House of Cards: Season 2

Season 4 is calling me, but I can’t start watching it until I am done with the 2^nd and 3^rd season. As I am writing this, I am almost done with the 3^rd season, so I am hoping that that review will come out quickly after this one, but I am also really pushing to start watching the 4^th season because that is why I am doing all of this.

Now if you haven’t seen Season 1, I’m not totally sure why you are reading this review. This is your warning because the only way to really give a review of the second season is to talk about events that happened in the first season. This is your SPOILER ALERT.  

When we last left Frank Underwood (played by Kevin Spacey) in Season 1, he caused the death of Peter Russo (played by Corey Stoll) and manipulated the Vice President to step down so he could come in and take his place. One of the last scenes of the 1^st season is the President (played by Michel Gil) offering Frank the position of Vice President. It of course seems like Frank is surprised to have been offered a position out of the blue, but this has been his plan all along and it had finally come to fruition. However, one of the last scenes is also Zoe Barnes (played by Kate Mara) and her other reporter friends, gathering evidence, and getting closer and closer to the truth of how Frank manipulated his way to the Vice Presidency, and possibly uncovering some illegal involvement with the death of Congressman Russo.

Season 2 centers on Frank as the Vice President of the United States. Now having not knowing too much about what could happen in this season, I wasn’t totally sure how this could really be as interesting as the first season. The Vice President is an important office in the executive branch but it definitely has its limitations. However, this only helps the progression of this story because it focuses Frank on the ultimate prize. And if you don’t know what that ultimate prize is, you obviously don’t know that much about Frank Underwood or House of Cards.

Along the way, Frank encounters some new characters that either help or block his path towards power, or they do both. Some of these characters are new, some of them are old. Some of the new ones include Raymond Tusk (played by Gerald McRaney) an influential business man and confidant of the President. There becomes a war of influence between Frank and Raymond and I’ll say, it gets really, really good. Then there’s Jacqueline Sharp (played by Molly Parker) who Frank picks as his successor as Whip in the Senate. Molly Parker quickly becomes one of my favorite characters and that continues on into the 3^rd season.

Then there are characters we knew from the first season who try and get in Frank’s way, like the reporter and friend of Zoe Barnes Lucas Goodwin (played by Sebastian Arcelus) who continues to dig into the evidence against Underwood with Zoe. Mahershala Ali returns as Remy Danton who is now working for Raymond Tusk and he plays an intricate role in this season.

Frank has his allies as well including his wife. Claire (played by Robin Wright) has a huge role in this season as she begins to act like the Second Lady and you can definitely tell she has her own ambitions and her own goals. She has a huge role in this season as her past comes to light and she enters the public eye more if not just as much as Frank.

Michael Kelly returns as Frank’s Chief of Staff, Doug Stamper. Doug’s role is made interesting in this season as Frank and Claire bring on a new communications director in Seth Grayon  (played by Derek Cecil) Competition begins to brew between the two of them and needless to say, it just gets good all around.

Doug is still dealing with some of the loose ends from the 1^st season and that includes the prostitute they used in the downfall of Peter Russo, Rachel Posner (played by Rachel Brosnahan). She returns and they delve into her life a little bit more. While I wouldn’t say she’s the most interesting character in the entire season, I was still interested in her story and the struggles she is going through. The relationship between her and Doug continues to evolve and I thought it was really well done.

The cool thing about season two is when the show starts to become politically relevant. The first season as focused heavily on the characters and their development. We needed to know who Frank Underwood was, we needed to know who the people around him were, especially those who carried onto the 2^nd season. There were political issues that came up for sure, but they were pretty low key and local issues. The focus of the first season was more on introductions and laying the groundwork for the future.

Season 2 starts to focus on policy because Frank’s scope has expanded. The show starts ripping political situations right from headlines and putting their own spin on it. Frank deals with the Tea Party and the immobilization of Congress, as well as government shutdowns.

Now there is still the conniving massing of power from the first season in the second and that’s why I think season 2 works a lot better than season 3. I’ll talk more about that in my review of the third season, but the important thing to know is that there is a great balance between power plays and dirty schemes between characters, and actual politics and policies going on in the country. Season 2 evolves the character of Frank Underwood because in the first season, everything he was doing seemed to be just for himself. In the second season, his priorities are still on his massing of power, but that rides in tandem with the needs of the country. So in many ways, Frank ends up being the good guy by accident, only because it’s the best thing for the country. It’s like the right thing is being done, but in the wrong way and by a person we know is just down right evil. It really makes you feel weird about who you are rooting for and who you are not.

But I think probably the strongest portion of the show is seeing the influence Frank has over the President. From the very beginning, you see a tug of war for the president between him and Raymond Tusk. The more the show goes on, you see Frank begin to get the other hand and the President sees him as a trusted companion and friend. And that’s where things get sad because you start to get to know the President better than we did in the first season and you know that all of this is just Frank’s power play. On top of that, you know how things usually end when Frank Underwood gets close to somebody, especially someone you learn to be a genuinely good person. Its different from Frank’s relationship with Peter Russo because you couldn’t really see the entire plan until you saw it in front of you, and at that point it was too late for Peter. The difference is, you could guess Frank’s goals in courting the President and you know that it probably isn’t going to end well for Garrett Walker.

As I mentioned, Claire becomes an intricate part in that manipulation, especially with her relationship with the First Lady.

There are just so many good parts about the second season that I can’t really decide which one I like more. I think I probably like the second season more because of the new additions like Molly Parker, and other characters, and the shared focus on a bigger policy picture that builds on the scheming and great political intrigue that was built on by the first season.

As far as complaints go, I will bring up the same issues someone might find in the first season. This is a very dry show. It’s a lot of dialogue, it’s a lot of drama, and very little real action. It’s more than likely that if you’re tired, this show might put you to sleep and you’ll have to rewind to catch up on all the drama that enfolded while you were lulled to sleep by Frank Underwood’s southern drawl.

On top of it all, this season is just as heavy, if not more than the first one. If you don’t like rooting for the conniving and just down right ruthless people, House of Cards might not be your thing. But I think if you’ve made it this far, you probably enjoy that kind of thing, you sicko.

But if you like the first season, you’re going to really love the second season. I don’t think they lose their stride at all and the ante is only raised in the second season. I of course will talk about that trajectory when it comes to the third season, but for now, I think the second season of House of Cards takes what was built in the first season and only improves it.

As you can see, I’m getting better at reviewing full seasons, but it’s a lot easier when the season seems more like a mini-series/mini movie rather than a full season of TV and it’s a little bit easier to digest. But what do you think about the second season of House of Cards. Do you think it was better or worse than the first season? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for movies and TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I’ll leave you with this. Here's a video that Kevin Spacey did for the Correspondent's dinner. Its a spoof, it might be a little high brow but its kind of funny when John McCain shows up. Enjoy!