ProudMary

This was a very nice surprise as this series seems to be too often overlooked as peak TV. The Hollywood Reporter is doing a number of year-end top 10 lists including "The 10 Best TV Shows of 2020." Look what comes in as their top choice! https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/inkoo-kang-the-10-best-tv-shows-of-2020

The Hollywood Reporter has compiled a number of year-end "best of" lists including the "Best TV Performances of 2020." https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/hollywood-reporter-critics-pick-the-best-tv-performances-of-2020

The Hollywood Reporter is doing a bunch of year-end "best of" lists, including a "Best TV Performances of 2020" list. Before I opened it, I actually said out loud, "If Jurnee Smollett isn't on this list, I'm gonna throw something." Thankfully, all items are safe in my house. 😊 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/hollywood-reporter-critics-pick-the-best-tv-performances-of-2020 Also, from THR's "10 Best TV Episodes of 2020." https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/hollywood-reporter-tv-critics-pick-the-10-best-episodes-of-2020

Netflix has renewed Virgin River for a third season of ten episodes. Some additional casting info is included in the article. https://deadline.com/2020/12/virgin-river-renewed-season-3-netflix-1234658746/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Very sad news. Charley Pride died earlier today from complications of COVID-19. https://apnews.com/article/music-charley-pride-country-music-774ff52dd02d1d857983b1e9f41fcf34?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

The column has also been removed. https://www.postandcourier.com/news/in-21-seconds-granite-column-that-held-john-c-calhoun-above-charleston-tumbled-to-ground/article_ea5a9238-e712-11ea-a826-03d4603d02cf.html

A bit of fun on You Tube: Ms. Mojo has posted a video highlighting their picks for Beth's Top 10 best fashion looks. Top 10 Best Looks in The Queen's Gambit

Some changes are coming to Emmys' categories. Emmys: TV Academy Merges Variety Talk and Sketch Categories, Expands Limited Series to Include Anthologies, DQs Oscar Hopefuls

"I don't do politics." -- The woman formerly known as "Senate Barbie."

Shep wrote a memoir during lockdown and evidently, Simon & Schuster has picked it up. I truly can't imagine why. Page Six has the story along with a short video interview with Shep. ‘Southern Charm’ star Shep Rose penning memoir, ‘Average Expectations’

It's Hozier's "Movement"

I'll admit, that thought crossed my mind! 😄 The fact that the writing has been sub-par this season did make me pay a lot more attention the to stunningly beautiful scenery. Also, was the soundtrack THIS good in Season One? The music selections have been excellent this season.

What had me rolling my eyes the hardest was when Charmaine was still at Hope's house, she has a house call appointment at a specific time with BOTH a doctor AND a nurse practitioner but she's in the shower at the time of her appointment and then when she finally gets out, tells them to wait 20 minutes until she does her hair! I'm not done watching yet; I'm only through seven episodes, but wow, this season is disappointing compared to the first.

Ooh, I'm glad you pointed that out. I didn't realize it was the same "Apple Pi" girl. 👍

Fun fact I didn't know.

The instrumental playing as Beth walked up the stairs was "Comin' Home Baby" by Quincy Jones.(I had to Shazam that one. Much of the soundtrack for this series, I've known within the first few notes. While I've heard this song before, I couldn't identify it without some help.) Honestly, when I first watched this episode, I barely heard the music as I was mesmerized by Beth's beautiful black and white checkerboard (chessboard, in this case 😉) skirt. She wore that skirt a couple of times during the series, which I appreciated. With the emphasis placed on how tight money was for Alma and Beth, she certainly wouldn't yet have enough money that she wouldn't have to wear the same outfit more than once. She also wore a second outfit with larger checkerboard squares later in the series. I loved both. Nice fashion touch!

It's "You're the One That I Love" by The Vogues. "Classical Gas," used to great effect in the 1966 scene, was actually anachronistic as the song wasn't released until 1968. That was a fabulous scene though!

If people in positions of authority aren't going to speak out against dehumanization (slavery, the Indian caste system, the Holocaust, Jim Crow, apartheid, brown kids in cages at the border) then they shouldn't BE in a position of authority. I understand what everyone has written about how the Monarch can't express his/her opinion in public, but IMO it was because of that prohibition that the Queen's leaked opinion held true power. Additionally, she was acting not in her position as Queen, but as the leader of the Commonwealth. I think there's an important distinction there. The problem was that the ONE who was fighting against the 48 other members happened to be the PM of the UK. I realize this is only my opinion and I can't change the world, but apartheid was a crime against humanity and the Queen's push for sanctions even if outside the "rules" was an important piece of the puzzle that helped to change an abhorrent policy.

Done! I hate when I watch two or three episodes together and then forget which one held the moment on which I wanted to comment. I've been so good while watching this series, at coming directly here to read/comment, after I watch each episode but that's a completely new thing for me!

Problem solved! Nothing to see here. 🙂

I think the lead up to and the playing of speed chess was one big game of psychological chess (pun intended.) Benny invites Beth earlier in the day; she declines saying she has to study by reading his book, taking a little dig at his ego that he'd just exposed with the campus reporter. He'd like to re-establish his dominance. Even though he beat her in the past, he knows she's a much better player now, but he wants to show her he's still the boss. In her room, after reading his book, Beth makes the decision to take him up on the speed chess offer; her walk down the hallway and over to the mess hall to "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" was perfection. She had no intention of letting him see her best stuff. She stroked his ego. Benny got played. Terrific scene. I totally agree on the soundtrack. Great use of "Steppin' Stone" as I mentioned above; also the Herman's Hermits cover of "The End of the World" in the earlier episode. The use of "Classical Gas" in the cut scenes from the tournament prior to Beth and Benny's match was outstanding; so much so that I'll forgive the anachronism, which I'll admit bothered me a bit. CG wasn't released until 1968, while the title card told us we were in 1966. I really hope sex isn't off the table. These two have great chemistry.

Alma told Beth that she and her husband had had a child, but didn't give any further information. I assumed that child had died and that, if alive, she would have been thirteen at the time of Beth's adoption, which is why Beth HAD to be thirteen and not the older age she truly was. Again, my assumption.

😅 Seriously though, thirteen or fourteen year-olds who were actually buying them for themselves, had no problem buying cigarettes at that time either. The Surgeon General's report that showed the link between cigarettes and health issues wasn't released until 1964 and the actual warning on packs of cigarettes didn't appear until 1970 or so. I don't know when age restrictions on the purchase of cigarettes came into play, and I'm sure it was different from state to state, but if there were any at that time, they sure weren't enforced!

I also loved the Vegas set design. Does anyone else also watch "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel? I'm pretty sure that the bones of this Vegas set are exactly the same as the Miami set from S3 of TMMM. That staircase is hard to forget and the hotel room looked exactly like the one where Midge Maisel hung out with the female member of Shy's band. A few design changes from one series to the other, but incredibly similar. I was very glad that Beth had a loss, especially since it was motivated by her hubris. All she needed was a draw, but she couldn't allow herself to go for anything but a win. She paid a painful price. Good lesson there.

What I found amusing was when Beth was given a note to be able to buy cigarettes at the drug store. From personal experience, I can tell you that would have been completely unnecessary for the early '60s. As a five year-old in '63, I regularly was sent to the small grocery store around the corner from our house to get a pack of Chesterfields for my Dad, a pack of Newports for my Mom and a loaf of bread. No one batted an eye. 😄 Very different time.