I agree so far. I like Remy and LeAnn the most this season. I'm 5 episodes in.
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House of Cards Season 4 |OT| Anything for America. Netflix March 4th
- Thread starter GK86
- Start date
I agree so far. I like Remy and LeAnn the most this season. I'm 5 episodes in.
Harry Stewart
Member
At least Doug's arc wasn't as annoying as in the previous season. Though it only works character-development wise if you forget that season ever happened.
Excellent season. I didn't have many problems with season 3 and I still thought it was great television, but this was definitely a step-up above in many ways.
I'm glad we're getting another one. I can watch Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey performing for hours nonstop. Wright also did a fantastic job directing and it was cool to see so many episodes directed by her this season.
I'm glad we're getting another one. I can watch Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey performing for hours nonstop. Wright also did a fantastic job directing and it was cool to see so many episodes directed by her this season.
ST2K
Member
Finished the season. Didn't much care for it.
I don't know why I watched this. I should have figured out after last season that this show was a one-hit wonder. Oh well.
- The whole season pushed Claire's ascent. Hard. To the point where Frank was saying and doing things out of character or completely breaking the suspension of disbelief with her running as VP with no real opposition. Her affair with the writer is also strange and superfluous. It feels like wish fulfilment for a character just a tick below a Mary Sue at this point, and it had me rolling my eyes at several points this season.
- WTF was that ending? I'm not even sure I understood it. Was it implying that the Underwood's would just scare people into ignoring a scandal and reelecting him by propping up terrorism as a big bad? That seems really questionable.
- The writing and inventiveness continues to be weak. Domineering people through threats is apparently the only way Frank can convince anyone to work with him anymore. Kind of ruins it when episodes of manuvering are reduced to Frank cornering Durant in a room and threatening her. Watching S1 right before this painted a clear contrast between what this show could be and what it is.
- I did like the callbacks to earlier seasons, with both characters and references in dialog.
- Frank's shooting brought my attention back to the show and they had a good opportunity there. They wasted it though.
- The hallucination scenes were poor.
- WTF was that ending? I'm not even sure I understood it. Was it implying that the Underwood's would just scare people into ignoring a scandal and reelecting him by propping up terrorism as a big bad? That seems really questionable.
- The writing and inventiveness continues to be weak. Domineering people through threats is apparently the only way Frank can convince anyone to work with him anymore. Kind of ruins it when episodes of manuvering are reduced to Frank cornering Durant in a room and threatening her. Watching S1 right before this painted a clear contrast between what this show could be and what it is.
- I did like the callbacks to earlier seasons, with both characters and references in dialog.
- Frank's shooting brought my attention back to the show and they had a good opportunity there. They wasted it though.
- The hallucination scenes were poor.
I don't know why I watched this. I should have figured out after last season that this show was a one-hit wonder. Oh well.
Blue Ninja
Member
Finished the season.
All in all, this season is up there with 1 and 2 for me, and far better than season 3. Can't wait for season 5.
That was some good shit. Leagues above the boring and inconsequential season 3. Frank getting shot and Meechum killed was a real shocker, I loved it. Things really started picking up after that: those final episodes were goddamn ruthless. The glorious return of Frank's fourth-wall breaking was very welcome, as well, as though he feels the need to rationalize things the more everything goes pear-shaped. The prospect of him finally getting his comeuppance is tantalizing, but the way he decides to deal with it all is absolutely chilling. Much like the final scene in Season 2, the final scene in Season 4 was goddamn terrifying.
There's some annoyances I've had with this season. Claire was nothing more than a useless child for a large part of the first episodes.The whole Vice President-subplot felt a bit too far-fetched as the show moves further and further away from our own political reality. Doug surviving another season while Meechum gets killed four episodes in. And Freddy showing up in only one episode to create conflict the writers literally pulled out of their ass.
There's some annoyances I've had with this season. Claire was nothing more than a useless child for a large part of the first episodes.The whole Vice President-subplot felt a bit too far-fetched as the show moves further and further away from our own political reality. Doug surviving another season while Meechum gets killed four episodes in. And Freddy showing up in only one episode to create conflict the writers literally pulled out of their ass.
