Wife and I started binging this recently. Loved the first several eps, but now that we are 9-10 eps in, we’re wondering if there will be any characters we care enough about to keep watching. In the last 2 eps the library/youthful homosexuality ep was followed by Claire screwing Francis over, and things getting ugly between Frank and Zoe. And I have no idea why the aide is putting so much attentin into the ex-prostitute.
Without a bunch of spoilers, what is your assessment? Does it pick up again? Or is it just an unending series of everyone screwing everyone over?
Yup. We watched the first season and felt like “I liked it, except for these things”. Well the next season was less of what we liked and more of what we don’t like, then repeat again the next time. When the most recent season was released, we said “we’ll watch it as long as X, Y, or Z isn’t a thing this time around”, and I swear all of those things happened in the first 5 minutes of the episode.
Yeah, it’s hard to like any of the characters, but the political intrigue is captivating. And the acting is very good.
Yeah, Season 1 was the best, going downhill in Season 2 and a lot further downhill in Season 3. It bounced back in Season 4, though; much better than Season 3.
I would say the exact same thing about the four seasons of Orange Is The New Black. I’ll watch seasons 5 of both shows.
Francis throws her off the roof of the Houses of Parliament.
To get back to the OP’s complaint … it’s been a couple of years since I watched it, but IIRC, the British version doesn’t have any likable characters either, or any less screwing-over. They’re both well worth watching, but if you’re looking for something more positive and uplifting, forget it.
For me, the most striking differences between the American and British House of Cards are stylistic. The British original is sly and satirical, whereas the Netflix adaptation has a dark, film-noir quality. (Notably, Francis is constantly called “F.U.” in the original, a bit of humor that is mostly ignored in the U.S. version.)
I watched it all, and I’m kinda sorry I did. For some reason I didn’t realize the story hadn’t come to an end, and there wasn’t going to be a resolution in the last available season. I got a little too into it, is what I’m saying. I wanted him to go down. And his aide and his wife too, in that order. I wanted some kind of justice. Of course it’s brilliantly done, and Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright are both phenomenal. Even the soundtrack is amazing. But I hated it. I guess I don’t have the stomach for really intense stuff anymore.
