House of Cards

How seriously is one supposed to take House of Cards? It has the look and prestige of esteemed dramas like Mad Men, but often goes into wild flights of melodrama and plot twists more akin to Scandal. If you stop to examine the intricate plans that Frank Underwood puts in to motion, you'll see the seams of implausibility. I have decided the first two seasons have been available long enough to consider spoilers fair game, but I will tread lightly when it comes to the newest batch.

When it premiered on Netflix a couple years ago, it was notable for being the first runaway success of the burgeoning business of content that was exclusive to streaming service. It seemed like a revolution in obligatory binge-watching, as if the best way to consume 13 hours of new content was all in one weekend so you wouldn't be the only one not talking about it on Monday. When I started the first season of House of Cards, it kind of felt like homework viewing, compelling in a way but still like the vegetable of TV shows. I didn't watch past the first 5 episodes at first. Then Liz became interested in watching all of it, so we started together where I had left off, in anticipation of last year's premiere of the second season. Which we also watched in only a few, glazed-eyed sittings. We were intrigued by the devious plotting by Frank Underwood, and by the showrunners in the larger worldbuilding sense.

When Frank builds up Peter Russo as a viable candidate in the first season, only to kill him off in the season finale, it was deliciously shocking. Then when the second season starts off with the equally shocking pushing of Zoe Barnes onto the tracks (in a blatantly fictitious Metro station), I had assumed that the rest of that season would deal with Frank having to dodge the investigations into those bodies. But soon there was nobody left who knew anything who would be disloyal, so Frank simply got away with both murders. The only loose thread was Rachel the former whore, and Doug Stamper being assigned to keep her quiet led to a pointless C-plot that got way too much focus. The saga of Doug and Rachel was so tangentially related to the Underwoods that it might as well have been a spinoff, but nobody would have cared enough to watch that show.

So this brings us to the third season, which doubles down on the interpersonal relationships, leaving the political manipulation (that had seemed like the main point of the show) as a secondary focus. It also brings back a relationship that most viewers thought was over with. This seems to have been done only because the writers knew it would defy expectations, not because they thought of anything interesting to do with that plot. And another beloved side character shows up for barely a cameo, so that seems unbalanced.

Frank and Claire have everything they ever worked for now, as President and First Lady, and with nowhere to go but down, it's just not as fun to watch Frank move people around like chess pieces. With the new job plan he wants to enact, it seems like he actually wants to do something good for the country, and though it's self-serving to do so for his legacy, he is no longer the power-hungry bastard that we have gotten to love to hate. There is a thinly veiled analog for Vladimir Putin who seems to present a viable opponent for Frank, but even he becomes declawed a bit halfway through. And don't get me started on the author who Frank hires to write a book about the America Works project, because nothing about that plotline makes any sense.

Occasionally the third season has its share of worthwhile moments, but overall, we were not left with any positive anticipation for whatever comes in the following season. There is a lot of buildup toward the coming primaries and the rest of the election cycle, but it all ends in a whimper. Although I have to admit, the fact that Liz and I were still discussing the weakest aspects of the season a few weeks later shows that Beau Willimon and company at least kept things memorable, if not compelling.

House of Cards is of course always streaming on Netflix, and the first two seasons are available on DVD.