House of Cards discussion

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House of Cards is a new original series from Netflix, starring Kevin Spacey and directed in part by David Fincher. Netflix posted the whole 13-episode first "season" on Friday . . . and I watched the whole thing.

It's awesome!

Anyone else watching this?

Not yet, but I see Warren Ellis is a big fan of it.

Yes. It's great.

Yeah I've been home sick and just plowed through it. I'm now pretty irritated that we have to wait a year for the next "season" though!

Kate Mara taking off her heals has to be the most disconcerting thing I've seen in a good long while. It might have to do with the conversation leading up to it.

The hardest moment for me to watch was the honeypot in Room 1121(?). I paused that thing many times before I got through it.

I've been watching it bit by bit throughout the day and I'm smitten. Imagine Boss but with a far more infectious cast of players. Spacey alone makes this a must watch, the man is magnetic. I've gotten through episode 4 and I hope I can finish it sometime this week.

I finished ep 3 today, looking forward to more after the Game. The first episode didn't grab me right away, but over time it became fascinating. Spacey is just masterful.

I decided to pace myself at one ep a day (skipping today), but, yes, it's pretty great.

Just watched the first one last night, and enjoyed it mightily.

You're aware that "original series" is a little bit of a misnomer, right? It's an adaptation of the the BBC 1990 miniseries, which is an adaptation of the original book.

Jonman wrote:

Just watched the first one last night, and enjoyed it mightily.

You're aware that "original series" is a little bit of a misnomer, right? It's an adaptation of the the BBC 1990 miniseries, which is an adaptation of the original book.

Yeah, I actually knew that -- didn't really think it through. I might look into the first miniseries, which I think is on Netflix, too.

One of my questions about the series is, how much if at all are we supposed to like or sympathize with the core group? Like, congressman Underwood (Kevin Spacey), his wife (Robin Wright), his like chief of staff or whatever Doug Stamper. The series just sets them up as extremely power-hungry, cold, and selfish. But I feel like there are supposed to be at least hints of ambivalence. Like the killing in the very first scene is sort of a mercy killing, right? And the legislative team lead by Underwood at least "gets things done." Is that to be admired? A lot of people complain that Congress can't get things done.

Stamper actually really grew on me. Its like no matter how dirty his hands get, his humanity finds ways to burst through. I was also rooting for Underwood. Until

Spoiler:

episode 11. f*ck you, Francis.

And Pete has a great character arc.

grobstein wrote:

Like the killing in the very first scene is sort of a mercy killing, right?

I took that as a broad-brush way to set the tone of Spacey's character's cold-hearted ruthlessness. It's not so much that he's doing the "right" thing, it's how dispassionately he does it, choking the life out of a dog while breaking the fourth wall and calmly lecturing the audience about power. There's also a neat symmetry of him exerting the ultimate power to end a life, while pointing out that he understands the mechanism of power.

I finished the season today and I can't wait for season 2. Having the entire season released at once is a nightmare for people who want to avoid spoilers. Please remember to use spoiler tags for the less voracious content devourers among us.

I finished it over the weekend. I saved the last 2 episodes for quite awhile because I became a bit burned out with the show. It's quite good, though. I look forward to it continuing.

Finished it early last week, and it is magnificent. Spacey is one my favorite actors, and he completely delivers. 2 weeks ago he and one of the main directors were on Fresh Air, and Spacey talked about breaking the 4th wall both in this piece, and in his recent tour playing Richard III. He mentioned that he approached those scenes like he was talking to his best friend, one he could tell things to that he would never mention to anyone else. It was really interesting to hear those pieces from that frame of reference.

I heard that interview -- definitely piqued my interest!

I really liked the idea of this show more than the show itself. I don't think I'll be watching Season 2. Glad to see some people liked it though, I'd like to see Netflix keep doing this. Unfortunately, I really think it's a bad show.

As I mentioned in the Netflix Hidden Gem thread, my one-sentence sales pitch to my wife was "it's an evil take on West Wing".
I realize that's not very accurate once I watched passed the second episode.

The show is gritty and I learned to hate every character. Both of the Underwoods are perverse human beings. I love to hate them.

I can't wait for the next season.
As the final episode drew to a close, I was worried what the next season would be about, but a number of stories were left open in a smart, interesting way.

Acting is superb by everyone, and Spacey is just amazing.

We watched the first episode last night and agree it's off to a very solid start. Great acting and dialog with an intriguing story. Looking forward to the next episode.

Yup, exactly what I wanted. Loved the first episode, but mostly because I loved the British series and have some idea where this is all going. It's going to be a fun ride.

casual_alcoholic wrote:

Glad to see some people liked it though

"Some people" is an understatement. I read somewhere it very quickly became the most watched show on Netflix.

Thin_J wrote:
casual_alcoholic wrote:

Glad to see some people liked it though

"Some people" is an understatement. I read somewhere it very quickly became the most watched show on Netflix.

What would be interesting is to see how many people watched the pilot for free on the website, and how many new customers Netflix got out of this "experiment".

I'd love to see the math where making your own show is cheaper (per registered user) than to syndicate existing IP.

BadKen wrote:

Interesting story on The Atlantic: The Terrible, True Insight of 'House of Cards': Bad People Run D.C.

This makes sense. Up until episode 11, I may have hated Underwood, but I would want him on my side.

This series is awesome, and also kind of depressing to watch because everyone in it is just a terrible person, but definitely good and well made. : )

3 emmys for HoC.
Been watching this series with my wife and at first i was skeptical since I'm not much of a political drama fan. With Kevin Spacey I thought I'd give it a thought.
Now I cant stop. Amazing series so far.
we're almost at the end of season 1.

Bought this yesterday, started watching today, and am done in one sitting. What an amazing show. I loved it, but...

Spoiler:

Oh man, two things. First, there's a point in episodes 11 through 13, where the pacing of the show felt like a movie. Maybe it was just me, but the tone shifted. All throughout, we saw a political drama taking place where bills and amendments and backstabbings and favors were the name of the game. I loved it. Then, Francis does his little number on episode 11, and the tone shifted. With Zoe, Janine and Lucas, it felt like a whodunit type of movie, more of a political thriller rather than a drama, and I'm not sure how much i liked or disliked that. And that brings me to point 2, Francis killing Peter. I don't think I can recuperate from that. I gather that yes, Frank is a horrible person and everyone in this show was horrible, but no one's life was at risk, or at least, not so bluntly. Yes, the things he did and the way he played people was horrible, but I could get behind that because he was backstabbed first. But this? Murder? He fell off my good grace, and I don't know if I can keep rooting for him. I don't know who to root for after this. I'm torn. I love the show and will definitely watch season 2, but damn...just...damn.

Lastly, Christina is sooooooooooooo freakin' hot.

Remember how the show starts; he kills a puppy off screen.
Necessary pain vs useless pain.

He's always been cold and calculated.
That he hasn't done this before has never indicated he wasn't capable.

It's been a while since I saw those last few episodes, but I do remember Frank being shaken, not completely aware that he would have so easily gotten through with it.

I agree it makes it harder to root for him, and as you say, this might be the single most horrible thing he has ever done, but "he was back-stabbed first" can justify only so much.

This man declares war against the president of the United States and everyone else that had a hand in dissing Frank. At some point you're going to have to break a few eggshells in order to get your omelet. And yes, I mean human lives and actual lives when I say eggshells.

Series is back on February 14th. Woot!

I saw that! Woooo!!

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