I found season 4 quite a bit better than season 3, mainly because it shifted away from international goings on.
This show really falls flat on its face when it tries to do international intrigue, you have these great fleshed out characters acting opposite of a cardboard cut out of Russian Leader and it just doesn't work. The show is many times better when it focuses on the domestic stuff and backroom backstabbing's. The foreign policy stuff works as long as it's just a backdrop and not the focus.
There is suspension of disbelief, and then there is House of Cards. As good looking as the show is and as decent as the acting is. . .it is dumb as fuck. Were I lost it - we're supposed to believe that:
Doug:
Mr. Careful himself would not only use his own CC card, but sign his name? That the mom isn't at some point going to ask "Hey waitaminute. . ." Guy can meticulously take down the Prez's enemies and his own, but he get's godsmack stoopid over a GoFundMe page?
Yea right.
And then there's the whole Claire bit:
Did I miss some episodes? First half of the season she's trying to outplay Frank and really seems to want nothing to do with him, and then "Whoopsie. . .you're shot. OK We're all good." And yes, her as VP when she floated the idea I thought "No way are they that stoopid." Yup. They are.
And Lucas:
Even if he DID buy that Underwood killed Zoe, all he has is that he was framed because he was asking questions. I get going to Dunbar. However killing Underwood because you're afraid he might find you in WitSec? Yea. No. You make a video detailing your case and do one of those "In the event of. . ." bits. You don't go crazy an hour of tv time later.
Of course all of this takes second chair to the fact that EVERYONE in this show is dumber than The Underwoods. That's the only fucking way the show works. It's Roadrunner versus a city full of Wil. E. Coyote's.
I'm not a fan of the series, but I'm still curious where it's going. Can someone spoil the ending of S4 for me? And does the series feel like it's moving towards an ending?
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
I'm not a fan of the series, but I'm still curious where it's going. Can someone spoil the ending of S4 for me? And does the series feel like it's moving towards an ending?
It's kind of hard to spoil just the ending as everything's pretty heavily interconnected with everything that leads up to the ending, but briefly:
The season ends with Frank and Claire declaring war on an ISIS-like Islamic terrorist organization a few weeks prior to the general election, in order to deflect attention from a reporter breaking a story that has most of the facts of how Frank came into the presidency (pretty much everything except the murders) corroborated by sources.
I think that the next season could be the last, but I dunno.
Dehumanized on
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syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
So I shot gunned through this season, loved the ending... and there is nobody in the real world to talk to about it yet.
END OF SEASON SPOILERS
Do you think Claire will be breaking fourth wall next season?
Do you hope next season the election is won and we are done with that aspect of politics?
Do you think the story will be buried or will it continue to plague Frank?
For some reason I expected 52 to be the last "card" as it were, so I was surprised to hear season 5 was coming, and happy when I saw how they ended it. I want more.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
So I shot gunned through this season, loved the ending... and there is nobody in the real world to talk to about it yet.
END OF SEASON SPOILERS
Do you think Claire will be breaking fourth wall next season?
Do you hope next season the election is won and we are done with that aspect of politics?
Do you think the story will be buried or will it continue to plague Frank?
For some reason I expected 52 to be the last "card" as it were, so I was surprised to hear season 5 was coming, and happy when I saw how they ended it. I want more.
I think the 52 episode to be quite symbolic as its the last card stacked before it all comes falling down (we hope) for season 5.
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Dark Raven XLaugh hard, run fast,be kindRegistered Userregular
Can someone remind me what the deal was with Raymond Tusk?
He was doing...something in China? And then Frank somehow made it look like President Walker was involved, causing him to resign?
Speaking about suspension of disbelief is that the President apparently has way more free time than the Majority Whip. Underwood just has this habit to chill out.
At least in the West Wing, Bartlett kept moving from meeting to meeting.
And, yes, Doug should have died in Season 3 and that would have been fucking awesome.
I hope next season is the last, honestly this one should've been - I'd hate for them to drag it out too long
While I tend to agree in general that ending a series on a high note is important, if the writing doesn't slip back to 3rd season levels, I'm okay with it going on for awhile.
