House of Cards Season 4

Here's the truth about me watching House of Cards. I like it, but only in small very concentrated doses. I don't know if I'm watching the show tactically to savor some of the episodes before it's ultimate ending which I'm sure is happening sooner or later, but I can only watch the show for so long before I just stop. Perfect example of this, I watched this season a couple months ago and am just now getting to the review. Luckily I had notes but I may also add in some commentary on this season and whether or not it lingered in my mind as a season months later.

Little disclaimer: If you haven't seen Season 4 of House of Cards, there are going to be spoilers in this review.

Last year when the 4th season came out on Netflix, everyone was praising it and telling me that I had to watch it, especially since I am also a political junkie and would definitely see the crossovers from the election in the season. So if you recall from last year, I did a massive overhaul watch of all three

seasons prior to this one. The main goal was to get to the 4th season as quickly as I could and get
through the two seasons I had not watched yet. In the first season, I recounted how the show was pretty dry with some great performances. The main theme was that this was a very dark world you are entering and if you're looking for the good guy, you're gonna be looking for a while. While the first season laid the ground work for Frank's rise to power, the second season was finally seeing that plan in motion and the real blend of his schemes along with the actionable policies that no longer just affect other Congressmen, but instead affect the whole world. And in the second season, you see Frank reach his goal and how he actually utilizes that power. The third season also hit the reset button in a way because where the first season laid the groundwork for Frank's rise to power, culminating in him becoming President at the end of the 2nd season, after watching the 4th season, I realize that that season laid the groundwork for Frank's goal of maintaining that power, something that begins in Season 4.

Something to remember from Season 3 is that Frank is not a very popular President due to the fact that he was never formally elected. The latter part of that season was the primary election between Frank and other Democratic nominees working to unseat him. Now by the time that this season is up and rolling, that Democratic primary goes away pretty quickly in the midst of an assassination plot and a conspiracy that the administration shakes up.

And while we're on the topic of the assassination attempt, that blew my mind. I like Sebastian Arcelus, he's been in a lot of shows I've come to enjoy like Madam Secretary. I've also always liked the character of Lucas Goodwin. And Lucas is a perfect example of someone who has gone through the ringer that is Frank Underwood and lashes out when he's on his last straw, ending in the assassination attempt on Frank's life.

This attempt gives way to a lot of storylines and strengthening of a lot of characters, especially Claire. It sets the stage for a partnership that fuels the entire season. But I'll be honest, the first half of this season suffers a little bit because for a good portion the two are at odds and in the other portion Frank is hallucinating for at least two episodes straight.

Look how interesting this is...

I don't mean to say that the stuff with Claire is boring or that she is not a good character, but I just felt like she's not as strong when she's the only one being manipulative.

Claire is a complicated character and while she's just as ruthless, if not more than Frank at times, the show has been and seems like it will always be stronger with Frank in it. That's not to say the two of them together aren't a strong and compelling force, but I definitely enjoyed the show more when they were working together to when Claire was working alone.

But that really underlines the main draw of this season. It sets up the fact that while Frank has done a lot of work in the past three seasons, he can't win this battle without the help of Claire and their relationship becomes the main appeal of the entire season.

At the beginning of the season, these two are at odds. Frank is literally having dreams of killing Claire. But then the rest of the season is them repairing that relationship and coming back together to be this insanely powerful dynamic duo. In fact at the end of the season when Frank is doing his 4th wall thing, Claire actually breaks it with him meaning there will be a new co-mastermind with Frank through this twisted adventure. It was a powerful scene.

There are a lot of powerful scenes with these two and it all plays into the political intrigue of the series and the phenomenal acting from Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Once again, these two continue to just knock it straight out of the park and as always, it gets pretty dark.

But even though Robin Wright takes on a larger role in this season on top of the large role she already had, Kevin Spacey continues to be a huge tour de force in this show as more layers of Frank Underwood are pulled back and we get to know more and more about him.

In order to set up that partnership and the realization that Frank cannot do this without Claire's help, we are exposed to a lot of really genuine moment about him as a character. Frank Underwood is arguably the most corrupt and murderous character in the modern age of television but in this season we see him at his most vulnerable. Not only do we see him hallucinating about the people he has killed, we also see him facing a battle he doesn't totally know how to beat with adversaries that give him the most run for his money. But we also see more real world crises that he is willing to manipulate and put lives at risk in order to maintain his power. This man is a serial murderer and he does it with a suit and tie and Kevin Spacey does it masterfully.

Of course the season has all the regulars like Doug Stamper and Seth Grayson and they have their own drama that is good but I'm gonna be honest kind of blends together at a certain point. The other entertaining thing about this season is the strengthening of characters like Catherine Durant as some of the loyalties to Frank are challenged and create bigger problems for him.

While I can criticize the first half of this season for being a little bit boring, the second half makes up for a lot of it when the Conways are introduced.

Oh boy are these guys entertaining!

