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clamiam45 posted:Frank is finally undone when he learns that there is one constituency who will never love him: bitter TVIV posters who think they can write more compelling stories than Netflix. Finally we find a purpose and a niche. TVIV: Goony, for a greater good.
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Feb 27, 2014 00:17
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Mainwaring posted:For a guy in his mid 50s I'd say 1:39 is actually pretty darn good. (Don't know if they've stated Franks age but Spacey is 54 so I'm assuming it would be similar) It's pretty good for someone who doesn't really work out. But if you're running 3x a week or something I don't know if Frank is doing that but it seemed like he was supposed to be working out regularly) you should be getting it down to 1:30 ish without much issue I think. I was wondering if they pulled a number out of a hat or if it was specifically trying to say something about his character.
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Feb 27, 2014 00:29
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Friendly Factory posted:I think GRRM would write a better version than Netflix. ...No.
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Feb 27, 2014 00:31
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Friendly Factory posted:I think GRRM would write a better version than Netflix. Do I still count? Just imagine Fronk monologuing about Zoe's nipples being GRRM posted:pink and hard and when he sucked on it her milk filled his mouth, mingling with the taste of rum, and he had never tasted anything so fine and sweet and good.
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Feb 27, 2014 02:09
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I'd rather have sexual perversion than what we got
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Feb 27, 2014 03:15
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Doltos posted:So that's the thing. It's not that Zoe was murdered, that's fine, it's that it was probably the moment that House of Cards turned away from a realistic drama. It was just a poorly done series of events that could have been a little bit more convincing. Like, if Zoe wandered down into the station and a hired goon just jumped out and shoved her in before running away, and the news outlets reported it as a crazy person killed this poor girl, then I'd believe that. I don't understand why people were expecting The Wire. This is an exploitive pulp drama about this guy dismantling political enemies; it isn't actually about realistic congressional proceedings or any conceivable reality of a corrupt politician's life. Frank had face-to-face backchannel dealings with a Chinese billionaire in the middle of the woods, and later he and his wife had a threeway with one of their Secret Service detail. I'll grant that the first season was more grounded, but it was still all about huge characters and dramatic bravado over any level of realism. Frank doesn't hire people to do shady things* because then he isn't in the scene doing those shady things. Hiring a guy to murder Zoe is probably more realistic, but also less narratively efficient and less emotionally impactful. He did it himself because the show wants us to see him literally kill her himself. Anything more diffuse (hiring a hitman, having a separate scene where Zoe is killed, etc.) would muddle both the surprise and the emotion behind the decision. (*except Stamper, or Russo, but Frank hiring them for a shady task is mostly about their character arcs. Frank needing them to do immoral things is the excuse...the real reason we're seeing it is because of the dramatic potential that comes from Pete or Doug doing it.)
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Feb 27, 2014 04:01
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I think next season, Frank will eventually get the hacker guy, Rachel, and the journalist guy under his thumb. Use his power plays to make the USA the actual greatest best free-est nation God has ever given us on the face of the earth. Then during his re-election his birth certificate will surface, and people will realize he is actually Fronk Underwood and not their lawful president, Frank Underwood, who unfortunately cannot be located. US descends into anarchy.
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Feb 27, 2014 05:58
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That scene where Frank compels the Senator's attendance by threat of arrest.. has that ever happened in modern times?
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Feb 27, 2014 07:00
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I think the FU character murdering the reporter was a lot more feasible in the original series. Modern cities weren't surrounded by 24/7 video camera surveillance and everyone around you didn't have a smartphone with a video camera, able to upload video to the web right from the scene. Having said that, the setting where this happened in the BBC show was, if I recall, a little more private (top of a building) with lower likelihood of any reliable eyewitnesses compared to a DC Metro station.
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Feb 27, 2014 07:16
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Zwabu posted:I think the FU character murdering the reporter was a lot more feasible in the original series. Modern cities weren't surrounded by 24/7 video camera surveillance and everyone around you didn't have a smartphone with a video camera, able to upload video to the web right from the scene. Having said that, the setting where this happened in the BBC show was, if I recall, a little more private (top of a building) with lower likelihood of any reliable eyewitnesses compared to a DC Metro station. I don't even trust outside anymore; you just know some fucker from a university will be taking a picapixel satellite photograph with you in it mid-push and some bastard at 4chan will identify you and the crime and tip off the police. 