All in all, this season is up there with 1 and 2 for me, and far better than season 3. Can't wait for season 5.
Really,
i don't see how Seth is afraid of him, yeah he snuck him that one time but that little ass dude bossing me around.
That's not really true,
especially since it's an event that hasn't occurred often enough for their to be a pattern. LBJ stepped down rather than run for re-elction amid the Vietnam War, however, it's likely that he would have lost that election had he run. Second, it's not like GWB ran for re-election three weeks after invading Iraq. It was a whole year later and this was after preparing the public for the war a year earlier with their information campaign. Also, the 2004 election was very close with Kerry basically losing by about one swing state. And, we're talking about John Kerry here, he didn't exactly run a stellar campaign
EDIT:
Frank is running for election after failing to negotiate or successfully end a hostage crisis which he basically gave up on. In addition to a news article releasing which cites major violations by Frank to grab hold of the White House, an article which has his former Chief of Staff and the former elected President of the United States on record. Plus, there is whatever the FBI might find while looking through their mass surveillance program. All this in addition to him suddenly launching a war, weeks before an election, against an enemy he himself allowed to grow, during the middle of this entire scandal. Any candidate worth his salt in real life would be able to handedly defeat Underwood given all those circumstances.
DOUBLE EDIT:
It kind of reminds of this image:
Season spoilers.
Really glad they didn't let the article stuff go to waste. Up to this point, all of those loose threads felt sloppy, but now we're seeing real consequences for their actions. The tension was a little flat until the end since we've been conditioned to think the Underwoods can float by, but now it's out there. And what's better: I went into the season expecting the Underwoods to ultimately lose, but their resolve at the end legit makes me think they can come out on top.
Arjen
Member
Regarding the ending.
They are doing a shock doctrine approach, make the public forget about a scandal by orchestrating a more gruesome event.
Cipher Peon
Banned
So with some days behind me I have a bit more thoughts to flesh out my "Fourth season is best season" opinion. Thoughts on the entire season.
Overall, awesome stuff. Best season of the show.
Season 1 - 8/10
Season 2 - 7/10
Season 3 - 7/10
Season 4 - 9/10
First and foremost I'm pretty disappointed that Dunbar got got pretty early on and offscreen. I was severely disappointed at the Hispanic Republican guy whose name I forget was destroyed offscreen too. They were both great antagonists, and seeing them unceremoniously booted was disheartening. Dunbar was INCREDIBLE and was the innocent muffin to Frank's heartless bastard and I would have much preferred her sticking around longer and being a force for good.
I never liked Meechum, but seeing him die for the sake of the plot exploding was fantastic. 10/10. The "Frank is dying" subplot was FANTASTIC, and it was amazing seeing Claire and Blythe stepping up to the plate. Blythe has always been a great comedic relief character and seeing him struggle with being active president was super unexpected but super welcome.
Speaking of Claire, I thought the entirety of Season 3 was building up to her being Frank's Vice President, and seeing her leave at the end destroyed me. "Noooooooooo my dreams are ruined" I cried. Little did I know that Season 3 built up to Season 4 sooooo well
My fav character of House of Cards is Doug and he... kinda sucked this season? Well, rather, he didn't have anything to do. Like at all. It was nice seeing him try to hook up with someone else but eh.
I hated the scooby gang of the reporters and the It's Always Sunny hacker dude, and I was anxious seeing Goodwin return. But he died making the plot explode which was cash money. Hammerschmidt is way better at being the leader of the scooby gang, so I'm glad if they had to continue the "let's bring Underwood down from the shadows" subplot, they used him. I don't want Frank to lose, so I'm always rooting against these guys.
Conway is a p cool guy. I liked him. He's no Dunbar, but he did a good job of keeping me engaged in being an antagonist.
Overall, awesome stuff. Best season of the show.
