Online Series: House of Cards

[Adam Warlock]

Just finished...I agree with what most people are saying.

[spoil]I think this show kind of started to lose its way because of their insistence on making Claire a bigger character than she needed to be. Frank was the clear lead in seasons 1 and 2 and every season since then theyve been forcing the story to be more and more about Claire (with additions like the annoying Yates storyline). Whats most annoying is they are trying to make her the lead by making her become more and more like Frank (killing Yates, breaking the 4th wall), and it just isnt paying off IMO. I like Robin Wright in this series, but Spacey is a far more interesting lead.

The other thing that pissed me off was the whole "Underwood 2016-2036" quote that was even in the trailer but they just never explained what the plan was. I thought Claire being the VP was stupid and another example of forcing her into a bigger role...but hearing that Frank was planning a monarchy type rule made it a little more interesting. But the fact that they didnt even bother to explain how he planned on having the 2 of them serve 6 straight terms was a big let down for me. [/spoil]

 

[Bjorn Le]

I think people are too focused on the last two episodes. The first 11 were excellent, and the last two weren't horrible at least.

 

[Cole Caulifield]

I liked this season a lot. More than the past few seasons.

[SPOIL]I didn't have a problem with Claire becoming the new president. Her little "my turn" won't last. I don't think they're making her the main character moving forward. IMO the story moving forward will be about Spacey trying to force his influence on Claire.

My biggest problem with this season was Frank pushing Catherine Durant down the stairs. We never even hear from her again after that. It didn't seem like she fell down that many stairs that she'd be incapacitated that long. And what happens when she wakes? I also thought it was something that Frank had done in the past with Zoey. I thought with Zoey is was fine because it was a first time and it showed the length at which he was willing to go. It was realistic too because falling in front of a metro will do it for anyone. But pushing her down 10 stairs ? I thought it was a bit weak.

My main problem with it is that it's not realistic for Frank to think he can push her down 10 stairs padded with carpet and be sure she'll be incapacitated long enough for him to pull off his plan. What if she breaks a leg or an arm but doesn't die ? Plus aren't there cameras in all the hallways and stairs in the white house ? It all felt so sloppy.

What I don't like about this season is making them kill so many people themselves. It becomes a kind of deus ex machina where they can get out of any trouble by killing. It cheapens the whole thing. I want to watch them outwit their opponents. Killing or putting someone in a coma should be used with the utmost parsimony by the writers.[/SPOIL]

 

[silverfish]

Think it was kind of a meh season. The show was fundamentally more interesting with FU trying to gain power, and less about him trying to keep power.

I'm also watching The West Wing for the first time right now, it's a quality juxtaposition though, as to how the office of the President is treated. Someone could write an epic thesis on how the Bartlett and Underwood staffs are run.

 

[PB37]

Kevin Spacey has always been on point this entire series, but I especially loved his acting this season.

 

[SeidoN]

loved the whole season.

 

[chicagoskycam]

Just finished...I agree with what most people are saying.

[spoil]I think this show kind of started to lose its way because of their insistence on making Claire a bigger character than she needed to be. Frank was the clear lead in seasons 1 and 2 and every season since then theyve been forcing the story to be more and more about Claire (with additions like the annoying Yates storyline). Whats most annoying is they are trying to make her the lead by making her become more and more like Frank (killing Yates, breaking the 4th wall), and it just isnt paying off IMO. I like Robin Wright in this series, but Spacey is a far more interesting lead.

The other thing that pissed me off was the whole "Underwood 2016-2036" quote that was even in the trailer but they just never explained what the plan was. I thought Claire being the VP was stupid and another example of forcing her into a bigger role...but hearing that Frank was planning a monarchy type rule made it a little more interesting. But the fact that they didnt even bother to explain how he planned on having the 2 of them serve 6 straight terms was a big let down for me. [/spoil]

I think the quotes from the trailer are just exaggerations. We see some of that plan with Frank moving to the private sector and talking about the power being outside the WH.

I liked this season a lot. More than the past few seasons.

