I came into House of Cards rather late in the game. It was just a mere two weeks prior to season 2 and I was in bed with my ipad, sick as a dog. There was nothing else on Netflix that piqued my interest, so I decided that I would check out some of their original programming, and House of Cards was my pick mostly because of Kevin Spacey. I ended up really enjoying the first season and finished the whole season in 4 days. Season 2 I finished in a day and a half. It's just how well crafted the show is, how well done and acted and well put together the show manages to be that gives it its kick. So with all the anticipation and hype surrounding season 3, I watched the first 3 episodes before going to a friend's party and watched the rest the next day
One thing I will say about this season was that it's exactly what you want from House of Cards. Excellent acting, rather tension filled plots, gorgeous cinematography and meticulously well-crafted subplots about political happenings. Kevin Spacey's deliciously diabolical performance and Robin Wright's sexy yet dangerous portrayal of his wife has always been something I've really loved about the show. This season has those trademark qualities. However, it does show a rather different side to their relationship, where even Claire begins to question her husband's actions. There's one particularly powerful scene in episode 6 where they have an argument over a gay man's suicide in prison over their homophobic laws which climaxes in them making bold statements about their positions. There's a problem though, this is executed well enough in the first half of the season, and then there's a scene in the second half of the season where she reads Yates' book about her and Frank and becomes upset because they're labeled as a "power couple". This didn't seem to make any sense. In seasons 1 and 2 she would do whatever it took to find out what your weakness was and exploit the hell out of it. Here she comes off as an easily upset snitch
There are a good number of flaws with this season and while they aren't enough to make this a bad season, they definitely drag it down. I was really thrilled about the idea of introducting a subplot about the happenings in Russia, but the problem was that it lasted one episode. It felt like the writers thought, "hey, folks, remember the powerful rape victims subplot from last season? Let's make something like that but with victims of homophobic laws! Except we have to make way for other plots so we can only give it one episode." Frank and Claire in Russia was indeed awesome, but again, it lasted only one episode, making it feel pointless. In addition, Doug Stamper being alive was something I thought could work, and in fact I did enjoy his first few appearances, but as the season went on, he became creepy and obsessed with Rachel Posner, who herself only gets one episode (spoiler alert: it happens in the finale) and she herself is reduced to a begging mess. Not to mention, I love that this show seems to burst with confidence about its story lines and what not, but this season almost feels like the show has finally believed its own hype. There are a number of scenes where the writers seem to be shouting at you "LOOK HOW IMPRESSIVE THIS SHOW IS". The debate scenes in particular definitely seem to reek of this. Frank never really digs up any real dirt on Heather Dunbar and it's rather frustrating to see Frank be reduced to someone who is easily defeated, especially considering in season 1 he got away with killing Russo by posioning him with exhaust, and in season 2 how he threw Zoe into the train tracks and got away with it? Welp, he keeps getting defeated at every turn and it's frustrating to watch at times
However, what keeps this season still worth watching is that in spite of all the flaws, there's still just enough good to keep you engaged. Kevin Spacey's amazing performance works wonders. There's suspense and tension throughout. The "inner monologues" scenes are still a thrill to watch, the show is still slickly shot and gorgeous looking. I also really loved the subplot with the writer and how he tries as hard as he could to get as much info about the Underwoods as possible yet at the same time took a treacherous turn in sleeping with Baldwin, the journalist who tries but keeps failing to take the Underwoods down. I also liked Heather Dunbar trying to run against Frank as well. This may be the worst season yet, but even in spite of all the flaws, it still is worth binging, with just enough suspense to keep you satisfied
Finale rating:7/10 Overall season rating: 7/10
One thing I will say about this season was that it's exactly what you want from House of Cards. Excellent acting, rather tension filled plots, gorgeous cinematography and meticulously well-crafted subplots about political happenings. Kevin Spacey's deliciously diabolical performance and Robin Wright's sexy yet dangerous portrayal of his wife has always been something I've really loved about the show. This season has those trademark qualities. However, it does show a rather different side to their relationship, where even Claire begins to question her husband's actions. There's one particularly powerful scene in episode 6 where they have an argument over a gay man's suicide in prison over their homophobic laws which climaxes in them making bold statements about their positions. There's a problem though, this is executed well enough in the first half of the season, and then there's a scene in the second half of the season where she reads Yates' book about her and Frank and becomes upset because they're labeled as a "power couple". This didn't seem to make any sense. In seasons 1 and 2 she would do whatever it took to find out what your weakness was and exploit the hell out of it. Here she comes off as an easily upset snitch
There are a good number of flaws with this season and while they aren't enough to make this a bad season, they definitely drag it down. I was really thrilled about the idea of introducting a subplot about the happenings in Russia, but the problem was that it lasted one episode. It felt like the writers thought, "hey, folks, remember the powerful rape victims subplot from last season? Let's make something like that but with victims of homophobic laws! Except we have to make way for other plots so we can only give it one episode." Frank and Claire in Russia was indeed awesome, but again, it lasted only one episode, making it feel pointless. In addition, Doug Stamper being alive was something I thought could work, and in fact I did enjoy his first few appearances, but as the season went on, he became creepy and obsessed with Rachel Posner, who herself only gets one episode (spoiler alert: it happens in the finale) and she herself is reduced to a begging mess. Not to mention, I love that this show seems to burst with confidence about its story lines and what not, but this season almost feels like the show has finally believed its own hype. There are a number of scenes where the writers seem to be shouting at you "LOOK HOW IMPRESSIVE THIS SHOW IS". The debate scenes in particular definitely seem to reek of this. Frank never really digs up any real dirt on Heather Dunbar and it's rather frustrating to see Frank be reduced to someone who is easily defeated, especially considering in season 1 he got away with killing Russo by posioning him with exhaust, and in season 2 how he threw Zoe into the train tracks and got away with it? Welp, he keeps getting defeated at every turn and it's frustrating to watch at times
However, what keeps this season still worth watching is that in spite of all the flaws, there's still just enough good to keep you engaged. Kevin Spacey's amazing performance works wonders. There's suspense and tension throughout. The "inner monologues" scenes are still a thrill to watch, the show is still slickly shot and gorgeous looking. I also really loved the subplot with the writer and how he tries as hard as he could to get as much info about the Underwoods as possible yet at the same time took a treacherous turn in sleeping with Baldwin, the journalist who tries but keeps failing to take the Underwoods down. I also liked Heather Dunbar trying to run against Frank as well. This may be the worst season yet, but even in spite of all the flaws, it still is worth binging, with just enough suspense to keep you satisfied
Finale rating:7/10 Overall season rating: 7/10