Netflix's House of Cards Offers an Uneven But Promising Look at TV's Future

Netflix's House of Cards Offers an Uneven But Promising Look at TV's Future

Submitter's comments:

"Wired's review of Netflix: House of Cards. Bottom line, mixed. Which is what viewers at Netflix are rating it. The acting is good but the script is weak, nowhere near as tight as the original story. Truth be told it's downright clumsy in places. In the opening scene, Spacey's character strangles an injured dog, to let us know what kind of man we are dealing with here. Like I said: clumsy.

The plot suffered badly in its translation from British to American, largely because the writer stuck too closely to the original premise. The chief whip of the majority party has been denied a high office he was promised in the election cycle, thus begins a ruthless climb to the top. It worked fine in a parliamentary setting where indeed, you may not know who is going to be PM if the current one suddenly falls and there is no clear successor within the cabinet.

These things in Britain always happen behind closed doors, and so lend themselves to conspiracy theories. In the U.S. most of these things go on, more or less, in the open. The conspiracy angle feels forced because it is forced. Also there is the ridiculous premise of a House Whip being promised State in the first place.

It just doesn't work in an American setting, belief is not suspended.

Also just noting here. In the original, the story revolves around the Conservative Party. I have no idea, why I thought for a second this was going to be transferred to the American version. I did not think it through. Members of the GOP in this version are like White Walkers, an unimaginable horror that stalks in the distance.

Spacey was okay, although the evil South Carolina accent ...

Honestly his management needs to direct him away from vanity projects.

Robin Wright on the other hand came across brilliantly as a hard and brittle woman. I hope it's acting on her part and not the result of Princess Buttercup being turned in Lady Macbeth because of her decades-long marriage to Spicoli. Still that kind of pain comes from somewhere."

Nudity recap for the series:

Episode 1: A brief one-second topless scene from Kristen Connolly as she is putting her shirt on.

Episode 5: Kate Mara shows some partial boob (no nipple) and a butt shot that may have been done by a double.

Episode 12: Hazel Honeysuckle, playing a stripper, flashes the goods.