In Matilda, Matilda’s parents constantly belittled and yelled at her despite her intelligence and clear aptitude for academics. However, when watching the Queen’s Gambit, I’ve realized that neglect can come in different forms.

The father, in this case, didn’t strike Beth or yell at her. But at the same time, his complete lack of reaction when she arrived in their home could be considered incredibly disappointing as well. The mother could be analyzed in a similar way. Although she never outright yelled at Beth, she didn’t support her activities and actually actively discouraged her from pursuing chess.

It made me realize how complex parenting can be and not abusing your children is almost the bare minimum that people can achieve. There’s a lot more that goes into supporting ones child and their wants and needs. It isn’t enough to just clothe them and feed them. Children need support from their parents too. Although Beth grew up to be fairly independent due to her time in the orphanage, I think she still yearns for parental affection and love. She still hasn’t completely forgotten her own mother after all.

I am not someone who gets addicted to Netflix shows easily. In fact, I even deleted my Netflix account because I thought that’s a waste of money as I watch so little. However, watching The Queen’s Gambit with other Rose scholars has made me deeply intrigued by this series, and keeps me coming back for the next episode.

The Queen’s Gambit appealed to me initially with how easy it is to understand the plot and follow along. I am not a chess player, and I know nothing about chess. But despite the fact that the show uses a technical terminology as its name, it is accessible to all. The show has plenty of close-up shots on chess playing, but the director has done a great job in “explaining” the current situation with background music and body/facial expressions. When Beth is thinking hard, suspense music echoes her inner thoughts; if the game is going well, Beth shows a relaxed countenance. This makes it effortless to comprehend the storyline.

The show maintains its appeal with a meticulously organized storyline. In general, the series follows time development, with the exception being the very first scene in episode 1 featuring Beth’s tournament. We witness Beth growing up, from a normal child to a chess master. There are many chess tournaments Beth has to go through to reach the top, but to make it simple, each episode only features one major chess tournament. Episode 1 features Beth’s high school tournament while episode 2 is about the state tournament. From one episode to the next, the level of tournament goes up, reflecting Beth’s grow as a professional chess player. And in the end of each episode, a cliffhanger incentivizes the audience to return while pushing the storyline forward.

With a deeper analysis, it is easy to see that The Queen’s Gambit tries to incorporate 1960s elements to reflects that time period. Vintage cars, newspapers, and timepieces are some examples. While we had a great discussion on themes after watching episode 2, I will refrain from discussing about it here as I don’t want to draw any premature conclusions.

Watching The Queen’s Gambit at Rose events has brought me lots of pleasure and I am so glad that we’ll be able to watch the next episode next week! I can’t wait to see what’s to come.

I think a significant part of this episode was how Beth’s relationship with her adoptive mother, Alma, changes. When Alma and Allston first meet Beth, their interaction is minimal; we don’t really know how much the trio got to know each other, but Beth does get adopted by them. In the car ride to Beth’s new home, Alma attempts to make conversation with Beth, causing viewers to assume that Alma will be a caring mother. It is also very clear that Allston holds no interest in Beth as he remains silent and occasionally clears his throat. His silence is very loud and he basically ignores Beth and his wife. As Allston remains away for work, we see a different side of Alma, someone who desperately needs help. She doesn’t really care about what’s going on in Beth’s life and continues to more or less ignore Beth until Allston declares he won’t be returning. This is also paired with the fact that she sees that Beth is earning a good amount of money from her chess tournaments. It’s unclear whether Alma genuinely cares for Beth or is playing the part of a devoted mother for Beth’s money. Another significant part of the episode was when Beth is reunited with the addictive pills. There is a time leap after the first episode when Beth faints after consuming too many pills, but we assume she hasn’t taken them in a while. That is until she finds Alma’s pills. I think this is significant because it shows how from the outside it appears as though Alma will be a good mother figure to Beth, but in reality, Beth’s road to addiction has only just begun, reinforced with Alma’s obsession with winning and money.

One thing that stood out to me about this episode was the way in which money quickly changed the mind of Beth’s adoptive mother, who opposed the idea of her playing chess. I assumed that her adoptive mother’s sexist thinking and resulting opposition to Beth playing chess would be one of the central conflicts of the series, so I was surprised when Beth’s mother changed her attitude as soon as Beth made some money. It says quite a bit about Beth’s adoptive mother’s values: even though she might find it improper for a girl to play chess, it does not matter as long as there is money involved. For Beth, this is not necessarily a bad thing, since it allows her to keep playing. However, it seems to me that Beth’s mother is using her, which might become a source of conflict in future episodes.

In the second episode of The Queen’s Gambit, we see that Beth is adopted and begins to play chess in a Chess Tournament. A few observations that were discussed in the group is that playing chess is an escape from reality for Beth. She is able to do what she pleases and most games are predictable since she regularly wins. Also, during this time the people who mostly played chess were men who have many years playing the game. When Beth beats all of her opponents, the audience could not believe what they were seeing. Lastly, this episode portrayed a significant difference in the color scheme from the orphanage to the neighborhood. In an orphanage the mood tends to be gloomy, unlike a neighborhood where it is bright and outgoing. The creators of the show made sure that they could imitate reality in the best manner possible, which can be noted through the use of color schemes. Overall, this episode was very well created, and I am looking forward to episode three.

In Episode 2 of Queen’s Gambit, Beth beats seasoned players to win the state chess championship. I really loved this episode because it portrayed Beth as a strong, independent character, who is an underdog in the chess world but is quickly meeting her potential. It’s inspiring to see a girl winning in a male-dominated field. I was on the edge of my seat the whole episode rooting for Beth and hoping that she could succeed despite all of the setbacks and tragedy in her life!