The incredibly ruthless and cunning Frank Underwood is back in the infamous Netflix original, House of Cards, as Season 4 splashed onto the site last Friday. 13 action-filled episodes for us die hard fans and a no doubt healthy salary for leading actors, Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright.
I’ve always been a little skeptical of Netflix, and American television generally if I’m being honest. I find it depressingly bizarre that you can watch a whole series at the bat of an eyelid. I know people that have watched whole box sets in one weekend alone! It’s just not the same as sitting down every Monday at 9pm as a group to indulge in the next episode of that one show everyone’s obsessed with. Online streaming is more solitary, and seems more like a race of who can finish a show first. I feel like the work put into a show isn’t appreciated as much as it could be as a result, but perhaps that is the time we live in now.
American television is good entertainment, there’s no doubt about that. America has this undeniable quality to make television more intense than anywhere else, but I am intrinsically passionate about everything British. I can usually be found watching ‘trashy’ shows like Eastenders, Holby City, Gavin and Stacey etc., but upon living in America for a semester last year I was forced to immerse myself in their culture, and as a result really started to get into things like Parks and Recreation, Portlandia, Homeland and Modern Family to name but a few. To be honest, my mindset was completely transformed. How ignorant of me to ignore our cousins great work across the pond. However, with House of Cards, I wasn’t initially that keen because of all of the political jargon and its dense nature. Nevertheless, somehow, I kept being drawn back to it, and over a summer I compulsively watched Frank and Claire back to back.
There’s not many spoilers here, so I will restrain from blurting out to you what happens, but let’s just say that this season brings a lot death, action and of course, complex politics. Right now with the US elections gearing up, getting into this drama series could be the perfect time. Bear in mind however, that if you’re anything like me and get frustrated when you don’t know what political terms mean, then you will be wikipedia-ing the whole way through, trying to pretend you have the tiniest grasp of what is going on. It’s a drama; it’s dense, intense, and just like Peter in Family Guy when watching Breaking Bad, it’ll get you completely hypnotized;
‘Recommend Breaking Bad to everyone you know. Breaking Bad is the best show you’ve ever seen, except maybe The Wire. You will never stop talking about Breaking Bad or The Wire’.
Watch House of Cards. Recommend House of Cards to everyone you know… if you’re remotely interested in scandal and the absolute interstellar acting from the one and only Kevin Spacey.