[SPOIL]I didn't have a problem with Claire becoming the new president. Her little "my turn" won't last. I don't think they're making her the main character moving forward. IMO the story moving forward will be about Spacey trying to force his influence on Claire.

My biggest problem with this season was Frank pushing Catherine Durant down the stairs. We never even hear from her again after that. It didn't seem like she fell down that many stairs that she'd be incapacitated that long. And what happens when she wakes? I also thought it was something that Frank had done in the past with Zoey. I thought with Zoey is was fine because it was a first time and it showed the length at which he was willing to go. It was realistic too because falling in front of a metro will do it for anyone. But pushing her down 10 stairs ? I thought it was a bit weak.

My main problem with it is that it's not realistic for Frank to think he can push her down 10 stairs padded with carpet and be sure she'll be incapacitated long enough for him to pull off his plan. What if she breaks a leg or an arm but doesn't die ? Plus aren't there cameras in all the hallways and stairs in the white house ? It all felt so sloppy.

What I don't like about this season is making them kill so many people themselves. It becomes a kind of deus ex machina where they can get out of any trouble by killing. It cheapens the whole thing. I want to watch them outwit their opponents. Killing or putting someone in a coma should be used with the utmost parsimony by the writers.[/SPOIL]

Agree with all of this. The way Durrant was handled was a joke, I actually thought it may be a dream sequence. It was so sloppy and full of questions... what happens when she comes to.

Agree with your other points as well, why are these two getting their hands dirty.

It was difficult at times to figure out who was playing who..

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

This show is trending downwards imo.

 

[USC Trojans]

the problem with the show is that Underwood went to the top too quickly.
What made the first season so great was his maneuvering to get the VP nomination. Now that he is (was) President, they're just trying to stretch it out for as long as they can

 

[Boris Zubov]

I hope they announce season 6 is the last. Otherwise, I'm out.

Agreed. This season was hot garbage. It's been like that since the middle of season 2. Yet I still watched it.

With all the deaths, it really devolved into The Departed or any Tarantino film.

 

[Boris Zubov]

the problem with the show is that Underwood went to the top too quickly.
What made the first season so great was his maneuvering to get the VP nomination. Now that he is (was) President, they're just trying to stretch it out for as long as they can

This is exactly what went wrong with this show. I said that to myself when it happened. They left themselves with nowhere to go.

I thought putting her on the ticket as VP was as bad as it could get, but Season 5 surpassed it. No bueno.

 

[Suiteness]

Yeah, this season was ass. Blame Donald Trump for some of that, the show can't keep up with the gong show going on at the real White House.

Claire, or Robin Wright Penn, can't carry a show. Her acting range is like Michael Cera's, one note as all hell. I just cringed at the scene where she breaks the 4th wall and talks to "us", terrible, it seems like she's looking above the camera.

Francis needs a worthy adversary for this show to really shine. Usher? zzzzzzzz Ms. Davis? zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Give me Petrov emasculating Francis everyday!

Poor Doug. Poor LeAnn.

 

[Ol' Jase]

They took one of the best characters on TV and turned him into a serial killer by extension.

Ugh.

 

[Fugazy]

I thought it was a solid season. Looking forward to seeing how they develop it further.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

Notice Robin Wright's producing and directing now. Has she taken over behind the scenes or something?

 

[Suiteness]

the problem with the show is that Underwood went to the top too quickly.
What made the first season so great was his maneuvering to get the VP nomination. Now that he is (was) President, they're just trying to stretch it out for as long as they can

Great point. Francis having this big big epiphany that the private sector is where it's at was just so underwhelming.

 

[bombers15]

I'm 10 of 13 episodes into Season 5.

Some non-spoiler thoughts:

-Doug needs to start talking like a normal human.
-Every scene with LeAnn is her on her phone. It's hard to have great drama over the phone.
-Nearly every episode has felt rushed. Sometimes they are interesting enough storylines, but why do they have to be wrapped up so neat and tidy each episode? It's like the writers forgot how to write up great drama. It's similar to LeAnn on her phone - what's happening could actually be interesting, but it's poorly executed.
-Yates is unbelievably uninteresting. Please stop trying to make me care about him.
-Usher is a bad actor but a good character.
-In general I agree with people who are saying that Frank's rise to power was far more interesting than him trying to hold onto it. It's even the name of the show - house of cards - because of how fragile the hold on power is. Yet it's not that interesting. I liked it better when he was making shrewd, calculated moves.
-Spacey is still an unbelievable actor. I wish every minute was him, not these peripheral yahoos.

