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House of Cards S3 |OT| Available now on Netflix! - *Spoilers for all of S3*

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M

Mr.Swag

Banned
Whole season spoilers
Remy handed Seth his white house pin, guess that was his resignation.

One problem though is, how the hell does the presidents chief of staff have time to travel to Venezuela, and New Mexico.

Frank came off as a pussy most of this season. Honestly as I think of it more, I am very disappointed. Sure, there were great moments but a series isn't just a collection of moments. As a whole it disappointed.
 
K

krameriffic

Member
MercuryLS said:
You understand why this show is called House of Cards right? The ending you want is not what you're going to get. Frank has always been a villain, it's just more noticeable now.
Click to expand...

Oh, everything should fall apart, just like it did in Breaking Bad. It should just fucking make sense and not be boring and stupid while doing it. Spoiler-filled analsis of the whole season.

Claire basically just gives up. None of her motivation for losing faith in Frank makes the slightest bit of sense to me. I guess I'm supposed to assume it was something the writer said? But then we didn't even see that whole conversation. The whole plot with the writer guy just felt kind of stupid from its inception. From how Frank gets his inspiration to hire the guy to his complete and utter ineffectiveness in doing anything all season. It was like the writers said to themselves "well, he didn't do anything all season long, so I guess we'll have him do this?"

Remy just kinda quits for no reason at all and absolutely nothing comes of it. I was expecting his affair with Jackie to turn into a scandal that fucks over Dunbar (since Jackie gave her support). But nope. You just don't see either one again for the rest of the season and nothing comes of it at all other than Doug coming back as chief of staff. Instead we cut back to fucking stupid ass Doug and Rachel wasting time doing something that should have been done in season 1 rather than focusing on characters who actually matter.

Characters felt more wishy-washy rather than morally ruthless. This is the biggest transgression for me. I watch this show to see people in Washington do horrible, conniving things to each other in the name of getting stuff done. But every character seems to be having a crisis of confidence and morality all season long. There's so much more focus on people pondering moral questions and less focus on political backstabbing and maneuvering. And what there is feels spread thin and unsatisfying. There is far too little focus on America Works from a congressional/political standpoint. There's far too much time spent deadlocked with the Middle East plot where nothing of any importance to the plot seemed to happen.

I just never really felt like the stakes were very high or there was much tension leading into the end of the season. When they killed Zoe off, it was a shock to the viewer, but completely made sense. But it should have been the end to that storyline. Instead, they dragged it out with Lucas and Hammerschmidt and Gavin and nobody liked it, but there was other good stuff being set up. The ending of last season was basically win or die. If Tusk had turned on Frank, he would have lost EVERYTHING and ended up in jail. This season, if Dunbar had won, well, too bad, we had a good run.

The stakes just didn't feel real, and his victory wasn't even shown on screen. I really liked the scene at the end of season 2 where Tusk was getting grilled by the congressional committee about the illegal campaign contributions and he finally just goes "He knew." It's just an excellent nail in the coffin moment for Walker and a great way to show the victory for Frank. You had other politicians who represented a meaningful threat to him, and he overcame it. This season we have nothing. None of his victories or defeats ever seem to amount to anything. It doesn't seem to matter whether his peace effort in the Middle East works or America Works gets ratified. Things just seem so arbitrary and I experienced so few moments of excitement or tension or joy because of it.
 
H

HelloMeow

Member
krameriffic said:
Oh, everything should fall apart, just like it did in Breaking Bad. It should just fucking make sense and not be boring and stupid while doing it. Spoiler-filled analsis of the whole season.[/SPOILER]
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm just done watching all of it. All i could think, while watching the last couple of episodes, was
why is Claire being such a wimp?
 
D

Delta Assault

Member
Worst parts of the season for me:

Michael Corrigan. Goddamn this was one annoying dude. Felt like they modeled the character after Futurama's Free Waterfall Junior.

Remy: Completely wasted his character. What happened to the smart, competent Remy from the past? Instead, we're stuck with mindless, always-frowning, lovestruck Remy and that dumb, predictable sideplot with Sharp. Ugh, an entire season just watching a guy squirming cause he's thirsty.

