The Queen’s Gambit: 5 Times Beth And Jolene Were The Perfect Duo (& 5 Times They Weren’t)

The Queen’s Gambit centers around the story of Beth, a chess prodigy who goes from playing in the basement of an orphanage to some of the most prestigious competitions in the world. Beth, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, is a beautifully complicated character depicted stunningly by Taylor-Joy, and one of the most important and interesting ways that viewers learn about her is through the eyes of her closest friends.

Beth’s closest, lifelong friend Jolene, portrayed the utterly commanding Moses Ingram, is a particularly important part of Beth’s story. The two make up a dynamic duo that is a pleasure to watch. However, while fans are often left wanting more, at times it’s to make up for a lack in the girls’ relationship.

10 Perfect: Both Unconventional

It becomes apparent that Beth and Jolene will hit it off not long into Beth arriving at the orphanage.

Jolene emerges as a misfit type character, her voice rising down the hallways with outbursts of curses. Beth is a quiet character, but similarly unique in personality. She and Jolene are both fiercely independent people, and this draws them to each other.

9 Not Perfect: Jolene Resents Beth

Jolene and Beth are in a somewhat similar standing during their childhood. They both have to grow up in an orphanage, so the terms of their lives are more or less equal.

But when Beth is adopted well into her teen years, it’s clear that Jolene holds some resentment for her in a moment where she specifically draws attention to their greatest difference–the fact that Jolene is black, making it less likely she will be adopted than Beth.

8 Perfect: Jolene Is Beth’s Mentor

Jolene is a little older than Beth, and this works out well for young Beth when she arrives at the orphanage.

She has no idea of the lay of the land there, and Jolene stands out as a leader figure, somebody who Beth can look to for how to get by and function in the system in a clever way. This brings the two closer together.

7 Not Perfect: Jolene Gives Beth Drugs

When Jolene realizes that Beth has an extreme dependency on the drugs the orphanage has been giving the children, she urges Beth to take it easy on them.

But when the drugs are taken away due to a shift in legalities and Beth finds herself in withdrawal, Jolene shows up to give Beth a few pills in her hour of need. Jolene is only trying to help, but the fact that she was made to be put in this situation damages the healthiness of their friendship.

6 Perfect: They Share A History

Sometimes there is nothing that ties people together more than having shared trauma, and Beth and Jolene certainly have this. Both spent the majority of their lives in the institution of an orphanage.

This means that they would go through their lives in the outside world forever existing on a level that nobody would understand unless they too were raised as Jolene and Beth were. To have had this experience together, and to have been there for each other the whole time, creates an incomparable bond.

5 Not Perfect: Beth Doesn’t Keep In Touch

After spending all of those years together, one would think that Beth would make an effort to check in on Jolene, her one true friend growing up.

To be fair, Beth didn’t have it easy trying to adjust to her new living with Mrs. Wheatley in the start, but once she gains momentum and becomes a successful chess player, she certainly could have sent along a letter to Jolene or a little money.

4 Perfect: Jolene Keeps Track Of Beth

Despite Beth not keeping in touch with Jolene after leaving the orphanage, Jolene reveals that she did keep track of Beth’s life. In a scene near the end of the show, Jolene tells Beth that while out on a school trip she spend her only money on a magazine featuring Beth’s accomplishments.

Jolene had hardly anything to her name and spent it on feeling close to Beth. Beth had plenty of money, meanwhile, and extended nothing in the interest of Jolene.

3 Not Perfect: Beth Idealizes Jolene

When Jolene comes back into Beth’s life, she is a saving grace. Beth is in a mess. She is addicted to alcohol and drugs and spends all of her time alone dwelling in her own misery and fixating on the prospect of her mother’s madness.

So when Jolene arrives and helps her find her feet, Beth tells Jolene that she is her guardian angel–something that seems nice, but is ultimately unfair, as it puts Jolene on a pedestal and doesn’t account for the fact that she is also merely a person, someone who doesn’t only exist in relation to how she can help Beth.

2 Perfect: They Aren’t Afraid To Be Blunt

Jolene and Beth have been through some rough times. They know the reality of how hard the world is, and this helps them to cut through niceties in their dealings with each other.

While both are kind and affectionate, their ability to say things clearly and honestly ultimately aids their friendship, such as when Beth is feeling lost and in crisis and Jolene gets right to the point, simplifying things and helping Beth see what she needs to focus on.

1 Not Perfect: Beth Does Most Of The Taking

As touching and impactful as their friendship is when viewers take a step back and consider what Jolene and Beth share it becomes apparent that there isn’t actually that much that Beth offers Jolene.

Jolene is always there for Beth, not the other way around, and this lessens the power of the duo.