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Feb 27, 2014 07:30
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Metropolis posted:I think next season, Frank will eventually get the hacker guy, Rachel, and the journalist guy under his thumb. Use his power plays to make the USA the actual greatest best free-est nation God has ever given us on the face of the earth. Then during his re-election his birth certificate will surface, and people will realize he is actually Fronk Underwood and not their lawful president, Frank Underwood, who unfortunately cannot be located. US descends into anarchy. No alien invasion? I'm pretty sure local galactic governance is the next step up.
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Feb 27, 2014 07:34
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I thought Zoe's death was ruled as accidental, not a suicide.
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Feb 27, 2014 08:11
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an adult beverage posted:That scene where Frank compels the Senator's attendance by threat of arrest.. has that ever happened in modern times? It's called a call of the House (or Senate), and it looks like it was used in 88. One senator tried to escape and had to be carried into the chamber like on the show.
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Feb 27, 2014 08:48
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fuckpot posted:I thought Zoe's death was ruled as accidental, not a suicide. The "cop" said it was either an accident or a suicide
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Feb 27, 2014 09:24
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Xealot posted:I don't understand why people were expecting The Wire. This is an exploitive pulp drama about this guy dismantling political enemies; it isn't actually about realistic congressional proceedings or any conceivable reality of a corrupt politician's life. Frank had face-to-face backchannel dealings with a Chinese billionaire in the middle of the woods, and later he and his wife had a threeway with one of their Secret Service detail. I'll grant that the first season was more grounded, but it was still all about huge characters and dramatic bravado over any level of realism. Because the first season made the show come across as a realistic drama and Zoe's death in the first episode of season 2 made the series take a u-turn.
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Feb 27, 2014 15:53
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I am sorry but the show jumped the 'realistic drama' shark when Frank killed Russo in season 1. The whole scheme to become VP was just as bad as the scheme in this season. Xealot posted:I don't understand why people were expecting The Wire. This is an exploitative pulp drama about this guy dismantling political enemies; it isn't actually about realistic congressional proceedings or any conceivable reality of a corrupt politician's life. Because both House of Cards and Netflix has shoved it down everyone's throats that they are going after HBO with a drama that can compete with their best. You are correct that the show is pretty much pulp, but I don't even think it is the best show Netflix has done. Also Kevin Spacey and the writers have turned Frank into a cartoon villain that outside of one episode (in season 1, when he went back to school) has shown zero depth or range (I blame his hair plugs). I do like House of Cards, but I am sick of everyone acting like it is great TV. It reminds me of people who swear Sons of Anarchy is good TV. House of Cards, while better acted, is the SoA of DC.
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Feb 27, 2014 20:39
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nate fisher posted:Also Kevin Spacey and the writers have turned Frank into a cartoon villain that outside of one episode (in season 1, when he went back to school) has shown zero depth or range (I blame his hair plugs). This sums up why I thought S2 was a step back. It is absurd to compare this show to anything on HBO, especially one of the best dramas of all time. Frank never grows as a character or seems to be emotionally affected by any of the horrible things he does on a daily basis including killing a woman in cold blood.
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Feb 27, 2014 20:50
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thathonkey posted:This sums up why I thought S2 was a step back. It is absurd to compare this show to anything on HBO, especially one of the best dramas of all time. HBO does air True Blood. And Game of Thrones....which, you know, is great and I love it, but it has far more extraneous sex and exploitive violence than House of Cards will ever have. House of Cards is actually pretty on par with their current lineup. And is far better than True Blood, to the extent you can even compare the two. It *is* good TV, though. Just because it's pulpy doesn't mean it's bad. What it fails to achieve in realism, it makes up for in interesting performances. I honestly don't care if it's as good as The WIre. It's compelling in a totally different way.
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Feb 27, 2014 21:34
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thathonkey posted:This sums up why I thought S2 was a step back. It is absurd to compare this show to anything on HBO, especially one of the best dramas of all time. Because he's a sociopath? I agree the show is pulp, but it's fun. I feel like, for me, it's on par with a lot of cable fare like many seasons of True Blood or Dexter. Comparable to the very best of HBO? Nope. That's fine in my opinion.
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Feb 27, 2014 21:41
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Pinky Artichoke posted:Because he's a sociopath? I can live with that. To be fair I hope you mean Dexter and True Blood in their prime (House of Cards is not end of Dexter bad). Also the problem with the sociopath part is that he has no one to play off of. You know what balances Hannibal as a character on Hannibal? Will Graham. Frank needs a Will Graham. Plus Mads Mikkelsen has shown more range in playing a cannibal than Kevin Spacey has shown playing Frank.