Doug: I'm glad they didn't kill him off, which was what it looked like at the end of season 2. But this season's Doug... I don't get it. I don't understand why they even had that one night stand with his physical therapy trainer, when she's going away and we're never gonna see her again. It had absolutely no point except to show us that Doug can pull some prime. Then the thing with Rachel. I don't get it. It seems like he's still in love with her, right? I mean, he seemed really torn up when he thought she was dead at first. The search for her was his obsession. But then he actually finds her, and... he's intent on murdering her and burying her in a desert? But didn't he have feelings for her? I don't understand this man. I could kinda understand the motivations of a lonely guy who becomes fixated on a hooker that he wants to protect... but I can't understand this Doug.

Politics: The politics of this show do not resemble any politics I've ever seen in real life. In the first season... it was still somewhat plausible. You could kinda squint your eyes and go along with a moderate Democrat going up against the teachers unions. I guess. But season 2 was pretty atrocious, and this season just continues that downward slide into bizarro world. Frank's plan is to dismantle social security, medicare, and medicaid in order to... create jobs (most of which seem to be menial) for about 3% of the country? Really? People are willing to make that tradeoff? A Democratic president offering this sort of extreme entitlement reform, which not even the most hardcore conservative Republicans in Congress would ever dare propose? That's the big policy for this season? What world do these writers live in?

Frank: This guy used to be an effective whip? Yet here, we don't see any of that. First he yells and orders Jackie Sharp around, predictably leading to her leaving him. Then he yells and orders Claire around, predictably leading to her leaving him. This guy doesn't seem to understand how human beings work. Being a huge asshole doesn't work that well. Season 1 Frank seemed to understand this.

Tom: His whole presence this season was mystifying. Not to mention the introduction made no sense. It's the equivalent of grabbing a Stephen King or Cormac McCarthy to write a novel about Obamacare. That's not something that people actually do. It's dumb.
 
Z

Zane

Member
Melkr_ said:
Episode 1 and I am already raging

Am I supossed to feel sympathetic for the poor poor president making the hard decision of killing off innocent children to bring down a foreign politics adversary?
Fuck off.
Click to expand...

No, you're not
 
S

ScottSullivan

Member
Politics/finance question from ep4
What is doug saying when he wants 150k and 3 points...I know he's asking for a percentage of something but what exactly?
 
U

ultratruman

Banned
diggmcbadass said:
I would pay good money for a show about Viktor Petrov.
Click to expand...

That clownish Yeltsin facsimile? nah. You'd think the reality of a revanchist former KGB spy accused of imprisoning or killing rivals while ruthlessly consolidating power and conquering parts of neighboring countries would be material enough.

The actor is good, the writing is a total disappointment..
 
D

diggmcbadass

Member
ultratruman said:
The actor is good, the writing is a total disappointment..
Click to expand...

That's most of this show though. I watch it as pulp mostly. This show doesn't have the great characters of Sopranos, nor the great social/political critisism of the Wire. It tries to do both and falls somewhere inbetween. It is mostly saved by great acting and production values.

In either case Viktor is a better written antagonist than the S2 guy (who's name escapes me atm), but it is indeed the actor that makes him interesting.
 
K

Koodo

Banned
I'm actually glad to see the product placement has remained as shameless as ever. I'm screaming at EP #
005
. :lol
 
K

Kreed

Member
Ep 9:
"If you do anything that endangers his health again, I swear to God I will put you in your fucking grave!"

This show...
 
F

Fata1moose

Banned
Finished the season: Full season 3 spoilers.

I did not like it, the writers had a story to tell and the dragged it out, seems lik this season should have been a conclusion, I'd give it a pass if anything really substantial happened in a timely manner, but this entire season's pace was a crawl. I was disappointed in how they handled characters, Remy and Seth were essentially useless after being perfectly capable, they nerfed the characters to create conflict. Claire's leaving Frank wasn't really earned as she never goes into specifics of what's wrong, just "you aren't enough." I agree with what others said in this season lacking focus jumping between the election and the actual governing, maybe this was to convey Underwood himself being in a balance act, but it certainly didn't lead to good television.
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
ultratruman said:
That clownish Yeltsin facsimile? nah. You'd think the reality of a revanchist former KGB spy accused of imprisoning or killing rivals while ruthlessly consolidating power and conquering parts of neighboring countries would be material enough.

