Remember when people could tell a story in a two hour film? Even sweeping epics like Lawrence of Arabia (one of my favorites) managed to do it in three and a half hours.

But no, in the era of streaming everything must be stretched into a series, albeit a "limited" one (whatever that means). This show wasn't bad by any means, it just dragged. Why on earth anyone though stretching a 240 page book into 6-7 hours of screen time was a good idea is beyond me. There is a good two hour movie hiding behind endless and visually dreary chess montages.

But for some curious reason it also feels rushed. It doesn't handle the passing of time well, and Beth's relationship to other characters makes little to no sense.

The little girl playing Beth as a child is really good, the boy from Love Actually is woefully miscast, and the rest of the supporting cast are quite nondescript. Anya Taylor Joy as Beth is good, but it takes more than dozens of close ups of her gigantic doe eyes to save this series. And it wouldn't be a Netflix show if it didn't have not one, but two gay subplots. The virtue signaling is getting quite ridiculous.