BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Hey, I wasn't the one who did it first. But Sorkin wrote it, so I compared the writing of the two. I agree the shows have about as much in common as Entourage and The Long Goodbye, even though both take place in LA.
House of Cards - S1 on Netflix - Spacey & Fincher - *UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR ALL OF S1*
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Hey, I wasn't the one who did it first. But Sorkin wrote it, so I compared the writing of the two. I agree the shows have about as much in common as Entourage and The Long Goodbye, even though both take place in LA.
Triple Oceans
Member
As a former reporter, did you find it to be too much of a stretch when
Janine, Lucas and Zoe where able to connect the dots so quickly and concisely about Franks ultimate plan of him doing everything for the Vice Presidency? Or was it pretty much spot on the way they linked everything to him so conveniently.
I've obviously never worked on a story with such gravitas, but I've had stories recounted to me by professors or more-accomplished speakers about stories they've worked on in the past.
Nothing that juicy comes to mind, but connecting the dots like that is, in my opinion, a product of television more than reality.
Now, I will say that reporters are really cynical assholes by and large, so that conclusion would be questioned, questions and questioned yet again. The Editor of the Washington Herald is a pretty realistic depiction of an EIC - maybe even less cartoonish than most.
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
Up to episode 10 now. Shit is getting real.
Fantastical
Death Prophet
I've heard of freezing them but just refrigerating them?
I'm an expert
Formerly worldrevolution. The only reason I am nice to anyone else is to avoid being banned.
Finally finished it up after breezin through the first 10 eps last week. Didn't like the ending. I dunno. Just..not much of a cliffhanger really. Also having zero clue when it will continue sucks. Good show though, middle dragged a bit but in the end very impressed.
Actually, I remember my biggest journalism annoyance.
How the hell did Zoe write a 3000 word article overnight without interviewing anybody? You can't write a profile piece by just Googling. You'd get your ass fired.
How the hell did Zoe write a 3000 word article overnight without interviewing anybody? You can't write a profile piece by just Googling. You'd get your ass fired.
Ah, misread your post. Yeah, I don't get it. I guess she doesn't want her nasty ass apartment getting into her pop tarts?
I think that's the point. Lot of people pulling stuff out of their asses.
But then, then never make the content of the articles a big deal so...::Shrugs::
Zoe jumping in people's faces going "HEY! I'M A REPORTER!" paired with Russo's uncharacteristic specific weaknesses really annoy me about the show.
HalfBakedProphet
Member
Anyone compare this to season 5 of the wire? The newspaper side of it, I mean.
On episode 5. I'm really impressed. Very few of the characters are actually likable, besides Frank Underwood and he's a complete dick. Peter Russos gf was cool, but
On episode 5. I'm really impressed. Very few of the characters are actually likable, besides Frank Underwood and he's a complete dick. Peter Russos gf was cool, but
they just broke up. I hope she is still in the show.
heliosRAzi
Banned
The newspaper parts were both filmed in the same place
Triple Oceans
Member
Would you mind explaining this a little further? I'm having a hard time following. How is it uncharacteristic?
HalfBakedProphet
Member
that explains it, haha. The lighting looked really similar
brianjones
Member
Wait what... really?
Yeah, you can't blackmail sources that brazenly.
The NYTimes writer that interviews Russo was on-the-note, though.
The Wire did it much, much better. Not surprising. David Simon worked for the Baltimore Sun for 13 years.
But, again, I give House of Cards a break. It's not a show about journalism. It's a show about politics and media plays a large part.
I think for a fictional reporter it would be fairly obvious once you connected the two characters and then proceeded to examine the events shown leading up to and then following the public connection of Frank and Russo. At first it felt too easy, but it started making more sense as the case kept building against them. It also doesn't seem like Janine, Lucas, and Zoe have everything yet, and are still a ways away from having a solid enough story to release. They're definitely in dangerous territory right now and will need to tread lightly.
Dark Knight
Neo Member
I need some HOC gifs
I second this.
HalfBakedProphet
Member
I agree, still saw some similarities tho.
I love that Underwood addresses the audience directly, wasn't expecting that
Fantastical
Death Prophet
I need some HOC gifs
YES. I've been waiting for these.
Fantastical
Death Prophet
That episode was way too over the top for me. I thought the strike news coverage was kind of cheesy, and the final scene with Frank and his opponent where he was telling him to blow him was way too over the top. They tried too hard in that scene, I think. I mean by this point in this show we know how manipulative and downright terrible Frank can be... the "blow me" scene was a little too on the nose I think.
katsubento
Member
Just watched the first three episodes last night. I'm hooked.
I also found Frank coming apart in the interview weird as we hadn't really seen that kind of weakness from him yet and it was a huge cock up. The man portrayed up to that point wouldn't fall apart like that I think
I just finished watching the show, saw it over a span of like five days.
