Season 1-3 spoilers on page 1, Season 4 spoilers on page 2
Gripping. Enthralling. Intense. All are words that have been staples of summarising House of Cards to people over the years and trying to properly convey, without spoilers, the feeling the show gives its audience. While last season took a break, for the worse, from this tried and tested relationship with the viewer, season 4 picks up the pace yet again and delivers 13 episodes of television excellence that leaves you wanting more.
For those who didn’t watch Season 3, and I wouldn’t blame you for it, Season 4 kicks off with a considerable divide between the indomitable Underwood duo. President Frank is in a tough spot in his re-election campaign and his marriage to Claire is on the rocks as she tries to make her own play for power but is thwarted. That’s the way it starts, but things move fast in House of Cards and by the end of the season the dynamic is considerably different between them.
House of Cards used to be one of these slow-burning shows, with the first half of the season setting the scene for the drama of the latter half – but this season turns things around. Each of the first five episodes or so features some major development that leaves you shocked, and it’s that unpredictability that makes it so interesting to watch.
What Season 4 does really well too is that it weaves complicated little backstories together in a way that hadn’t been done yet. There are so many loose ends in the story of Frank’s rise to the top, and most of which have not been cleaned up, and the way in which the show brings them back in to the fray to create even more tension is impressive. For those of us who have watched through the whole thing it really feels rewarding seeing cameos from older cameos and seeing how they could well be part of the inevitable Underwood downfall.
Again, the actors in the show give incredible performances that define the particular menace and evil that lies beneath almost everyone in the show. Kevin Spacey is once again masterful as Frank, with the old calm and confident villainy back to what it was in the first two seasons but all the while tinged with the slight emotion he began to show last year. Robin Wright too is fantastic, taking on a larger role in the show and managing to match Spacey blow-for-blow in the acting stakes as their two characters plot together and apart. The litany of side characters too all manage to add some life to the proceedings too, with notable returns of old cast members that get the extra screen time they’ve always deserved.
House of Cards’ cinematography is perhaps the thing that has always set it apart, with the dark feel behind everything ratcheting up the tension and mirroring the evil within the characters. Once again it is one of the best directed shows around, with every scene managing to ooze with a unique sense of darkness that keeps you in suspense. The unease you feel, or the shock you feel, at times is almost unbearable and while House of Cards is not a show you could say was an “easy watch” it’s certainly one you’ll want to binge through. I managed it in just about three days.
While I predicted last year that season 4 could be the last, with the House of Cards comprising 52 chapters (one for each card in a deck), the show has indeed been renewed for another season. Crucially though, it will not be produced or written by series creator Beau Willimon – which will certainly have a huge impact on the show. How much influence he had on the direction of the plot is unsure, but it certainly creates a little doubt as to what the fifth (and potentially final) season of House of Cards will try to do.
House of Cards is back to its best as one of the must-watch shows on Netflix. Every bit of it makes you want to watch more and thankfully there’ll be another season to show the next act of Frank Underwood’s ambitious plans.
Read on to page 2 for more story discussion… (with spoilers)
Season 4 of House of Cards really was a tale of two halves, with the first being dominated by Frank and Claire working against each other and using their particular talents for manipulation against each other – then the reconciliation in the second half putting them on a collision course with their rivals.
Frank being shot in Season 4 was one of those incredible TV moments that the show does well. With the high drama of the situation at hand, there were also two other key story points woven in – with Lucas Goodwin, who always knew the truth about Frank killing Zoe Barnes, being the shooter and Edward Meechum, Frank’s beloved bodyguard, being killed defending the President he so proudly served.
House of Cards is a clever show and it did that best this year when all of the little side-plots came together under the umbrella of investigating Frank’s rise to the top. Former Washington Herald editor Tom Hammerschmidt, who was in charge of both Lucas and Zoe, starts investigating the claims made by Lucas in his suicide note and begins to get the evidence of the political dealings of Underwood. This involves visits from a whole host of former key players, such as Jackie Sharpe, Remy Danton, former President Garrett Walker and Freddy Hayes. These make it all the more interesting, as between them they have all been party to the inner workings of Underwood’s evil – and between them they could put together a story that could end his Presidency.
The stand-out moments in many senses were the scenes where Frank’s conscience starts to play into his actions, with the finest example being where he tells all to Cathy Durant before taking it back. That scene was electrifying and showed his menace in a way that we hadn’t for years. The finale, too, showed Frank at his evil best with the scheming taking on a new dimension of war.
The biggest shock of the season, though, was saved for last when it was revealed that Claire too is “in” on the idea that we are watching them. Frank’s actions have always been done with the knowledge that he is aware of being watched but simply doesn’t care, and his asides to the camera where the breaks the fourth wall explaining himself are often the most interesting parts of the episodes. Now knowing that Claire knows this too, but has chosen not to interact with the viewer, changes things a lot. Now she’s just as much a protagonist as Frank and her evil is brought to the fore more strongly too.
Season 4 was high in drama and only makes it harder to wait for the next batch of episodes to arrive, presumably next year. House of Cards is back to its’ place as the crown jewel of Netflix’s original shows. We never should have doubted that Frank Underwood could get back to the top anyways.