# Thoughts on House of Cards **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286 "2016-11-17T21:27:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/1 "2016-11-17T21:27:11Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/2 "2016-11-17T21:29:29Z")
It’s an unending series of everyone screwing everyone over. But that’s why it’s so good. The resolution of the Frank and Zoe issue was something I knew would happen from the start – I saw the UK version years ago ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/3 "2016-11-17T21:55:31Z")
Honestly, if you don’t like Season 1, you aren’t going to like the rest of the show. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/4 "2016-11-17T22:06:12Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Honestly, if you don’t like Season 1, you aren’t going to like the rest of the show. 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. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/5 "2016-11-18T02:27:48Z")
I never watched it for the characters. I watched it for the intensity. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/6 "2016-11-18T03:27:05Z")
Binged 4 eps tonight to finish S1. Don’t think we’ll be rushing to get S2. Thanks for the input. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/7 "2016-11-18T16:54:40Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Binged 4 eps tonight to finish S1. Don’t think we’ll be rushing to get S2. > Thanks for the input. \ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/8 "2016-11-18T21:53:53Z")
Before you give up on it entirely, check out the Sesame Street parody. Yes, there is one. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2016, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/9 "2016-11-18T22:58:39Z")
I strongly suggest you watch the British original. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/10 "2016-11-19T00:15:49Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I strongly suggest you watch the British original. Yes, it is superb, all three series: _House of Cards_, _To Play the King_, and _The Final Cut_. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/11 "2016-11-19T18:19:03Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I never watched it for the characters. I watched it for the intensity. Yeah, it’s hard to like any of the characters, but the political intrigue is captivating. And the acting is very good. > [@](#): > > Honestly, if you don’t like Season 1, you aren’t going to like the rest of the show. 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. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/12 "2016-11-19T19:12:42Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s an unending series of everyone screwing everyone over. But that’s why it’s so good. > > The resolution of the Frank and Zoe issue was something I knew would happen from the start – I saw the UK version years ago Just out of curiosity: Was the character shoved in front of a subway train in the original? ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/13 "2016-11-19T21:06:28Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Just out of curiosity: > > Was the character shoved in front of a subway train in the original? Ask and you shall receive: Francis throws her off the roof of the Houses of Parliament. > [@Quartz](#): > > I strongly suggest you watch the British original. 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.) ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/14 "2016-11-20T14:58:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![vedicgyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/898d66/32.png) [@vedicgyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vedicgyan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2016, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thoughts-on-house-of-cards/772286/15 "2016-11-26T06:10:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > 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? For me it got better till the mid of Season 4. Then I started getting bored for some reason. I have friends who loved it all the way through. All said, I am going to watch Season 5 as well. 🙂