The first three or four episodes had me hook, but it started to fall of after that. Spacey and the actress that plays Claire were undoubtedly the most amazing parts of the show.
The Frank and Zoe dynamic started off really awesome and then...poof? Mara was intense at first but her character devolved into Claire Danes level repetitivness (fingernail bite finger nail bite super detective).
Which bring me to the junior detective crew that figured out Frank within the span of like....a few days? They needed to flesh that out more totally came out of nowhere.
I really liked the direction of the show, but it just failed to keep its momentum going for me.
My favorite moment was the scene on the bathroom with the razor blade. I just wish they hadn't minimized it by using a fake out at the hotel, that would have been a perfect ending for Russo.
I'll probably keep watching season two, but I'm not super excited for it.
The first three or four episodes had me hook, but it started to fall of after that. Spacey and the actress that plays Claire were undoubtedly the most amazing parts of the show.
The Frank and Zoe dynamic started off really awesome and then...poof? Mara was intense at first but her character devolved into Claire Danes level repetitivness (fingernail bite finger nail bite super detective).
Which bring me to the junior detective crew that figured out Frank within the span of like....a few days? They needed to flesh that out more totally came out of nowhere.
I really liked the direction of the show, but it just failed to keep its momentum going for me.
My favorite moment was the scene on the bathroom with the razor blade. I just wish they hadn't minimized it by using a fake out at the hotel, that would have been a perfect ending for Russo.
I'll probably keep watching season two, but I'm not super excited for it.
I felt very similar. The way they pieced things together in the last few episodes was a little much for me. I didn't like the transition of how things went from neat new show to conspiracy-type detective. Maybe with more time this wouldn't have been so apparent.
I don't have any problem with
Russo's alcoholism or drug addiction, I think it does a pretty good job earmarking him and showing why he can't be a leader within this cast at all. But when his sexual appetite is the thing that causes his relaps and ultimately his untimely demise? That's horse shit. Russo has never shown any indication of sexual addiction and his love for Christina is genuine. He wasn't drunk when he went to the room with Rachel, he knew about all his appointments the next morning, you can't expect me to just accept that he would knowingly blow all that off to have a drunken one nighter with some floosy just cuz. That is the show's single biggest misstep. Having a waitress trip and splash a glass of burbon in his face, triggering his lust for alcohol would have been more believable.
And Zoe literally jumping in the face of people she needs to help her openly and aggressively with a very loud "HEY! I'M A JOURNO! TALK TO ME SO I CAN POTENTIALLY RUIN YOUR LIFE, OR DON'T SO I CAN POTENTIALLY RUIN YOUR LIFE!" is dumb. It's amazing she got anyone to talk to her that way. She only does 1 bit of investigative journalism the whole show, at the very end to find Echo, and then immediately afterwards, she tips her hand and the hands of her compatriots to the enemy because she flew up in Rachel's face going "HEY TALK TO ME SO I CAN TELL THE WORLD YOUR DAD RAPED YOU!" It's silly.
And Zoe literally jumping in the face of people she needs to help her openly and aggressively with a very loud "HEY! I'M A JOURNO! TALK TO ME SO I CAN POTENTIALLY RUIN YOUR LIFE, OR DON'T SO I CAN POTENTIALLY RUIN YOUR LIFE!" is dumb. It's amazing she got anyone to talk to her that way. She only does 1 bit of investigative journalism the whole show, at the very end to find Echo, and then immediately afterwards, she tips her hand and the hands of her compatriots to the enemy because she flew up in Rachel's face going "HEY TALK TO ME SO I CAN TELL THE WORLD YOUR DAD RAPED YOU!" It's silly.
That and Frank's wife not really having a narrative swell sort of annoyed me, but I guess they're saving that for season 2...which is a little odd.
But he did show addiction, aside from them referencing his "whoring" multiple times we actually see him arrested with a prostitute in his car while he's dating Christina. A goodlooking woman seducing him back to drinking is very believable imo.
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
Finished up the season last night with a marathon of the last four eps ides. Overall thought it was good, although like some others in here, I thought there were some weak elements to the end of the run.
That's probably enough for now. Overall, I was very satisfied with the first season and look forward to what comes next.
I wasn't a fan of Russo's fall from grace either. It happened a bit too quickly for me. If they would have linked it to the failure of the water shed bill in some way, I would have had an easier time believing it. His genuine feelings for Christina made it hard to believe that he followed Echo upstairs out of the blue. Especially knowing what was at stake.
I have to say, I was pretty sympathetic to Russo before he met his demise. It seemed like the guy was getting his life on track and growing a spine. I was cheering him on in his efforts actually, so I was disappointed to see him go out the way he did.
