President Walker was such a terrible character that it practically ruined the whole season for me. I’m just coming off watching The West Wing, which has one of the strongest presidents in TV to this show which has the most spineless, idiotic, naive depiction of a president I’ve ever seen. And his wife is even worse.
Regarding the part where he has Frank’s letter, not only does he decide to trust him again, he openly has a conversation WITH Frank about how conflicted he is about trusting him. The entire season is filled with such cringeworthy moments.
The only reason I’m even considering coming back for Season 3 is because Walker is probably gone. I’m still not sure how much more I can take of the schtick where Frank works his charm on incredibly naive yet somehow very powerful people.
That said, I’m still enjoying Kevin Spacey’s acting.
Reached episode 7 of Season 2. I have to admit, I had no idea that the season would turn into a knock out drag out fight between Raymond and Frank. I like it. Initially it looks like Raymond is no match for Frank, but he’s definitely turned out to be a worthy opponent.
Season 2 was really excellent. It’s kind of awkward writing about it, though, what with the way Netflix releases a whole season at a time. It’s more like talking about a book than a TV show. It’s way too easy to write something that spoils it for someone who hasn’t watched yet.
I wonder if that is what’s eventually going to end the whole release at once thing. It makes it really tough to talk about and that can be a significant fraction of the fun of TV show.
I gotta wonder if Netflix is considering this, too. Look at Game of Thrones. It has fewer episodes than House of Cards, yet it dominates the cultural landscape and water bottle conversation for a solid 3 months every year. But all new episodes of Netlix’s shows can be watched on Day 1, which means that the discussion usually lasts a few days, or a week at most, it seems.
There’s something to be said for drawing it out. True Detective was only 8 episodes, but, damn, the wait between each episode only generated more excitement and fervor. It allowed word of mouth to spread, and it gave plenty of time for everyone who came on late to catch up in time for the finale.
Yeah, I’m with delirium in that Season 2 was torpedoed by the terrible character that was Walker. If you watch the first episode of the first season, in the first 5 minutes Frank is in awe of the dude, 'cause he somehow wracked up a ginormous amount of votes, saying that you have to be a true operator to do what Walker did. And then they turn him into the most helpless, passive aggressive, spineless, overly trusting idiot. Anything else and Walker would have stomped on Frank early on.
It gets more annoying the more you think about it.
On the first season. I keep watching it, but it makes me feel sick and sad. : P Fantastic acting, really, and it somehow makes me feel the exact opposite of Downton Abbey, which I’ve also just started.
The first episode of season 3 was surprisingly boring. I get that as a binge watching show they can do things differently, but it felt like this episode was the setup to the setup for the season. I’m worried Frank’s quest for power and the destruction of his enemies will have been far more interesting than what he’s going to do with the power he wanted.
It’s very different; before, the Underwoods are striving for power, now they have it and are fighting to keep it. Frank seems a bit overmatched in nearly every corner, so I have a feeling the fight will get even more desperate. The Putin lookalike is great.
Wouldn’t exactly call him a lookalike but he’s Mads Mikkelsen’s brother and a very fine actor by the name of Lars Mikkelsen. (There’s a Danish joke that “Lars” isn’t really suitable to use as a name because it’s the sound it makes when you slam a car door shut…LARS!)
I binge watched season 3 and it’s still very good, I find that these guys are in another league compared to upstarts like 12 monkeys.
Still, it’s starting to repeat itself a little. The troubled marriage back and forth, they’ve pretty much showed all of that before and it was harder to stay interested this time around. It really works for me when they turn their attention to side characters like Doug and luckily there’s a lot of that going on in season 3.
Frank is an asshole, but he’s the protagonist so I still like to see him succeed. Instead, he’s continually out-maneuvered by his political opponents. I kept waiting for his comeuppance, but it never actually happens.
Spoilers
[spoiler]Claire leaving him at the end was stupid and out of character. They did not set that up nearly well enough. She craves power, and as First Lady her opportunities are nearly limitless.
I’m glad the Rachel subplot is finally dead.[/spoiler]
Worst season yet, by a substantial margin. I’m not sure that I’ll be back for season 4. The Sesame Street short was better than the whole season.