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Feb 27, 2014 21:59
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nate fisher posted:I can live with that. To be fair I hope you mean Dexter and True Blood in their prime (House of Cards is not end of Dexter bad). I gave up on Dexter a couple of years ago, so yes.
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Feb 27, 2014 22:40
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bamhand posted:Ends with Putin and Underwood in a bare knuckled fight to the death. I wonder who would win. Either way I would watch the gently caress out of that. I know this is from a few pages back but I'd love to see Frank breaking the fourth wall detailing his genius scheme to win immediately before eating a nasty Putin haymaker.
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Feb 27, 2014 22:52
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Putin would lace Frank's cigarettes with Ricin and he'd drop dead of "the flu."
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Feb 27, 2014 23:01
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Watched the season. The Underwoods are just so wonderfully creepy, like some alien gods disguised as humans.
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Feb 28, 2014 00:44
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I thought Zoe's death was a shocking and exciting scene, and it doesn't bother me, but like others have said, the security footage scene was really dumb and could have been handled way better. I genuinely think the creative team isn't sure of what kind of show it is. I haven't seen much of the BBC series, but from what I did watch, the show is a lot more overtly tongue-in-cheek and a political satire. This show swings from goofiness to dour seriousness a lot, in a way that I don't think is comparable to many other shows. While I really enjoy this show and wouldn't rate it as negatively as they do, that AV Club reviewer is right: everything that happens in this show just exists for the sole purpose of keeping you binging through and subscribing to Netflix. There are many other series about antiheroes, but they all had some sort of moral centre or could be considered character studies; Frank is still a very opaque character. The pleasure of the show is simply seeing him be "cool" and crush his enemies, but this is complicated by the fact that there are characters with competing interests to Frank who we might root for at times. It's a very confusing show in terms of who we're meant to identify with. If anything I think Season 3 will be what defines what the hell this series actually is, certainly if they're planning for it to continue. The first two Seasons both have very clear purposes, at least in terms of the overall story arc - watch Frank rise up the ranks. Now he's basically hit his peak in terms of office, and I'm excited as to what they'll do with the show next. BOAT SHOWBOAT fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Feb 28, 2014 |
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Feb 28, 2014 01:08
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Caufman posted:It's called a call of the House (or Senate), and it looks like it was used in 88. One senator tried to escape and had to be carried into the chamber like on the show. Harry Reid used the first of the "Motion to Instruct the Sergeant at Arms..." motions I want to say in 2007 or 2008. This is the main reason D&D goes nuts when there's a live quorum call.
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Mar 1, 2014 01:11
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BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:While I really enjoy this show and wouldn't rate it as negatively as they do, that AV Club reviewer is right: everything that happens in this show just exists for the sole purpose of keeping you binging through and subscribing to Netflix. There are many other series about antiheroes, but they all had some sort of moral centre or could be considered character studies; Frank is still a very opaque character. The pleasure of the show is simply seeing him be "cool" and crush his enemies, but this is complicated by the fact that there are characters with competing interests to Frank who we might root for at times. It's a very confusing show in terms of who we're meant to identify with.
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Mar 1, 2014 01:24
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Nearing the end of the first season and although I like the show the Peter Russo character is badly written. They made him so stupid and incompetent and impulsive that it makes no sense that he's a congressman, a man like him would never have been able to make it that far. If there were a few scenes for contrast where they show him to be capable when he's not drinking it'd be okay but there aren't any, he's literally always loving up.
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Mar 1, 2014 05:25
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Torka posted:They made him so stupid and incompetent and impulsive that it makes no sense that he's a congressman, a man like him would never have been able to make it that far. .....you are kidding, right?
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Mar 1, 2014 05:42
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Torka posted:Nearing the end of the first season and although I like the show the Peter Russo character is badly written. They made him so stupid and incompetent and impulsive that it makes no sense that he's a congressman, a man like him would never have been able to make it that far. I take it you don't keep up with American politics.
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Mar 1, 2014 05:46
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Admittedly as a kiwi I'm not super familiar with your internal politics, but c'mon, it's really believable that a guy as useless as that character got elected to national office?
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Mar 1, 2014 05:53
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Gohmert and Bachmann should prove that intellect is not at all necessary in becoming a member of Congress, as long as you can get some money.
