Check it out. I saw someone say it’s a live-action sports anime and while I would never watch an anime I assume that’s an accurate description. You’d be shocked how exciting they can make chess look in this show.
It’s more okay now to depict the USSR in a positive manner because they’re no longer a threat.
I think it’s also the reason I’ve seen more positive takes on Chavez in the MSM lately. When Chavez was still alive, the tone was “Chavez must go!” Now it’s “Chavez wasn’t that bad actually, but Maduro must go!”
I don’t know about that. Look at any other Netflix original that features the USSR and you’ll see the most reductive old school red scare bullshit imaginable.
Yeah, the old Evil Empire narrative is still popular, but perhaps less so. I could be wrong; I wasn’t alive in the 70s and early 80s, so I don’t know how common sympathetic portrayals were.
I might be getting the ending wrong
But isn’t there an implication that she defects to USSR. She abandons the CIA guy to stay in the Soviet union.
Beth: The match is adjourned.
CIA guy: What’s that mean?
When America sends its people, they’re not sending their brightest lol.
spoiler
___ I took it to mean that she just enjoyed the company of older people, since it reminded her of Mr. Shaubel.
spoiler
I took it around the same lines. After years of feeling alone and isolated, she visits a park of chess players, and is surrounded with adoration. Essentially Chess is her community, the people she enjoys being with and can be used by her to become a healthier person.
Yes it’s good and you should watch it. Also, don’t believe your lying rational mind when it says there can’t be gay in this show. There’s definitely gay.
Kasparov was one of the consultants hired for the show. So it was pretty accurate and used real games and perhaps why it’s missing the general anti Soviet bias that we’re so used to.
Yeah he is also super sexist and kind of a nut job who believes in an alternate view of history where it all basically started after like 500AD and Russia is the coolest throughout.
Basically chess players are gamers so they usually suck.
There’s a couple weird stuff like the KGB guys following the Russians to make sure they don’t defect, and kid obsessed with American culture, but great series nonetheless.
Critical support for Borgov
Yeah, the Mexico City episode made me think it was gonna go super red scare but it totally turned that on its head as the show went on.
I feel like the ending was a close as they could get to
spoiler
having Beth defect to the USSR as they could for an American show, which surprised me. I was expecting Borgov to defect for an overtly “pro freedom” ending, especially since Beth’s escort dropped hints of that.
The KGB really did stuff like that, and it was made clear later than the US state department did too. And Harmon’s line “I’ve never gone to a drive in movie theater either” served to show the kid’s enthusiasm for American culture was misplaced.