Season 1 - 8/10
Season 2 - 7/10
Season 3 - 7/10
Season 4 - 9/10
ebullientprism
Member
4 episodes in and I really miss Underwood talking to the audience. Why have they toned it down so much? 
He starts doing it more, not to worry4 episodes in and I really miss Underwood talking to the audience. Why have they toned it down so much?
ElRenoRaven
Member
Just finished episode 4 and HOLY SHIT!!!
I so did not see that coming.
I so did not see that coming.
Episodes 1 through 3 were kind of a slog. Episode 4 onward was amazing. Masterfully crafted drama that kept me glued.
Probably the best season since 1. So glad they found a way for the Underwoods to maneuver politically again.
Probably the best season since 1. So glad they found a way for the Underwoods to maneuver politically again.
Damn I never thought of that. I'm assuming that's why the showrunner left: he wanted to end it this season but they wanted it to keep going and he didn't want to basically be blamed for when the show runs itself into the ground and people lose interest.
I really still hope Season 5 is the end, especially now that the show is good again. Please let us leave on a high note Netflix. If you want to be like HBO, you need to know how to end a series well, too.
I really still hope Season 5 is the end, especially now that the show is good again. Please let us leave on a high note Netflix. If you want to be like HBO, you need to know how to end a series well, too.
It's dumb how quick she falls for him but it also fits with Frank's sort of role reversal after the assassination attempt and how hard they're hitting that the two are far more than a married couple. Claire lets Michiam into their lives for Frank and now Frank is letting Yates in for Claire. Though I never really like Yates. He always felt like a writer stand in so it feels even more perverse now.
Full season spoilers
I like the idea of the Underwoods united, adopting a scorched Earth policy with everything crumbling around them but the execution is ludicrous. At best I can see how this stems the possible leaks, prevents the article from emboldening others to go against Frank but it's still three weeks until the election with a huge scandal and the president all but saying he will burn everything to the ground to the public. Not to mention people like Seth are cracking and the NSA stuff is waiting to be exposed as well. The writers seem to be aware how this a blatant political move since Durant calls out Frank on it so I'm curious how long the show can go on for.
While true, IMO Claire broke their pact unnecessarily in Season 3 when Francis needed her most and she started becoming more independent for lack of a better term.
Man as much as this show sucks the Claire / Frank marriage really is fascinating and cool. "If we're going to go beyond marriage, let's go beyond." is the secret sweetest thing I've seen in a while. That whole conversation and the breakfast scene in that episode were great.
The return of
was a weird sort of charactature of Frank. Everything Frank said was just such a ridiculous run of saying the exact wrong things. Such a total failure of self-awareness was weirdly dissonant with the state of the rest of his relationships.
The return of
Freddy
Freddie was a victim of Frank's actions in Season 2. In Season 3, he realizes that Frank was basically using him every step of the way. There was never any "friendship' between them. Freddie would banter with him because he wanted to please his customers and not piss of a Congressman. He was just an outlet for Frank (and a source of ribs).
In Season 3, he takes the job because he needs it. He realizes that Frank owes him the job for basically ruining his and possibly his son's life. After he takes the job though, he realizes that Frank still doesn't feel sympathetic and just wants to use him as an outlet for all the bullshit he spews. It's not until this season that he actually confronts him on it when Frank shows him little in the way of actual commiseration and sincerity when he wants out of their "relationship"
In Season 3, he takes the job because he needs it. He realizes that Frank owes him the job for basically ruining his and possibly his son's life. After he takes the job though, he realizes that Frank still doesn't feel sympathetic and just wants to use him as an outlet for all the bullshit he spews. It's not until this season that he actually confronts him on it when Frank shows him little in the way of actual commiseration and sincerity when he wants out of their "relationship"
Would have lol'd too but I actually just saw some kid playing that game on a laptop the other day. I guess it's popular amongst kids right now. HoC is surprisingly up to date on popular games, guess someone on their staff has an ear to the ground.
and also
the dude had to take the call then. Not taking the call means showing undue respect to the President, the dude who you think isn't doing a good job and whose job you feel like you're equipped for. If you show him too much deference, you're subservient to him and therefore his inferior. The candid nature of their conversation reflects that they are approaching each other essentially as equals. Conway would never bow to Frank's "Big Dick" approach and clearly Frank recognizes that, which is why he doesn't take umbrage when Conway goes to take a phone call.