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Mar 1, 2014 05:58
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Torka posted:Admittedly as a kiwi I'm not super familiar with your internal politics, but c'mon, it's really believable that a guy as useless as that character got elected to national office? All it takes to get elected to office is a shitton of money and the ability to be someone's puppet. Russo is a great example of a normal Congressman. To be fair, HoC is a great example of what Congress does, with all its petty infighting for purposes of hubris and a desire for intrigue in their little bubble removed from the people who vote them in, coming out to the real world only when the potential for votes is higher than the money they can beg for. Drifter fucked around with this message at 06:21 on Mar 1, 2014 |
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Mar 1, 2014 06:18
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Torka posted:Admittedly as a kiwi I'm not super familiar with your internal politics, but c'mon, it's really believable that a guy as useless as that character got elected to national office? There are 435 voting members of the House of Representatives. And they are not equally laid out. Representative places are handed out [From the current total of 435] based on population. To give an idea: California has 53, Alaska has 1. The way it works is that each state has various districts that cover various geographic regions within the state, and the higher the population the more districts they get. That's a very vague outline but it gives you the working idea. Take the state, break it down into smaller areas, each area gets to elect it's own Representative. Russo is a Representative from a state that has 19 seats. Now sure, you can maybe get a real fight in any given state for a handful of those. You also have two Senate seats, and you have the Governor, and you have local mayors, and on and on. There are a massive amount of political seats for any given state, and there are not a massive amount of highly competent individuals for any given position. Positions still need to be filled though, so that leaves us with people that range from "politically connected" to "good enough" to "I hate the other guy" to "Cares about my one pet issue" to "Nobody cares enough to run against" getting seats. Beyond a certain population level you start having to work really, really Goddamn hard to find competent people to take seats. Note: Not exceptional. Competent. Russo is absolutely a believable Representative.
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Mar 1, 2014 06:29
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Torka posted:Admittedly as a kiwi I'm not super familiar with your internal politics, but c'mon, it's really believable that a guy as useless as that character got elected to national office? I wish that was how American politics worked. 
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Mar 1, 2014 06:34
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I stand corrected. 
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Mar 1, 2014 07:05
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Torka posted:Admittedly as a kiwi I'm not super familiar with your internal politics, but c'mon, it's really believable that a guy as useless as that character got elected to national office? Hahaha oh man. Best post in a while.
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Mar 1, 2014 07:07
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I do think comparing Russo to someone like Bachman is a bit unfair. Bachman is a lunatic with flawed ideas, but she appeals to other lunatics with flawed ideas and that's just a necessary evil of a democratic republic. Despite it all, Bachman does a good job at staying respectful and viable for crazy lunatics. Russo is probably more comparable to someone like Anthony Weiner who was always going to blow up in a rather apolitical fashion. The fact is being a sex and drug fiend is a lot less palatable than being a bigoted maniac. Weiner made a straight line from his district to Gracie Mansion to the White House and that was always a dumb plan because he was always going to gently caress it up at some point. I guess what I'm saying is that when there is an aspect of your life that makes you out of control, you can get some place in politics, but unless you gain control of those demons, you're going down at some point. For me, the unbelievable part of Russo was Frank convincing anyone that he should be governor. I think a lot of time, the show undermines the intelligence, cunning, or power of other characters to make Frank seem more clever. A good example is the whole teacher strike plot in season 1. In the real world, the UFT alone would have laughed in Frank's face and crucified him for pulling that poo poo. But for Frank and the cynical nature of the show to function, teachers unions have to be incompetent.
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Mar 1, 2014 19:01
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This show is written by republicans to give democrat voters a false sense of security/illusion of power. Further ruining the power of unions, trying to bring back into the limelight old marriage infidelity issues (hey, Bill! we don't want a woman prez if she'll let herself be CHEATED on, by god!), and...and...andand subtly reinforcing the idea that even though democrats are powerful and im majoritus in Congress, they're devious and only have their own interests at heart. All the repubs have wanted things done for their constituencies  .
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Mar 1, 2014 20:46
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Drifter posted:This show is written by republicans to give democrat voters a false sense of security/illusion of power. To be fair, you couldn't make a character like Frank a Republican without serious outcry on the part of the manufactured-outrage-based entertainment segment of the media. Instead we're in an alternate reality where apparently pre-Reagan Southern Democrats are still a thing.
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Mar 1, 2014 20:51
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