The failings of House of Cards

House of Cards is a political drama about a Congressman Frank Underwood who has a promised Secretary of State post taken away from him. The story charts how he follows through on his thwarted ambitions. A man of means, Underwood shows you all the dirt and is of course not afraid to get his hands dirty in the process.

House of cards starts off strongly. The first 5 episodes are enough to convince you that it is a must-watch series. There are sneaky machinations, string-pulling, corruption trails, revenge plots, and some political absurdities along the way.

But the excitement soon fizzles as you realize that it is the same thing happening all over again. Deceit and lies are served as the main course but the dishes become monotonous as you keep being served.

What I like about the series are the small pauses where the fourth wall breaks and the Underwood addresses us with what he really thinks; sometimes it becomes a welcome break from all the lies he spews and churns.

House of Cards falls bit by bit as the ambitions of Francis Underwood (played by the gracefully ageing Kevin Spacey) rise. The series fails to capture the characters and their development; Underwood’s wife Claire becomes small in comparison to her husband’s goals and aims and she often becomes a casualty of her husband’s plans. The growth of other characters is also uneven.

The series, a strong Emmy contender, is a good series, no doubt. But I have to agree with Alan Sepinwall, who says that the show might have been “a mid-tier drama for HBO or Showtime.” I started to lose interest mid-way and it is only Kevin Spacey who has manages to deliver a strong performance through out the 13 episodes.