The Jr. Detective Squad was solid and brought some drama, but quite frankly I think Zoe is an incredibly weak character. I thought she would have made more of an advancement as a character over the course of the season, but she still seems clueless about anything when Frank isn't handing her the information. Her partners come across as much more seasoned and experienced, which they are of course, but I was hoping to see her become stronger.
I didn't really care for Clair's organization getting sued by Gillian. It wasn't that it wasn't warranted, it just seemed like there should have been a little more set in place. Gillian didn't come across as the kind of person who would lie like that to punish Clair either. I was hoping she would simply leave and take her skills to Google as was talked about in an earlier episode. Then have Clair facing the challenge of picking up the pieces with out her star hire, which would have an impact on fund raising, etc.
I have to say, I was pretty sympathetic to Russo before he met his demise. It seemed like the guy was getting his life on track and growing a spine. I was cheering him on in his efforts actually, so I was disappointed to see him go out the way he did.
The Jr. Detective Squad was solid and brought some drama, but quite frankly I think Zoe is an incredibly weak character. I thought she would have made more of an advancement as a character over the course of the season, but she still seems clueless about anything when Frank isn't handing her the information. Her partners come across as much more seasoned and experienced, which they are of course, but I was hoping to see her become stronger.
I didn't really care for Clair's organization getting sued by Gillian. It wasn't that it wasn't warranted, it just seemed like there should have been a little more set in place. Gillian didn't come across as the kind of person who would lie like that to punish Clair either. I was hoping she would simply leave and take her skills to Google as was talked about in an earlier episode. Then have Clair facing the challenge of picking up the pieces with out her star hire, which would have an impact on fund raising, etc.
That's probably enough for now. Overall, I was very satisfied with the first season and look forward to what comes next.
APZonerunner
Member
For those curious about some of the finer plot points, I do suggest you check out the 90s BBC original (on Netflix US and UK) that this is based on. It's only four 50 minute episodes, and more or less covers the same ground that this season did and ends in the same place - but has some interesting and juicy differences, both creative and necessitated by key differences that 20 years and the trip across the Atlantic has made. It was fascinating to watch it after finishing the US series.
That was split into three parts, and is a trilogy - so I imagine the second 4 episode UK run would make up Season 2 of the US version, and the third Season 3 if Netflix continue with it.
That was split into three parts, and is a trilogy - so I imagine the second 4 episode UK run would make up Season 2 of the US version, and the third Season 3 if Netflix continue with it.
Fantastical
Death Prophet
Episode 10:
Poor Peter 
BertramCooper
Banned
It's only going to be two seasons. That's been the plan from the outset and it's highly unlikely that they'll go beyond it.
BlackGhost
Banned
Just s super random thought, but as the show went on Zoe got cuter to me. Didn't really think she was that cute first episode..
I really hope it doesn't. Too many TV shows don't know when to end.
Fantastical
Death Prophet
They made her look less cute in the first episode.
BertramCooper
Banned
There's no way an in-demand film and theater actor like Kevin Spacey is going to make a long-term commitment to a TV show. And there's obviously no show without him.
So I wouldn't worry.
After American Horror Story, I don't think I'll ever find Kate Mara cute.
I disagree about Russo.
Full Season
during the interrogation by Frank's guy Russo couldn't even really pin a number to the number of prostitutes he had been with. I'd say that groundwork was already laid out pretty well and it was believable.
As someone who has known that kind of alcoholic before, doing the 'right' thing by your loved ones still isn't always enough to break that temptation.
As someone who has known that kind of alcoholic before, doing the 'right' thing by your loved ones still isn't always enough to break that temptation.
Fantastical
Death Prophet
Episode 11:
POOR PETER
Full Season:
Don't really have anything to compare this to. Don't normally watch TV shows anymore.
Thoroughly enjoyed it. As others have expressed, wish it were more self-contained. Still do not like Zoe, unfortunately, just nothing interesting about the character. I must say, Kevin Spacey somewhat surprised me. I thought he was at his best when Francis was vulnerable, in the moments when everything looked like it was about to fall apart.
Don't really have anything to compare this to. Don't normally watch TV shows anymore.
I've only seen episode 1.
Two questions:
- Will I get used to Spacey's accent?
- Will I get used to him breaking the fourth wall?
Both are pretty jarring to me and take me out of the experience. Otherwise I really enjoyed what I saw. Newsroom is a different show, of course, but somehow House of Cards helps me get over that disappointment.
Two questions:
- Will I get used to Spacey's accent?
- Will I get used to him breaking the fourth wall?
Both are pretty jarring to me and take me out of the experience. Otherwise I really enjoyed what I saw. Newsroom is a different show, of course, but somehow House of Cards helps me get over that disappointment.
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