Some spoiler(ish) thoughts:

[spoil]-Where the hell did Jane come from? How is the most well-connected woman in the world only now entering the picture?
-The Aidan story hasn't been done that well. He's in Russia, he's in France, he's in Washington just to say hello to LeAnn? Huh?
-Didn't love the weird weekend ritual thing with the most powerful men in the world. Really, there's a rule that the most powerful people in politics and business won't talk politics and business? Then why are you gathering - for the hot chocolate? Mostly I didn't like it because it reinforces the idea that there is this secret underbelly of people running the world. It's just not how it works.
-Conway's fall isn't done very well. Again, everything is so rushed.
-And, again, the drama isn't written very well. Frank getting that recording of Conway could have been a really interesting plot piece. But it was done in like 2 minutes from some unknown character we've never seen and will never see again. And the next episode just starts with him as president again. No drama.
-Walker deciding to not plead the 5th just because he talked with Frank and got annoyed by him was....not believable.[/spoil]

Okay, a lot of negativity there. Overall it's not a bad show. But it's hard not to compare it to Season 1 - which might have been my top-3 seasons of TV ever. Season 5 obviously does not hold a candle. It's still okay. I'm still invested. It just hasn't been done as well.

 

[TRG]

This season jumped the shark.

 

[Boris Zubov]

This season jumped the shark.

That happened last year, in my opinion. This year was a nosedive into the ocean.

 

[Garo]

Notice Robin Wright's producing and directing now. Has she taken over behind the scenes or something?

FU's wife having extensive influence over him - and potentially winning against him - was a thing more than twenty years ago. What you're implying is unjustified.

This season was kinda better - first half especially - but it's pretty obvious to me they're stuck into something that they don't know how to conclude or even how to progress. So you get some interesting moments but nothing that feels impactful or conclusive. It was an issue when Stamper lived the end of season 2 imo, and it has expanded to pretty much the entire show.

 

[Afino]

Claire, or Robin Wright Penn, can't carry a show. Her acting range is like Michael Cera's, one note as all hell. I just cringed at the scene where she breaks the 4th wall and talks to "us", terrible, it seems like she's looking above the camera.

Just finished the season and I can't take Claire seriously, at all. Her mind is all over the place, and has a constant look on her face where you're not sure whether she's about to smile or cry.

I like Robin Wright, but Claire is such a horribly written character. They've tried to make her a strong woman, but then they make her show far too much weakness over and over. That's the writers' fault.

There's still way too many people on this show I don't give a **** about. Too many relationships I don't give a **** about. This show is about Frank Underwood. And it should be over, IMO.

-Spacey is still an unbelievable actor. I wish every minute was him, not these peripheral yahoos.

nailed it

 

[Afino]

I liked Season 4 more than 5 overall. 5 started strong but took a nose dive. I agree that this show doesn't really have a direction at this point. It's easy to point at real life blocking some of what they could do, but that's a cop out. They've written the show into a corner and it's going to be one of those shows that drags out 2-3 seasons longer than it ever should have.

 

[Chandrashekhar Limit]

I liked the season. Liked the ending, but the epiphany about power is kinda ridiculous.

How can he not know this?

 

[Garo]

I liked the season. Liked the ending, but the epiphany about power is kinda ridiculous.

How can he not know this?

It's completely nonsensical for the character as well, since he basically started out as the guy in the shadow in this series... And then it truly becomes about his lust for power within the symbols of power, which he also repeats this season. So... He messed up? For a guy with such an extremely arrogant and manic persona? ... Ok.

 

[dma0034]

Funny, I though season 3 and 4 were trash and I really enjoyed season 5.