Today we’re going to talk about two excellent shows currently showing on Netflix, one everyone is talking about and the other not so much: The Queens Gambit and The Barrier.
But first…
It was a shitty Sunday at Casa Travis and Elaine. For two hours, we had motorcycle noise, honky horns, and yelling passing by our house in the form of a “Trump Parade.” We saw a verbal confrontation on the sidewalk between a very angry Trump supporter and two of our neighbors.
We hope by the time you listen to this, our great national nightmare is over, but for now, here is a sample of what went on here on Sunday, 11/01/2020.
Photo: Elaine
On the flip side, our favorite babies Margot and Kenny had their first Halloween! Babies make everything better!
Margot as a Unicorn! 
Kenny as Sweet Pea!
We have a new Facebook group!
On a whim, on Saturday, Elaine decided to create a Facebook group for this podcast. Within an hour, we had 50 very active users and growing fast! Thank you to everyone who joined and supports our show! If you want to get in on the fun, here’s a link:
Travis and Elaine Chat Group
Can’t wait to see you there.
A great number of people in our group were talking about The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. We’d already watched the pilot on Friday night; we binged the rest on Saturday but saved the finale for Sunday.
We absolutely loved it!
It took Allen Scott (Scottish writer Allan Shiach) 27 years to finally get the Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel to the screen. Originally intended to be a feature film, two big directors came and went. At one point, Heath Ledger was attached to direct, and Ellen Page was courted to star. We get into the long strange trip to Netflix, plus the exceptional cast. Currently, The Queen’s Gambit is the #1 series on Netflix. Maybe, it was worth the wait.
If you’re interested in the novel, get it here
 |  |
If you are a 1st edition collector click on the R image
The Outstanding Cast
Led by a star-making performance by Anya Taylor-Joy is a uniquely quiet tale of isolation, genius, and how one girl navigates the world. With the exception of the episodes where her character Beth Harmon is a kid, Taylor-Joy is essentially in every scene. We knew her from The Witch, but didn’t even recognize her as Casey Cooke from Split and Glass the two movies that followed one of Elaine’s favorite movies. Unbreakable.
The Witch 
Split/Glass 
The Queen’s Gambit
The supporting cast is solid. Stand outs were Bill Camp, Marielle Heller and Thomas Brodie-Sangster. More about them in the episode.
Bill Camp
Photo: Netflix
Marielle Heller
Photo: Netflix
Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Photo: Netflix
Another star of The Queen’s Gambit is the costuming. Set mostly in the 1960’s, the dresses are perfection.
And as promised, the songs!
And of course, The Monkees. (from the original TV episode.
The Barrier
The trailer (above) is dubbed but as always we strongly suggest that you watch with subtitles.
The Barrier – La valla (original title) is a Spanish series currently airing. one episode a week on Netflix. Luckily, if you haven’t started watching yet, half the episodes are already up for binging.
Unbelievably, this series was created and filmed before the pandemic because the parallels are stunning. Yeah, it’s another near-future dystopian drama, but it’s better and more realistic than most.
The cast, although mostly unknown to American viewers include the remarkable real-life mother and daughter, Olivia Molina and Ángela Molina.
Photo: seriesycine
Don’t forget to join us!
As I am writing this the POTUS is declaring victory and rambling about suing everybody, so ya may need us (your loyal distraction) more than ever. Hang in there, everybody.
Cya on Facebook! Travis and Elaine Chat Group
As always, we recommend FireTV/Stick for your streaming. With the holidays creeping up, it’s a great gift.
Hit us up of you wanna know more!