Full season spoilers:
Can you imagine if there was an election three weeks after 9/11? Bush would have gotten like 80% of the vote. I bet everyone seeing the execution rallies the country behind Underwood.
Kinda hoping next season starts off with a minor timeskip past the election
Kinda hoping next season starts off with a minor timeskip past the election
I think of Yates as the audience. He's essentially an articulate voyeur who lives to pry stories and moments out of those around him. He wants to peer into the private lives of others, process their histories and secrets both, and produce a work that, while not truly Non-Fiction, still reflects how well he understands his subjects, even with all the half-truths he's fed. He wants to understand the Underwoods better than they do, which is what we want, too. We want to predict their next moves so we feel like we've grasped the characters and can make sense of the motivations behind their efforts and the lengths they're willing to go to. We judge them for their actions, like Tom does, but we still want to watch and participate as much as we can.
Actually, while I was writing that, I was thinking that perhaps Tom is the writer AND the audience. The writers feel like they've woven this messy, tangled world of political intrigue and deception for so long that they're almost observers looking from the outside, like the rest of us, and they're trying to figure it out for themselves too. Maybe they're just as morbidly excited to see where the story heads too.
Actually, while I was writing that, I was thinking that perhaps Tom is the writer AND the audience. The writers feel like they've woven this messy, tangled world of political intrigue and deception for so long that they're almost observers looking from the outside, like the rest of us, and they're trying to figure it out for themselves too. Maybe they're just as morbidly excited to see where the story heads too.
fallengorn
Bitches love smiley faces
Mid-way through episode 9:
Just paused it because...
Just paused it because...
Agar.io? Wouldn't be House of Cards without weird product placement, I guess.
sammyCYBORG
Member
A lot of the Claire stuff at the start of the season was a dud, and the general change in direction halfway through was jarring, but overall a very solid season.
Kinda ready for the next one to be the last however.
Kinda ready for the next one to be the last however.
Boombloxer
Member
More I think about it, I don't think the article will stick to Frank long-term. It's damaging, but nowhere near fatal.
1) He poked an easy hole in why he and Zoe met, the Education Bill.
2) The original source for this is a dead, would-be presidential assassin, who worked at the same paper that publishes a sensational account; with Hammerschmidt as his long-time managing editor no less.
3) All of the quoted people in the story benefited directly from Frank--Walker got his education bill, Remy got rich twice--Tusk and the new deal they just forged, and Jackie became Whip. Now, what actually happened afterward is only known to a few people--Tusk, Claire, Frank, Doug; and that's it. Walker can be painted as bitter, Remy and Jackie as collusion due to their affair and for passing the energy consortium bill.
4) Impending war will help mask it.
So I expect that that to peter out fairly fast next season.
Side note, I'm quite interested in seeing how Frank destroys Conway--he already seems to be coming unhinged; he's similar to Frank, but far less effective.
1) He poked an easy hole in why he and Zoe met, the Education Bill.
2) The original source for this is a dead, would-be presidential assassin, who worked at the same paper that publishes a sensational account; with Hammerschmidt as his long-time managing editor no less.
3) All of the quoted people in the story benefited directly from Frank--Walker got his education bill, Remy got rich twice--Tusk and the new deal they just forged, and Jackie became Whip. Now, what actually happened afterward is only known to a few people--Tusk, Claire, Frank, Doug; and that's it. Walker can be painted as bitter, Remy and Jackie as collusion due to their affair and for passing the energy consortium bill.
4) Impending war will help mask it.
So I expect that that to peter out fairly fast next season.
Side note, I'm quite interested in seeing how Frank destroys Conway--he already seems to be coming unhinged; he's similar to Frank, but far less effective.
