TV SERIES NOTEBOOK: “The Queen’s Gambit.” “Stateless.”

TV SERIES. “The Queen’s Gambit.” Netflix. Limited Series. A coming-of-age period drama based on Walter Tevis's 1983 novel of the same name. Mr Tevis, who died in 1984, is also the author of three novels that were adapted into major and successful films: “The Hustler,” “The Color of Money,” and “The Man Who Fell to Earth.”

       First month that “…Gambit” streamed on Netflix, I wasn’t very interested, not because I didn’t dig those other Tevis materials. Actually, I love those books and movies! It’s just that, despite being a huge fan of chess, I reckoned the series would be boring. What are they gonna do? Sit all through 45 mins to 1 hour of an episode? Besides, I wasn’t so moved by Anya Taylor-Joy’s character in “Peaky Blinders” though I voraciously ate that series. Uh huh.

       Anyhow, finally I watched “The Queen’s Gambit.” And oh yes! I love it! Not just Ms Taylor-Joy’s grip of the central subject Beth Harmon, but also the overall production values, especially the cinematography. Harmon is an orphaned chess prodigy on her rise to the top of the chess world while struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. That backstory isn’t mawkishly navigated, no mushy meanderings here. This is a triumphant exploration of funk and how to overcome it, very inspiring. No wonder the series is Netflix's most-watched scripted miniseries, making it the streaming giant’s top show in 63 countries on pandemic time.

       Now I want to check Anya out in her other efforts: “The Witch” (2015, her debut), “Thoroughbreds.” “The Miniaturist.” “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.” “Glass,” and “Emma,” which also won her a Golden Globe acting nomination. I saw “Split” (2017) but I almost didn’t notice her on that one, sorry.

TV SERIES. “Stateless.” Netflix. Limited Series. Australian drama. The series is partly inspired by the real-life story of Cornelia Rau, a mentally-disturbed Australian who was unlawfully detained under the Australian Government's mandatory detention program. Her detention became the subject of a government inquiry which was later expanded to investigate over 200 other cases of suspected unlawful detention by the Australian government's Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA).

       If you are familiar with Ms Rau’s story, it would be convenient to strip yourself out of that one and then focus on the other characters. Cornelia’s life story albeit partly fictionalized, is simply the backdrop that other plotlines are sewn into, in this engaging series, which centers as well on three strangers in an immigration detention center in the Australian desert. An Afghan refugee fleeing persecution, a young Australian father escaping a dead-end job, and a bureaucrat caught up in a national scandal. 

       The Cornelia Rau take-off would be the airline hostess escaping a suburban cult. Their lives intersect and so that is the hold of this finely-acted series.