There is suspension of disbelief, and then there is House of Cards. As good looking as the show is and as decent as the acting is. . .it is dumb as fuck. Were I lost it - we're supposed to believe that:
Doug:
Mr. Careful himself would not only use his own CC card, but sign his name? That the mom isn't at some point going to ask "Hey waitaminute. . ." Guy can meticulously take down the Prez's enemies and his own, but he get's godsmack stoopid over a GoFundMe page?
Yea right.
And then there's the whole Claire bit:
Did I miss some episodes? First half of the season she's trying to outplay Frank and really seems to want nothing to do with him, and then "Whoopsie. . .you're shot. OK We're all good." And yes, her as VP when she floated the idea I thought "No way are they that stoopid." Yup. They are.
And Lucas:
Even if he DID buy that Underwood killed Zoe, all he has is that he was framed because he was asking questions. I get going to Dunbar. However killing Underwood because you're afraid he might find you in WitSec? Yea. No. You make a video detailing your case and do one of those "In the event of. . ." bits. You don't go crazy an hour of tv time later.
Of course all of this takes second chair to the fact that EVERYONE in this show is dumber than The Underwoods. That's the only fucking way the show works. It's Roadrunner versus a city full of Wil. E. Coyote's.
Lucas didnt take a shot at underwood because he was afraid underwood was going to find him, he did it because he was a broken man out of options as to get revenge on frank for what he did. He DID leave behind material detailing his accusations against him, they were just written off as crazy ramblings.
Claire coming back to Frank isnt unexpected considering the recurring theme in the show is how tightly bound they are, like, half the season was about their slow reconciliation. They weren't "all good" by a long shot.
And even when they come back together note that you dont see much in the way of physical contact or evidence that they have sex anymore, you're watching two people in a rocky patch in their marriage- still leaning on each other because thats what they're used to, but not quite "there" anymore. Hell Frank even steps aside to let her take a lover since he cant give her that kind of intimacy.
Doug has been previously shown to let his emotions get the better of him when his creepy stalker instincts kick in, also its not like the mom would immediately make the connection without making a horrible assumption (this is secretly the man who manipulated my husband off the waiting list) that most people wouldn't immediately make.
So this was a pretty good season, especially compared to disappointing season 3. Although I think they could easily have merged seasons 3-4 (and left most of the Doug stuff out) and ended up with a really great season.
It's weird how I occasionally find myself rooting for the Underwoods, especially Claire, and have to forcefully remind myself that these are really awful people who keep doing really awful things. Although:
I keep thinking that Claire is more of an ends-justify-the-means type, who actually has something resembling a conscience, even though she seems to actively suppress that part of herself. Frank is just all about power for its own sake.
declaring war to distract from a presidential scandal is the plot to Wag the Dog. I liked the season, but the ending lost impact on me because I couldn't get images of that movie out of my head.
Soooo Much better than season 3. Clare VS Frank was a fun path for a bit, but both of them on the same team is where the show does its best.
Claire laying the groundwork for pulling a Walker on Frank
She will absolutely burn Frank to the ground once she is vice president. She'll sit down at the desk in the Oval Office, turn to the camera and say, "What, you didn't see that coming?"
Claire laying the groundwork for pulling a Walker on Frank
She will absolutely burn Frank to the ground once she is vice president. She'll sit down at the desk in the Oval Office, turn to the camera and say, "What, you didn't see that coming?"
Yeah, I think their final discussions in the last episode foreshadowed this pretty clearly. Claire's point was pretty much: "If you can't win, change the rules." And that's what she's doing with their relationship, I think. She's playing Calvinball.
edit: this also explains why she returned to Frank so quickly. She saw she couldn't win the game she was currently playing, so... new game.
A definite improvement over the limp season 3, although the show has lost much of it's appeal since it became West Wing: Dark. The first season especially was good because it felt like Frank was destroying real peoples lives. Normal people. It was like watching Lex Luthor plotting to kill Superman and becoming President. And that ride is an awesome ride. But if later we see Lex Luthor running for re-election, checking out polling numbers or trying to get some vague piece of legislation passed, well, that's not all that compelling compared to what we got before.