It might not put them in jail, but it might cause them to lose the election, which is basically as good as killing them (as far as relevancy goes). They're clearly all-or-nothing at this point and don't want to risk losing points after losing trust with the public. The impending war will have to be pretty-fucking huge to mask this shit, so I'm curious how far they'll go with it.
Haha it was crazy to see, cuz I didn't think it had that widespread exposure at all.
Full Season
Really good season, when Claire and Frank stopped fighting each other at every step I feel like it really started to pick up. Claire as VP... I don't see how this makes sense on any level, her inexperience hurt her as Ambassador and should be magnified I would imagine when it comes to becoming VP.
Cast
I forgot how weak most of the supporting cast is in comparison to the main actors. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Michael Kelly are painfully so much better than most of the cast. I hate the writing when Frank or Robin have to convince someone and that person be written like an idiot. Freddy should have been handled better, I forgot anything that Frank did to piss him off to get him to react how he did, you would have thought Frank asked him to forget that other job and just cook for him long term. Conway is both miscast and poorly written, I don't see searches being in the hands of a Republican gets glossed over as quickly as it did. I didn't really understand why Conway was even involved (from ICO's perspective) with the ICO kidnapping, as soon as he was mentioned I was thinking that Conway set that whole thing up. A man of Conway's power can't even do the things they were asking.
Overall the season left me very interested in the next season which wasn't the case last season. They really managed to finish strong and keep me feeling like show is in good hands.
Cast
I forgot how weak most of the supporting cast is in comparison to the main actors. Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Michael Kelly are painfully so much better than most of the cast. I hate the writing when Frank or Robin have to convince someone and that person be written like an idiot. Freddy should have been handled better, I forgot anything that Frank did to piss him off to get him to react how he did, you would have thought Frank asked him to forget that other job and just cook for him long term. Conway is both miscast and poorly written, I don't see searches being in the hands of a Republican gets glossed over as quickly as it did. I didn't really understand why Conway was even involved (from ICO's perspective) with the ICO kidnapping, as soon as he was mentioned I was thinking that Conway set that whole thing up. A man of Conway's power can't even do the things they were asking.
Overall the season left me very interested in the next season which wasn't the case last season. They really managed to finish strong and keep me feeling like show is in good hands.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
.
HoC just made them milliionaires.
I hope Army gets into season 5.
But I don't see how this can possibly last three more seasons.
Fried Food
Banned
Just finished it and I don't think highly of it overall.
This was basically one really long trailer for what I hope will be the last season. The last 2 episodes can't save a season.
Finished. Bumpy but better than last season. The problem going forward is what a ridiculously huge cast of characters they've amassed. By the end I'd even forgotten what is the Press Secretary's name, and I like that guy. Also this show is going to collapse under the weight of its own intricacies if it doesn't pump breaks soon here. If you asked me to sit down and write the bullet points that Hammershmidt's article covers, I'd be totally flummoxed.
Gray Matter
Member
Couple more
incidents of two characters shooting each other and it'll be trimmed down nicely
or just
let Doug be Doug
America loves Kate Middleton.
kylecoley182
Banned
best line: You guess it, i still hate kids
ScottSullivan
Member
Episode 9-10 question
Also, Holy shit episode 10
Am I just completely forgetting details from earlier seasons? Have they explained who this Anthony Moretti that Stamper is donating to is?
Also, Holy shit episode 10
Frank Threatening Durant was my favorite scene of the season. You know he's an evil motherfucker when he can get a strong woman like Durant to back down!
It's from this same season,
that's the guy who died because Doug forced the Secretary of Health to manipulate the list so Frank would get a liver first.
ScottSullivan
Member
Psychoward
Banned
BeforeU
Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
I don't have any memory of Season 2. But can someone tell me what Frank did to piss off Freddy and how he ruined his son's life?
But she is very much still over here in Britain, not lording around in the White House.
Americans can tell she is stupid posh right? I'm only 7 episodes in so don't know if they acknowledge it.
Vicetrailia
Banned
Had a good finish. I'm pumped for season 5 after being down on it before. I love this show.
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