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House of Cards, Second Season


gougef

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The opening ep was everything I had hoped from the first season and didn't get. Amazingly shocking and good. The best part wasn't Frank, actually (or the cufflinks, or his monologue to the camera) - it was Claire. Cold as fucking ice. Awesome as hell.


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I'm at 11 now, and there's a moment in it that I suspect will be talked about at least as much as that key moment from episode 1



Frank, Claire and Meetchum threesome (and yes, Frank and Meetchum do it as well) LOL!



So far, I don't see the season ending with drastic changes for Frank, but anyway I didn't see those two surprising moments coming, so who knows?



And I think I'll just finish it already instead of leaving for tomorrow.


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Very early in the first season Claire became my favorite character.



She still is, though having Molly Parker as Jackie Sharpe is terrific. Ever since seeing her as Alma Garret in Deadwood and Susan Miller in the too short Swingtown, I've love watching this actress.



Both Ice Queens: Claire the Rose White and Jackie Rose Red. None of the male roles come close to them, other than Underwood -- and Freddy.

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None of the male roles come close to them, other than Underwood -- and Freddy.

I can't help but think that Freddy's little story about slow bleeding the pigs isn't going to factor into the greater story to some larger extent. Kind of like the foreshadowing of Frank killing the wounded dog in the first episode of Season One did.

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Yea, Claire is getting some ruthless screen time. She was acting with the same brutality that Frank approaches every situation with.



What I enjoy most about their relationship is that not only do they love each other, but they are cut from the same cloth. I like to see a power couple like this working towards the same goals. Brilliant stuff, and we rarely get to see a woman in power like Claire go about her business with cold efficiency while still having human traits.


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So far, I don't see the season ending with drastic changes for Frank

Well, I was wrong, but not in a good way, I think:

I know Walker wasn't supposed to be the sharpest tool in the box, but to put all his trust at the moment he's in the worst position in the one guy who stands to benefit the most by him getting screwed? Frank trying to challenge him in 2016 is his first thought, but trying to force him off never crosses his mind? Sorry, but I don't buy it.

Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the season more than the second one, since the dispute between

Frank and Tusk was more interesting, since it served to show the limits of even the highest wealth can do against the government's might, and also because the two of them were more evenly matched intellectually (and Gerald McRaney a match for Kevin Spacey), while in the latter half all of Frank's opponents were dumbasses

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Thank you, board. Because of this board I've watched NBC's 'Hannibal' and am on episode 4 of 'House of Cards' and I couldn't be more interested.



I love the way Kevin Spacey is just so... evil. His puppets think they're dancing like ballerinas until he explains to them that they're scrambling like cockroaches.


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This show tries really hard to be an 'important drama', but I simply can't find myself engaged with it most of the time. Frank just isn't interesting enough to carry this show with the way he's been written, despite Spacey turning in a pretty great performance (glad he dialed back on the Southern drawl). Everything tends to work out far too perfectly for him, and as a result, the drama feels neutered. Also, it's like politics for dummies. There are a number of interesting - and more realistic/dynamic - avenues they could take, dealing with the American political system, but they seem to have settled for the most basic (and least interesting) route. In some ways, Veep feels like a more concentrated and critical portrayal of how Washington works.



I'd say the early part of this second season was easily the strongest the show has been, but it lost steam faster than I would have imagined in the middle and latter portions. Part of the reason the original version is so effective is because it moves at such a fast clip. With this version, it's almost like they're focusing so much on the build-up, that they forget to provide any pay-off. It's too deliberate, in a sense.



On a more positive note, Claire - after being somewhat nebulous and unfocused in the first season - has taken shape and become the most interesting character on the show.

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So I've finished the second season after a long binge watch. It's terrific, even more so than the first.



I have to say though, I am disappointed that Frank doesn't have a worthy adversary. Tusk is OK, and played by a great actor, but he could have been a lot more intimidating. It's also strange that President Walker is so politically naive. The guy had to have had a lot of experience with the manipulations and lies that surround Washington, how does he not see through Underwood's bullshit?



BTW, that threesome was wonderfully twisted.


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Finished it last night. It was good, but particularly frustrating. My roommate who has just watched a few episodes (and doesn't care about being spoiled) watched the last part of S02E01 with me and at the shocking moment he just laughed and said "this show has officially jumped the shark." I think the shark-jumping came with the utter ridiculousness of the last few episodes. The politics are simultaneously shallow and overly sensational.


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Finished it last night. It was good, but particularly frustrating. My roommate who has just watched a few episodes (and doesn't care about being spoiled) watched the last part of S02E01 with me and at the shocking moment he just laughed and said "this show has officially jumped the shark." I think the shark-jumping came with the utter ridiculousness of the last few episodes. The politics are simultaneously shallow and overly sensational.

What part of the politics got you? Was it the (spoilers for the whole season):

The fact that the scandal didn't sink everyone or the quick moves against Tusk? Everyone just...does things as if they won't have consequences when they go up against Tusk. They'll just seize plants, they'll just pardon a money-laundering billionaire right after a confession -and a recession-etc. It is a bit convenient.

As for the show jumping the shark,I heard this with Russo too and I don't get it. It certainly broke the narrative that people expected but I don't see how exactly that's a failing. In fact, I'm a bit impressed by how they deal with the aftermath of the event.

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Putting it out there: I think this might be the iconic role for which, years from now, Kevin Spacey is remembered.



There's some real competition there -- Spacey is a great actor with a hell of a resume. Se7en immediately jumps out, for example. Maybe I'll feel differently when this isn't so fresh in my mind, but right now, it doesn't seem so far-fetched.


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And done.



This show definitely isn't as clever as it thinks it is. This was probably the case in the first season too, but it become much more obvious in the second; probably because it spent so much time dealing with familiar policy and political issues in such a dumb manner. Also, everyone except Frank and Claire (and Seth, and Stamper at times) were way too naive and dumb, it just made their achievements feel hollow. The premiere may be my favorite episode of the series (its right there with Ep. 2 of the first season), and the season didn't have as much endless filler in the middle as season one did, but I liked the first season more. The story seemed more believable, and the secondary characters were more compelling (particularly Russo).



Still, it was amazing on the technical side, and Spacey and Wright were great in their roles, and its not like its a bad show, I'm just not as enamored as I was.


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