Joel Kinnamen plays Will Conway, the nominee for the Republican party that is going to be the main contender against Frank's run for the White House. They set him up masterfully because in many ways he is very similar to Frank but he also represents everything that Frank isn't. He's got a wife who seems to love him, he's got kids, he's a Republican. But more over his family is incredibly active on social media, trying to be as transparent and authentic with their lives almost to the point where it becomes just as fake as the Underwoods trying to hide as much as they can but providing a facade to cover it. While I wasn't totally sold from the beginning to see Rick Flag on this show because I haven't seen him really prove himself as an actor, he nailed this role. The main reason I want to watch the fifth season is because of the Conways. Like I said, Conway and his family bring a whole different edge to the season that it feels like the two halves are two different seasons. You'd think that Frank getting shot would be the most dramatic thing that happens in this season but that is just not the case.

There are a couple of new characters added to the show like Neve Campbell who brought some good stuff to the show, but something that I really liked about this season was all the callbacks it had. There are a lot of characters that had been gone for a season or so that were brought back for one reason or another. The former President that started this whole thing comes back for an episode, Raymond Tusk comes back for a little bit, as does Remy Danton. And who doesn't love Mahershala Ali in anything?

But the part I really liked was how some of the forgotten characters and feuds from as far as the first season come back to haunt Frank. Remember that guy who was looking to ruin Frank with the peach water tower in his hometown? Yeah he shows up and wreaks havoc for a little bit.

Remember Tom Hammerschmidt? No? He's the former boss of Zoe Barnes from the paper who she got fired? He foreseeably has a huge roll in the next season and man is it exciting.

Hammerschmidt is an example of how House of Cards remains relevant in our political world because he represents the press and a tremulous relationship they've developed with government in the past few years. I don't think House of Cards did this on purpose because it came out before Trump became President, but you can see the show foreshadowing certain elements of that relationship and the tactics each side uses to get the upper hand over the other. House of Cards has always been a show about struggles for power and that's exactly what is being set up with Hammerschmidt and his investigation into Frank Underwood.

And Hammerschmidt and his part in all of this highlights one of the problems with House of Cards. The truth is, the show is a lot more interesting when it seems like Frank is climbing the ladder, trying to win.

Season 3 of this show is arguably the worst season because it showed too much of Frank actually governing. As much of a political junkie I am, I even found some of that element of the show pretty boring and I get the feeling that's what other people thought.

It exemplifies people's outlook towards politics. We like our elections but governing is boring and frustrating. We like our power struggles but compromise and working together is not intriguing enough.

This is not necessarily a criticism of the show. The show is made for entertainment, not to show the everyday ongoings of government. But it does kind of forecast how the writers need to avoid a slump like the third season in the future.

And yes I know the fifth season has been out for a while but I'm very far behind and I can still do my predictions dammit. I'll get to the fifth season eventually.

The first essential item is to create a formidable class between Conway and Underwood, and not just one that lasts half a season. Not only do we have to see Conway as a legitimate threat to Frank, but we need to see him break down and get closer and closer to Frank's level. If we know anything from the last scene of the series where a man is being beheaded right in front of Frank, he is willing to go all out in this battle. I want to see that from Conway.

But the second part is probably the more interesting and kind of depressing element about this show and how it's eerily forecasted the Trump Presidency before he even came into office.

And again it all comes back to Hammerschmidt.

Regardless of whether or not he is a more powerful recurring character, Hammerschmidt represents the reason why people are still focusing on politics a full year after the last election. Usually people only tune in around election time and then lose interest. The only other time that people really get interested in politics is when it personally affects them or if there is scandal. And season 5 is looking to be the season with the most reporting of scandal yet.

Underwood's entire rise to power has been gorged in scandal but Hammerschmidt represents all the allegations coming to their tipping point. Season 5 seems to be the point where the House of Cards is most at risk of being toppled. And it's creepy how foreshadowing Frank's reaction to it is. I don't know if they added it to the fifth season, but he follows the same tactics as Trump and it gets a little too close to home.

I hate getting too political and if you are offended by any of this, I apologize, but the show does start to pull back the layers of politics today and it might be the reason I watch this show in spurts. If I watched it as consistently as some people do, I would have an even worse outlook on politics and our governing bodies than I already do and I just don't want that. I suppose it goes without saying this show does need to be taken with a grain of salt and recognize that it is being made for entertainment purposes, but it does give a really depressing look at our world. The truth is I see that enough in the real world, it's not always helpful to see it in a fictional one.

My overall thoughts on Season 4 of House of Cards is that it is very good. It is a drastic improvement over the 2nd and 3rd season. While those seasons were well written and have some good acting, Season 4 was close to being as memorable as the first season. Now I will say the first season is still the best because it was able to create great drama and character intrigue while keeping the stakes generally low and personal. Overall, the main complaints I have about the 4th season is the first half and the complete bleakness of the show. While it's good in small doses, personally I can't watch a show this dark in more than small doses. That might be a personal preference but I can truly say, House of Cards is a really great piece of art. While it is dry and sometimes puts me to sleep, it continues to be an example of great writing and entertaining television.

But those are my thoughts on House of Cards Season 4. What did you think? Without spoilers should I be rushing to watch Season 5? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films 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. This video shows two things. The first thing is the continuous way that House of Cards remains relevant to the headlines of today, and how their marketing campaigns are just spectacular. Enjoy!