House of Cards

As some of you may have noticed, Netflix has recently produced a remake of the BBC mini-series House of Cards, presumably in order to boost their circulation & help create fresh content which they've been having difficulty purchasing at a reasonable price. I have no idea if their remake will meet their business needs. However, since I have quite a bit of spare time on my hands, (Hello continued unemployment!) I watched both the original mini-series (still available for streaming on Netflix) as well as 2 episodes of the remake. Some thoughts:

The original is every bit as awesome as all the reviews say. Ian Richardson is absolutely fabulous as the conniving MP. It's stunning how they managed to create a series with absolutely no redeeming characters (with the possible exception of the coke-head MP) and yet the whole thing is engaging from start to finish. I have a feeling that my thorough enjoyment of the series was aided by my current misanthropic mood, though. No one does misanthropic condescencion quite like the British.

I've read that it's rather courageous of Netflix to leave up the original series so that it's easy for viewers to compare the quality of the two, but it was a good move IMO. The remake holds up well so far. The writers have successfully managed to transplant the story to an American setting in such a way that it feels fully American, complete with American mannerisms and American political & cultural realities. It's not as dry and droll as the original series because, well, Americans aren't as dry & droll.

As much as I loved Ian Richardson in the original, I'm finding that Spacey is every bit his equal. Spacey's character is a very different character, since he's from South Carolina rather than... wherever Richardson's character was from. But he's just as smart, conniving, and machiavellian as the Richardson character. His motives are a little bit weaker, but... *shrug*. It's not too much of a distraction, and it keeps the story moving.

Anyways, is anybody else watching this?

haha, as I replied to extarbags in the Netflix thread: I just started the second episode. So far it's solid; reminds me a bit of what little I watched of The Boss. Spacey's performance is (of course) phenomenal.

We've been mainlining it just like Fincher predicted. Just started episode six. This show rules.

Made it about ten minutes into the first episode of the Netflix version. I am not a fan of 4th wall tv series generally, and while I was interested in the Wright-Spacey combination, nothing else really caught my eye. I think whatever margin of error I had for these kinds of shows was burned up by Sorkinseries, and now I can only watch stuff like Veep.

I loved the living crap out of the original, I'm leery of the American version, just as I am of every Kevin Spacey role, post Verbal Klimt. But the wife is excited and I could never get her to watch the british version, so...I'll let y'all know.

I do like that Netflix is producing series now, we are one step closer to a la carte television.

Just watched the first two episodes with the wife. Yes, I love playing the where was this filmed in Baltimore game, but this series is seriously leaving me feeling dirty. It's a fantastic walkthrough of evil politics and revenge.

It is wonderfully filthy, isnt it? I don't know if I would like it as much if my mood were different, but it suits me to a tee right now.

I'm a big fan of the ol' F.U. (Francis Urquhart in the original, Underwood in this one).

That's from the original too. You might give it a try for a few minutes.

I'm loving it as well, and I have found myself cackling a few times already and I'm not even through the second episode. Definitely tickles the evil side.

Watched the first two episodes and am absolutely in love with this show.

I kinda sorta heard an interview with Spacey and the showrunner on NPR this morning (was half asleep). One point they made regarding the "everyone is awful" thing is that while they're all mostly bad people with venal motivations, the idea is that some good stuff ends up happening as a result.

I'm on episode 6 now, and the series is already depicting many of them as being more admirable than their British counterparts were. It's a shame because one of the perverse joys of the BBC version was how truly awful absolutely everyone was.

They're still not good people, mind you. And I got a kick out of how the Congressman manipulated those Southern rubes who had lost a daughter by using religion. But still... the raw malice isn't quite there. Well, maybe they'll take a turn for the evil before the series finishes.

I'm just midway through the third episode. One thing that irks me: Zoe (young reporter) really seems to be pretty evil. Which sucks because she is adorable and omg I've already got a huge crush on her!

Zoe? She just strikes me as relentlessly businesslike. She's completely upfront & honest about her desires & goals, and she hasn't screwed over anyone yet as of Episode 6.

I'm on #11, but you're right. This is entertaining but in comparison, "[It's] got no bottom."
- Francis Urquhart in the first episode, IIRC.

Is Profit on Netflix? It strikes me as being the kind of show you might enjoy if you like House of Cards.

Her implication of sexual harassment kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Although now that I think about it, he really was treating her poorly. I didn't get gender discrimination on his part (so much as age) but maybe I'm just not picking up on something!

Thoughts as of the end of E4:

Overall I'm still enjoying it, but the plotting is kind of mixed.

I've seen it all. I wouldn't say that any of the main characters strike me as being ultimately sympathetic except maybe in relation to each other. I guess the least bad ones are Rachel and then Peter, but they're both pretty tarnished too, just with some mitigating circumstances.

Anyway, I absolutely loved it. Can't wait for season two.

I'm hooked on this show. The first episode felt a little like a student film, but everything came together in the second and now I CAN'T GET ENOUGH.