The pressure from the outside is what's really lacking. At least we are getting some of that back with the old editor going after Frank. And it looks like, maybe, hopefully, season 5 will finally be the Act 3 we've been waiting for: the fall.
kathy durant is really this dumb? She has to know how manipulative the Underwoods are. I'm sad she never appears to have her own machinations in mind.
Edit: got later in the episode, oh good she did it
Sometimes it's best to take The Great And Powerful Oz at face value.
The man behind the curtain is even more terrifying.
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TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
reflections as of s04e05
nearly jumped out of my chair and shouted 'yes!' when Frank was shot
shame about Meechum tho
Mr. VP is so out of his depth it's sad
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TL DRNot at all confident in his reflexive opinions of thingsRegistered Userregular
that ending
disappointing. I see a 5th season is in the works - have they said anything about keeping it running beyond that? Would have been satisfying to see Frank destroyed here and honestly I'm not sure that I'm into doing another season if it's going to be more of the same
Posts
This show really falls flat on its face when it tries to do international intrigue, you have these great fleshed out characters acting opposite of a cardboard cut out of Russian Leader and it just doesn't work. The show is many times better when it focuses on the domestic stuff and backroom backstabbing's. The foreign policy stuff works as long as it's just a backdrop and not the focus.
Doug:
And then there's the whole Claire bit:
And Lucas:
Of course all of this takes second chair to the fact that EVERYONE in this show is dumber than The Underwoods. That's the only fucking way the show works. It's Roadrunner versus a city full of Wil. E. Coyote's.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
It's kind of hard to spoil just the ending as everything's pretty heavily interconnected with everything that leads up to the ending, but briefly:
I think that the next season could be the last, but I dunno.
END OF SEASON SPOILERS
Do you hope next season the election is won and we are done with that aspect of politics?
Do you think the story will be buried or will it continue to plague Frank?
For some reason I expected 52 to be the last "card" as it were, so I was surprised to hear season 5 was coming, and happy when I saw how they ended it. I want more.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
At least in the West Wing, Bartlett kept moving from meeting to meeting.
While I tend to agree in general that ending a series on a high note is important, if the writing doesn't slip back to 3rd season levels, I'm okay with it going on for awhile.
Lucas didnt take a shot at underwood because he was afraid underwood was going to find him, he did it because he was a broken man out of options as to get revenge on frank for what he did. He DID leave behind material detailing his accusations against him, they were just written off as crazy ramblings.
Claire coming back to Frank isnt unexpected considering the recurring theme in the show is how tightly bound they are, like, half the season was about their slow reconciliation. They weren't "all good" by a long shot.
And even when they come back together note that you dont see much in the way of physical contact or evidence that they have sex anymore, you're watching two people in a rocky patch in their marriage- still leaning on each other because thats what they're used to, but not quite "there" anymore. Hell Frank even steps aside to let her take a lover since he cant give her that kind of intimacy.
Doug has been previously shown to let his emotions get the better of him when his creepy stalker instincts kick in, also its not like the mom would immediately make the connection without making a horrible assumption (this is secretly the man who manipulated my husband off the waiting list) that most people wouldn't immediately make.
"Do you regret having them?"
So good
This season it gets real-er, then it gets real-est.
It's weird how I occasionally find myself rooting for the Underwoods, especially Claire, and have to forcefully remind myself that these are really awful people who keep doing really awful things. Although:
Soooo Much better than season 3. Clare VS Frank was a fun path for a bit, but both of them on the same team is where the show does its best.
edit: this also explains why she returned to Frank so quickly. She saw she couldn't win the game she was currently playing, so... new game.
The pressure from the outside is what's really lacking. At least we are getting some of that back with the old editor going after Frank. And it looks like, maybe, hopefully, season 5 will finally be the Act 3 we've been waiting for: the fall.
But the actor is 36.
Edit: got later in the episode, oh good she did it
Sometimes it's best to take The Great And Powerful Oz at face value.
The man behind the curtain is even more terrifying.
shame about Meechum tho
Mr. VP is so out of his depth it's sad
he can't keep getting away with it .gif