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WYA posted:Are we supposed to believe that Frank killed Zoe? Yes, because he pushed her into the train tracks right when a train was passing by.
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Mar 4, 2014 03:08
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Nah, man. He just wanted to pressure her get on the train, he just pushed a little too hard and a little too soon. Whoops!
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Mar 4, 2014 03:11
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Lycus posted:We actually saw Frank kill Zoe. Who are you gonna believe, the President of the United States or your own lyin' eyes?
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Mar 4, 2014 03:19
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Lycus posted:We actually saw Frank kill Zoe. Uhhh, did I miss something? What episode was that in
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Mar 4, 2014 03:20
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WYA posted:Uhhh, did I miss something? What episode was that in Is this another case of someone accidentally skipping it and watching the second episode instead? That happened earlier in the thread.
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Mar 4, 2014 03:21
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Lycus posted:The season premiere. House of Cards's just loving with e'erybody. drat, son.
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Mar 4, 2014 03:27
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Rageaholic Monkey posted:
And then the final scene the opera music playing as he takes in the Oval Office.  EDIT: I do find it odd we haven't been given any clues as to what Franks actual political goals are besides vengeance on other politicians. Surely he has something to accomplish?
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Mar 4, 2014 03:36
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WYA posted:Are we supposed to believe that Frank killed Zoe? Nah, man. That's just what the liberal media wants you to believe. 
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Mar 4, 2014 05:21
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Sylink posted:EDIT: I do find it odd we haven't been given any clues as to what Franks actual political goals are besides vengeance on other politicians. Surely he has something to accomplish? To acquire and grow his own power and influence and use them to cement his legacy. President Francis J. Underwood posted:He chose money over power - in this town, a mistake nearly everyone makes. Money is the McMansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after 10 years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries.
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Mar 4, 2014 05:31
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WYA posted:Are we supposed to believe that Frank killed Zoe? Brilliant, brilliant troll.
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Mar 4, 2014 07:30
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I just finished all of the UK House of Cards poo poo. Well. That's one way to cap it all off. It's a shame that the story is largely a story about Urquhart succeeding when he deserves to fail, and largely a tale of evil winning in the face of good, but I think it brings a satisfying, is almost beleagured end to the legacy of F.U. Killing him with an assassination was a nice touch, although it was made more satisfying by his final days being ones hounded by guilt and delusion. In the end, he went without much more grace or dignity than any of the wretches he'd sent to the block before him, and dies still believing his power absolute, and his strength unquestioned. His wife plays more like Mephistopholes in this version, compared to the Queen of Sheba demeanor of Underwood's Claire, egging him on and driving him to consquently drat himself again and again, and ultimately consuming his life in order to sustain her own, smiling at him as he dies, confused, not even realizing he'd been played at long last. BottledBodhisvata fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Mar 4, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2014 10:56
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Can all UK House of Cards discussion be spoilered? I totally understand why people want to discuss it in this thread, and I think they should be able to, but given that a lot of people haven't seen it and elements of it might be used in the US version, it really should be tagged.
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Mar 4, 2014 11:52
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BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:Can all UK House of Cards discussion be spoilered? I totally understand why people want to discuss it in this thread, and I think they should be able to, but given that a lot of people haven't seen it and elements of it might be used in the US version, it really should be tagged. I was going to start watching it tonight until I saw the post above yours :/
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Mar 4, 2014 16:08
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BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:Can all UK House of Cards discussion be spoilered? I totally understand why people want to discuss it in this thread, and I think they should be able to, but given that a lot of people haven't seen it and elements of it might be used in the US version, it really should be tagged. Yes, I think it should be, especially if they're using the same plot beats. The "no spoilers" rule is because of all the episodes appearing at once on Netflix.
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Mar 4, 2014 16:16
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BottledBodhisvata posted:I just finished all of the UK House of Cards poo poo. I don't know if I'd be satisfied with Frank getting assassinated. I'd much rather have him scramble, digging himself deeper and deeper as everything unravels around him, and then he gets arrested and impeached. Although he'd probably take his own life by that point. He's all about power, and his comeuppance should be a complete loss of every single shred of power he's worked so hard for, and he's completely aware of it happening.
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Mar 4, 2014 16:52
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I just power-watched both seasons starting on Friday and finished up last night and I thought it's been great so far and I can't wait to see where it leads now that Underwood's at the top of the food chain--where does he go from here? I think the show's gotta wrap up in 4 seasons, as that'll be the end of his presidential term and as an added touch of finesse which I'm sure was entirely intentional, there are 4 suits in a deck of cards and each of the seasons has had 13 episodes--ace through king. I think the next season will be a combination of Underwood tying up loose ends and a build-up to something that he'll plan on doing his final year in office that will be so catastrophic to [international relations/the republicans/I have no idea] that it'd be impossible for him to seek reelection in 2016. There's also the added fact that Rachel, Tom, and Lucas are all loose ends from Season 1 that have yet to be dealt with by Underwood. And now there's Gavin, who I really hope plays a big role in the next season... There's so much going on and the spectrum's only widening as the show progresses; it definitely reminds me of The Wire in how the show starts off with a small focus then branches out and uncovers all these other stories as the years go on.
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Mar 4, 2014 18:39
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BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:If any of you missed the Oscars you should at least check out Kevin Spaceys speech - there's a little ode to Underwood at the start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUWYFu_lHjU I wonder how much money Netflix is making from House of Cards. Did it cost them $100m for each season, or both seasons? I've seen that number thrown around but some were implying it was for just the first season, and some said it was for both. I guess if its just 3 seasons then it'll probably end up nicely profitable, but to me its pretty interesting to see where TV shows are going if Netflix can throw around this kind of money.