Ooooh yeah. That's the stuff. I mainlined the final 4 episodes today, and the evil really starts kicking in in Episode 11. Even the reporters get in on the act, which is only appropriate.

Having seen how it ends (in this season, at any rate) I'm not sure if bloo is correct about the British version being more malevolent. The folks in the American version don't seem to have a bottom either. All the admirable facets portrayed earlier in the series was in the service of building believable characters rather than mustache-twirling villains. I mean, I knew from the beginning that most of what they were saying was bullshit, but there were some private moments that were clearly intended to show the characters' true character. And the character of any real human will have some decent facets. Hell, even Hitler liked dogs. But the final couple episodes redeemed the series in my eyes with their awfulness. Awesome stuff.

The bit about "having no bottom" is an old British naval phrase equating to having no substance. The "bottom" of a boat or ship is the part always under water, that connects the hull and contains the keel. A ship without a bottom is raft.

I just rewatched the first couple of episodes of the original, and regarding malevolence . . .

I want to like this version but the plotting is a big let down: the fight for Majority Leader, the TV debate, the resolution of the teachers strike...weak, weak, weak.

Great show, can't wait for season 2.

Oooh. I thought it meant that the person had no moral compass. (i.e. there's no depths to which they wouldn't sink.) Yeah.. you're right. The British folks were much more "bottomless" than the American folks.

Anyways awesome series.

I started watching this the other night and likely would have stopped after the first episode if Kevin Spacey and The-Princess-Bride-Turned-Ice-Queen weren't so damned good at their jobs. The 4th wall stuff is often annoying, and the schemes they come up with are so transparent that real-life Boehner would be able to see through them, but the acting and directing are so great I'm willing to cut it a lot of slack. It's also refreshing to see some characters in a TV show that aren't one-note and utterly predictable.

It's weird to me that the fourth wall stuff bothers people, as I enjoy it thoroughly, but I think the trajectory you want to appreciate it from is: love Macbeth and Richard III, then love the BBC 4-hour series, then love the fact that they somehow managed to make the concept fly in a radically different format. (The basic series length, the tenor of American politics vs. British parliamentarism, the character changes, etc.)

Spacey's asides rarely add much - and in a single instance - the eulogy scene - I thought they actually managed to detract. But I don't think they could take it out of the series considering the whole arc. They can't do the same Macbethian breakneck bloodbath as in the original series and they don't have a Shakespearean actor playing a smart-squire Tory quoting Shakespeare like we take his meaning, so it seems a bit random. But long term I expect the plot to go in the same direction, and it just would have been too much of a change from the identifying-with-the-fourth-wall-breaking-supervillain core of the story.

I'd highly recommend the original series to Lizard_King and others put-off by the fourth wall stuff; in the original, face-paced, British and theatrical context it's very rarely jarring. In theory I guess it might be "spoilery," but I'm guessing the format and plot changes are basic enough that it's a non-issue.

There's going to be a season 2? I figured it was a 1 off, though for no reason. Which meant that...

Yeah, you could reasonably assume from the ending that Frank would be screwed, but not so screwed that they can't run with it as the main theme for 13 more episodes.

Just got through 5 episodes. The most jarring moment?

"Hey, is that a PS Vita? I have all the games at home, but I should get one of these so I can play in the car on the way to work!"

It was like a Leo Laporte TWiT ad.

You didn't mind the Killzoning?

The character playing a console was fine... awkwardly exclaiming about a Vita sitting right there was a bit jarring.

edit: And yeah I actually had no idea he was playing Killzone and I doubt most watchers of the show knew either. The only bit of that I would call advertising to people who don't even have a PS3 is when he was in the PS3 main menu.

Since Generic Shooter is generic, I had no idea which manshoot it was and still fooled myself into thinking it was for character development to show just how bloodthirsty Frank is.

Iwas not really making a point, btw, just showing off my video game recognition skills. The vita thing was bizarre.

Holy shit, this whole thing happened because of data-mining.

http://www.salon.com/2013/02/01/how_netflix_is_turning_viewers_into_puppets/

I was just remarking to someone that it wasn't surprising a remake was done given the apparently strong appetite for evil intrigue-'em-ups in recent years, with the endless crescendo of GRRMania on my social media being the most obvious symptom. Apparently I wasn't being paranoid enough.

I love this series and it's basically sealed it for me that Netflix is probably the best bet for TV I'm going to love. I didn't get into their first series (Because honestly, I fucking hate "Mafioso gets into a new life!" plots), but House of Cards basically hit all the right places for me. If I liked the upcoming Arrested Development as much as this I'll be quite satisfied.

Huh, that's interesting. It's got me dead to rights, too. I like Kevin Spacey, I love the original, and David Fincher is one of my favorite directors.

I recently started watching this, got to that exact episode last night, and this is now the result of finding this thread and searching for "vita" on the page. Because lol. Someone please tell me that was a weird clumsy bit, and I can't expect future episodes of Frank turning to the camera and holding up a beer can and saying, "Aaaaah. The only thing better than Freddy's ribs are Freddy's ribs with an ice cold can of Coors Light!"