On our finale installment of our two-part discussion of "The Queen's Gambit," we really dig into how the coming-of-age narrative at the center of this lovely Netflix Miniseries parallels the key stages of Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey." Tracking Beth's rise to stardom, downward spiral into addiction, regenerative return to her homeland / orphanage, and ultimate ascent to chess supremacy, we celebrate how well crafted and inspiring her story truly is. We also examine the savvy ways in which Cold War motifs, like collectivism vs. individuality, are depolarized and investigated by the countercultural, punk-rock ethos of the late 60s American chess troupe that teams up to support Beth; and we even explore the ways in which traditional gender roles and expectations are refreshingly subverted.

For those who loved this 7-part Bildungsroman as much as we did, you will not be disappointed as we inspect "The Queen's Gambit" with quirky analogies and idiosyncratic lenses. That said, we must issue a quick warning: the sound quality in this episode is subpar, becoming quite tinny, muffled, and echoey at times. Sadly, we recently upgraded our podcast equipment and haven't fully figured out all the controls yet. The audio sounded perfectly solid live, and yet distorted once it was compressed and recorded. We totally blew it on this level, but we are nevertheless proud of the conversation and are just going to stick with what we got. It is still an extremely rewarding listen for those who can deal with lo-fi quality. However, for those with high standards in terms of sonic quality, I'd suggest skipping this episode and choosing any of the others we've previously published!

We promise it'll sound better than ever by next time...when we get to our next MiniTournament of Sports movies focused on perhaps our most beloved sport of all: hockey!

Until then, apologies for the sound, thanks for listening nonetheless, and thanks as always for your continuing support!