A drama about a ruthless congressman and his equally ambitious wife who navigate the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. In season 3, Frank Underwood, newly inaugurated President of the United States, visits his father';s grave to maintain a public appearance only to urinate on it out of spite for his father. Doug Stamper, beaten up in the woods, is found by a stranger. He had sustained injuries to his frontal lobe requiring extensive surgery and care; he makes a slow and painful recovery.
Wright... remains one of the best parts of the series, while Underwood's bottomless appetite for dark dealing keeps Spacey so deliciously detestable you can't help but keep rooting for the bad guy to win.
It can easily be said that season three is a step up from the previous season, and it ends up being for a very basic reason: the intrigue has returned in force and is simply more engaging than what season two had to offer.
As I would never underestimate Frank's ability to change the course of events with a quick sleight of hand, I wouldn't count out the show's writers quite yet. I will definitely be streaming the entire season this weekend.
House of Cards benefits from hurried viewing. It keeps you from noticing how much of a political soap opera it really is, or questioning who to root for, since every major character is just different shades of self-obsessed and power-hungry.
This series dwindles into sleek, well-oiled, smoothly professional office drama, a beautiful example of ensemble playing with Robin Wright's Claire the equal of her husband. But not more than a couple of episodes at a time.
With the cupboard bare, Willimon does his best to inject some residual humanity into House of Cards in Season 3. But it's awfully hard to retroactively Frankenstein a human heart into what is essentially a monster show.
The season starts extremely slowly, but gets pretty good, starting in the third episode. It never reaches the dark, dramatic heights of previous seasons, but it's also a little more focused and intelligent than they were.