I noticed that there was no thread for House of cards and so I thought a show this good deserves one.

To those that don’t know House of Cards 2013 is an American remake of and British show of the same name from 1990.

Watching the original British version I was astounded, it has more twists and turns then a George RR Martin novel and despite how it’s aged it’s still watchable. The pure Machiavellian nature of the show had me yearning to watch what the likes of Kevin Spacey could do once let loose.

The basic story for the new version is a senior congressman {Frank Underwood) played by Kevin Spacey, was promised the position of secretary of state after giving support to the incoming president , getting passed over Frank decides to get even and accumulate power.
Trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULwUzF1q5w4

I have only watched the first 7 episodes so far, but there was more than enough in them to warrant a quick review.

Kevin spacey is above and beyond; he plays each scene to perfection as does the rest of the cast. The very first scene of the show is probably the most interesting, brilliant, and sickening I have ever seen. Franks relationship with Doug is the high point of the show as is his liaison with Zoë. Both of these characters storylines are also fascinating and I can’t wait to see the conclusion to Doug’s.

The biggest drawback so far is the amount of time following the story of the wife; it was not over done, but is however a little dull after the political shenanigans of Underwood and fellows.

I’m not sure what you would call the technique used in Television when a character talks directly to the audience, but it is well used here and I find it refreshing if sometimes a little patronising. It’s used a lot less then I was in the original were it was rather over burdening. Still I am rather glad they kept the original title, as they do borrow a lot of stuff from the British version (mostly for the better), and it would have been rather rude to not keep it.

So... anyone else watching?

 

Just watched the first episode free and it convinced me to renew my Netflix subscription.

Fucking love Kevin Spacey.

 

Watched all the current episodes over the last couple of days and it is goooooood. Not breaking bad levels of awesome but more than good enough.

 

Talking to the audience? That's a little thing called narration.

My professor mentioned this show today when discussing political strategy and rationality and it seems cool. I'll probably pick it up one of these weekends.

 

Actually he was asking about a breaking the fourth wall, because in some scenes Kevin Spacey talks at the camera commenting on what is happening right now. You know, like in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

 

More like a soliloquy though I don't know if that applies merely for theater or would be true for TV as well. The show is excellent, and I fully enjoyed it. I do live in DC though and work in politics so I don't think I'm the audience they're worried about. Spacey fits the bill perfectly, and the ruthlessness he displays with a smile on his face is incredible. The wife bit does drag a bit in the start, but I think it's tying in nicely by the end of the first season. I really enjoyed the first season, but am more excited for the second. I expect that it will get even better.

 

I don't think it fits. A soliloquy is when a character speaks to himself. Spacey speaks directly to the audience.

 

Now that I've watched the whole first season, I can honestly say that the only bit I didn't like was the

Spoiler

CNN debate. Seemed so out of character for Frank to come apart like that since it's the only time it happens. I honestly thought he was having a stroke. I really don't see what the scene's point was aside from setting him back a bit (even though he was already on his back foot over the education bill), but I feel like it was clumsily done.

Otherwise the show is fantastic. I think I'd describe it to a friend as a show about Keyser Soze if he decided to be a politician instead of a criminal kingpin.

 

I liked the first four episodes , then the show turned from a political drama to straight out drama. Even the first episodes don't come near the epicness of West Wing, or even Veep.

I think this show tries so hard to be smart. And it isn't.

 

Or in House of Lies... I like that style of storytelling because it can transport a lot of useful information in short time.


And yeah this show is fantastic and Kevin Spacey really rocks it. Still a bit more political drama and less personal ones would have been great.

 

I was worried by the first few lines of narration but the show quickly came into it's own. Underwood is just amazingly amoral ("I have no patience for useless things) and despite the awkward start I literally went "Oh shit" at the scene with the dog.

I think that it was a bit similar to Boss, though not in specifics as much as the general idea, though I have to say that I like Spacey's Underwood more than Grammer's Kane. In Boss you watch as Kane fucks up secure in the knowledge that he's going to win despite being an utterly amoral douchebag and you're not happy about it. In House Of Cards you can almost bring yourself to root for Underwood, he does some really fucked up shit but he's also such a magnificent bastard that you want his plan to work.

His relationship with his wife is fascinating too, they seem to be completely platonic with only a shared love of power -and some affection- binding them.

 

Can't wait for the second season, things should be interesting..

 

Finally finished watching it. While it's good, almost great, it also lacks something to be truly brilliant. There is still the next season though.

Kevin Spacey owns this show and Robin Wright does remarkable job playing Frank's equally amoral wife. Their relationship is one of the best points of the story.

The rest of the cast is good too though I think they could get someone more charismatic for the President.

One problem I had with the story is how carefree was Frank in his contacts with Zoe. I was constantly expecting that someone will overheard them talking in the Congress or make photos as he enters her apartment.

I don't know if the next season will be the last one, but I think it would be interesting to see Frank achieve his goals before he falls similarly to what happened to the original version from BBC show.

 

Yeah. It's more of a convenient tool/shortcut than anything but it still is irksome

At one point Frank talks about getting Zoe a burner and she gets mad and proposes an alternative: he takes pictures of her naked so he can trust her. That is idiotic. Naked photos would not stop her if the situation was serious enough because it would also torch Frank's career and it's not gonna stop anyone else from subpoenaing Zoe's phone records. It's a completely useless insurance policy.

In fact, I think his relationship with her was the weakest part of the season.

 

Don't think this is necromancy as its relevent.

Anyway, Season Two Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFhJjCmYi1M

It looks suitably epic

 

It's a Valentine's Day gift for these that usually don't get any. Like me.

This is going to be quoted a lot of times in the next year.

Any bets if Frank becomes President for a short time before it's all over for him? Or maybe (doubtfully) they will end it with a moral that crime does pay (if you're Kevin Spacey).

 

I'd bet against Frank becoming President in the second season. He'd have to somehow remove the President and Vice President, and somehow get himself elected as Speaker of the House before he could get the position. The easiest is to gather power and wait for the next presidential election, especially since he has to deal with the problems that were left open-ended in the first season.

 

He is the Vice-president now or at least that was the deal made at the end of season 1 so unless for some reason the deal is nullified all he has to do is remove the president and lets face it the president is almost an idiot so it really is possible he ends up as president.

 

He already is Vice President in the second season.

That said, ideally he would become President in the third season by winning election and the fourth one would be about him finishing his second term, thinking that he got away with everything only to discover an old loose end that may cost him everything.

 

He accepted the VP offer, but it's not official yet as of the end of Season 1. I didn't know he becomes VP in the second season, but if so, then I had incorrectly assumed he was planning something about the VP offer, like suggest someone else so that he can cash in the favor later. My reasoning behind that is the VP position has little political power and it doesn't make sense to me why Frank would simply take it.

To become President in that same term, short of killing the man, Frank as VP would need to uncover impeachable offenses or make them up. Unless Frank knows of some horrible scandal beforehand, I imagine making them up is a very difficult thing to do when the President has the nation's best investigating for him.

So Frank may become President, but in agreement with Celestin, not in Season 2.