The actor is good, the writing is a total disappointment..
Click to expand...

Surely you mean Putin, right?
 
E

exmachina64

Banned
diggmcbadass said:
In either case Viktor is a better written antagonist than the S2 guy (who's name escapes me atm), but it is indeed the actor that makes him interesting.
Click to expand...

Since Frank is supposed to be a Machiavelian god among men, this season would have served well to get rid of the other plot lines it followed and show Frank bumping up against the equally powerful and ruthless Petrov.
 
S

Sickboy007

Member
Full season spoilers:
The actor playing Doug is really good, but the writers did him a disservice: his arc was trying to be unpredictable, but ended up nonsensical and inconsequential instead. I also hated the fact that Claire was reduced to an ineffective hysteric, blaming Frank after she sabotaged herself on every key decision. AmWorks or whatever doesn't make any sense. Overall, this season was a big step backwards, but I kept on watching for the performances.

btw, have any of you noticed how they transitioned from Frank coughing to lung x-rays? Could it be a foreshadowing for a future cancer subplot?

Frank and Claire reconcile after he promises her the vice presidency, he gets ill, resigns/dies, Claire is the new Pres.
 
F

Foxy Fox 39

Banned
Sickboy007 said:
Full season spoilers:
The actor playing Doug is really good, but the writers did him a disservice: his arc was trying to be unpredictable, but ended up nonsensical and inconsequential instead. I also hated the fact that Claire was reduced to an ineffective hysteric, blaming Frank after she sabotaged herself on every key decision. AmWorks or whatever doesn't make any sense. Overall, this season was a big step backwards, but I kept on watching for the performances.

btw, have any of you noticed how they transitioned from Frank coughing to lung x-rays? Could it be a foreshadowing for a future cancer subplot?

Frank and Claire reconcile after he promises her the vice presidency, he gets ill, resigns/dies, Claire is the new Pres.
Click to expand...

Thats not going to happen.
 
S

ScottSullivan

Member
StriKeVillain said:
2 episodes in.

Does anyone else watch this show and just root against Frank and Claire? I want all the worst things to happen to them.
Click to expand...

That's what makes the show so fun. In some ways, they are kind of terrible people for wanting so much power, but you also want to see them succeed against the adversity. Claire seems a lot more moral then Frank at the very least
 
T

Tim the Wiz

Banned
Delta Assault said:
Worst parts of the season for me:

Politics: .... Frank's plan is to dismantle social security, medicare, and medicaid in order to... create jobs (most of which seem to be menial) for about 3% of the country? Really? People are willing to make that tradeoff? A Democratic president offering this sort of extreme entitlement reform, which not even the most hardcore conservative Republicans in Congress would ever dare propose? That's the big policy for this season? What world do these writers live in?

Frank: This guy used to be an effective whip? Yet here, we don't see any of that. First he yells and orders Jackie Sharp around, predictably leading to her leaving him. Then he yells and orders Claire around, predictably leading to her leaving him. This guy doesn't seem to understand how human beings work. Being a huge asshole doesn't work that well. Season 1 Frank seemed to understand this.

Tom: His whole presence this season was mystifying. Not to mention the introduction made no sense. It's the equivalent of grabbing a Stephen King or Cormac McCarthy to write a novel about Obamacare. That's not something that people actually do. It's dumb.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes, yes.
They really dropped the ball on the logic of the politics this season. It's like the writers gleaned their understanding of US economic policy from the most hare-brained, superficial, dilettante cable news pundit they could find.
 
F

foxtrot3d

Banned
Tim the Wiz said:
Yes, yes, yes.
They really dropped the ball on the logic of the politics this season. It's like the writers gleaned their understanding of US economic policy from the most hare-brained, superficial, dilettante cable news pundit they could find.
Click to expand...

