I was really enjoying the series until the final installment, when an improbable event involving a Corvair suddenly resolved everything. The visuals are pleasing, and the narrative of overcoming obstacles progresses smoothly. The adoptive mother readily supports the protagonist's ambition to become a chess champion, which felt somewhat unrealistic; I didn’t anticipate it would be so straightforward, and it seemed overly convenient that the father disappeared without any explanation. There were other moments that stretched credibility too far, such as an 8-year-old developing a severe tranquilizer dependency like Beth's did. Was her mother struggling with addiction? That wasn't even suggested. Typically, serious addictions don’t develop in isolation and require some underlying predisposition, and such a significant element shouldn't appear without any context within the story. It was also odd that she had so much free time to play chess unsupervised in the orphanage basement with the custodian. I'm not certain about how dancing factored into things either, because there were no scenes of young Beth dancing by herself. Furthermore, I’m unclear on Beth’s drive to become a world champion. While she clearly enjoys playing, the intense desire to be the best wasn't ever explored. I thought it might stem from a need for financial security after her adoptive father left, but that aspect was never addressed. Characters usually pursue goals because of some fundamental motivation or difficult situation, but in this story, that underlying reason is simply absent; it felt like careless storytelling.

Source on TMDB