You are entitled to nothing,
except a job.
 
S

StriKeVillain

Banned
ScottSullivan said:
That's what makes the show so fun. In some ways, they are kind of terrible people for wanting so much power, but you also want to see them succeed against the adversity. Claire seems a lot more moral then Frank at the very least
Click to expand...
Nah, I'd enjoy if both of them were suddenly hit by a DC metro bus.

And Claire's neck freaks me out.
 
M

MattyG

Banned
After thinking about it more,
I don't think I like this season a whole lot. It all felt very sloppy and inconsequential. Also, Doug was poorly written. I had no idea what the fuck he wanted half the time, or why he was doing what he was doing. And like others have said, Claire wasn't the strong character she was previously. I want to like it, but I'm not sure I did.
 
P

Paskil

Member
Politics in this show are atrocious. Difficult to suspend disbelief when you actually pay close attention to the politics in the US. Moving past all of the other major glaring issues that I won't even dig into, where are the
Republican candidates? Do their primaries take place in an alternate dimension that runs on a separate timeline? What the fuck was with the Mendoza copout?

Blargh. It was alright for what it was, but each season, this shit gets more and more irritating.
 
O

Orbis Tabula

Member
Just finished it.
I'm surprised people don't seem to like it that much. I loved it. My only problem was Claire. I just don't buy that now, after all this, she decides to bail. She's been in this for 28 years and just now it becomes too much? Too much Doug and Rachel. That's my only real complaint.
 
M

Mr.Swag

Banned
I look up from my dinner table and I instantly see: A DSW bag, Kraft parmessan cheese, Sharp television, and a Sony BD player. Also the Nokia phone I am typing this on.
Real life has product placement, fiction should too.
Especially if product placement gives these producers more money to male higher quality content.

For gods sake folk, have you seen the quality of House of Catds sets? I actually thought they filmed on location for a bit.

Stop complaining about product placement.
 
M

mandiller

Member
Finished and but thought it was worse than the first two seasons. So many inconsistencies, time jumps and missing plot points. They could've done some great things but Frank's plans just seem to peter out and get forgotten. Most of the enjoyment of the first two seasons is watching him manipulate everyone to get his plans to work.
 
H

HoJu

Member
Mr.Swag said:
I look up from my dinner table and I instantly see: A DSW bag, Kraft parmessan cheese, Sharp television, and a Sony BD player. Also the Nokia phone I am typing this on.
Real life has product placement, fiction should too.
Especially if product placement gives these producers more money to male higher quality content.

For gods sake folk, have you seen the quality of House of Catds sets? I actually thought they filmed on location for a bit.

Stop complaining about product placement.
Click to expand...

obvious product placement deserves to be ridiculed.
 
Y

youngplaya21

Member
Dennis said:
The gratuitous product placements are off the charts.

The Nike sneakers had me rolling.
Click to expand...

I literally didn't notice a single bit of product placement that was out of place or strange (hell, I have no idea what you're talking about with the shoes). At this point, I feel like people on GAF are just looking for shit to complain about though, so....
 
H

HoJu

Member
Mr.Swag said:
Why?

Should we just watch tv/movies in which characters exist in some alternate universe in which Samsung tv doesn't exist?
Click to expand...

there's a difference between the product being in the background and bringing attention to the product by commenting on how great/easy to use it is.
 
D

Dennis

Banned
youngplaya21 said:
I literally didn't notice a single bit of product placement that was out of place or strange (hell, I have no idea what you're talking about with the shoes). At this point, I feel like people on GAF are just looking for shit to complain about though, so....
Click to expand...

Advertisers love him.
 
K

KingKong

Member
This show is so relentlessly one note that I'm actually finding it hard to binge watch despite their best efforts. It's still entertaining of course, but you can really see the seams
 
T

Tohsaka

Member
Not really feeling this season so far after 8 episodes. I thought the first season was great, second season almost as good, and the third season isn't even in the same league.
 
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