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Mar 4, 2014 18:42
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Netflix is making money hand over fist, they're in the unique position of being able to just throw money at something like this or Orange is the New Black and not really needing to hold its content creators accountable to any kind of advertising or demographic. It would be nice if this caused other content creators to re-evaluate their business model.
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Mar 4, 2014 19:00
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I wonder if Netflix and HBO have ever had talks to merge or have one buy the other. Now that would be a juggernaut, would give the combined company the biggest library of original content and save HBO from its problem of having to piggyback on cable services instead of offering their own online subscriptions.
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Mar 4, 2014 19:14
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Retail Slave posted:I don't know if I'd be satisfied with Frank getting assassinated. I'd much rather have him scramble, digging himself deeper and deeper as everything unravels around him, and then he gets arrested and impeached. Although he'd probably take his own life by that point. He's all about power, and his comeuppance should be a complete loss of every single shred of power he's worked so hard for, and he's completely aware of it happening. In the British version, when it becomes clear someone has the proof to bring him down, Francis is setup for assassination by Corder - counterpart of Meechum in the US version. They could spin that around in the US by having Frank take his own life when all is lost, and frame Meechum for it. That preserves his legacy without the need for everything to become public, but Frank still pays with his life.
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Mar 4, 2014 19:27
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Doltos posted:I was going to start watching it tonight until I saw the post above yours :/ I'm sorry. The somewhat funny thing is, I initially spoilered the post and then removed the spoilers because I thought it would be weird to be the only post with tags. Now I feel bad for second-guessing myself. 
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Mar 4, 2014 19:46
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xtothez posted:In the British version, when it becomes clear someone has the proof to bring him down, Francis is setup for assassination by Corder - counterpart of Meechum in the US version. They could spin that around in the US by having Frank take his own life when all is lost, and frame Meechum for it. That preserves his legacy without the need for everything to become public, but Frank still pays with his life. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to see Frank's legacy preserved. With all the awful things he's done, I want him to go completely down, just like Walter White did, only you don't have to have him redeem himself to an extent in the final episode. His fall should be like Nixon's, only worse.
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Mar 4, 2014 19:46
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Ideally Frank should sit out the remainder of his life in Federal prison while the Tea Party reigns triumphant over the battered corpse of the Democratic Party.
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Mar 4, 2014 19:49
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Retail Slave posted:Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to see Frank's legacy preserved. With all the awful things he's done, I want him to go completely down, just like Walter White did, only you don't have to have him redeem himself to an extent in the final episode. His fall should be like Nixon's, only worse. Problem is, that wouldn't be House of Cards. It's weird in the U.S. version because of how dreadfully dull the first season finale is, but the whole "punchline" of these things is the same: Evil but Cunning Politician gets annoyed at person who slights him. Concocts scheme, runs scheme, ends up getting into a confrontation with person. There are schemes and counter schemes. Evil Politician gets ruffled, but manages to find the right scandal to ruin his opponent, and does so in a very evil way. The audience starts to realize that Evil Politician's actions have huge consequences for lots and lots of regular people. Audience starts to root against Evil Politician, evidence is found that could put Evil Politician away. Evil Politician, at the last moment and often through very evil action, manages to slip out of suspicion and completely get away with everything. Rinse and repeat. Frank actually LOSING would go against the very spirit of the story, really.
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Mar 4, 2014 19:53
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BottledBodhisvata posted:Problem is, that wouldn't be House of Cards. It's weird in the U.S. version because of how dreadfully dull the first season finale is, but the whole "punchline" of these things is the same: Evil but Cunning Politician gets annoyed at person who slights him. Concocts scheme, runs scheme, ends up getting into a confrontation with person. There are schemes and counter schemes. Evil Politician gets ruffled, but manages to find the right scandal to ruin his opponent, and does so in a very evil way. The audience starts to realize that Evil Politician's actions have huge consequences for lots and lots of regular people. Audience starts to root against Evil Politician, evidence is found that could put Evil Politician away. Evil Politician, at the last moment and often through very evil action, manages to slip out of suspicion and completely get away with everything. Rinse and repeat. It doesn't have to mirror the British version. Yes, House of Cards exists because someone at Netflix saw the British version and decided to make a series out of it for an American audience. But there are differences. The main character in each version even has a different background... the British FU was an aristocrat, and the American FU is a self-made man that came from a working-class background. A pretty fundamental difference, really. But it works. My point is, if that can work, then other deviations from the British version can work. The British version is more of a guideline rather than something to be copied. However, with that being said, if the American version has Frank slipping away unscathed, I would probably enjoy that too as long as the story is interesting. BigBallChunkyTime fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Mar 4, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2014 20:20
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Retail Slave posted:It doesn't have to mirror the British version. Yes, House of Cards exists because someone at Netflix saw the British version and decided to make a series out of it for an American audience. But there are differences. The main character in each version even has a different background... the British FU was an aristocrat, and the American FU is a self-made man that came from a working-class background. A pretty fundamental difference, really. But it works. I don't disagree. But the American version HAS been very faithful to the original in pretty much every way, down to mirroring scenes like where Russo/Irish Russo gets out of a situation by having his secretary call him and pretending it's the guy in charge. It hasn't deviated so far in any of the major ways, merely slowed down and drawn the first series of the original into two seasons for the American audience. I guess taking down Tusk is the equivalent of Urquhart's conquest of the King, or perhaps we'll have a new bigger player for Underwood to dispatch in Season 3. Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if it continued to follow the basic plot as it has thus far.
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Mar 4, 2014 20:27
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BottledBodhisvata posted:I guess taking down Tusk is the equivalent of Urquhart's conquest of the King, or perhaps we'll have a new bigger player for Underwood to dispatch in Season 3. Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if it continued to follow the basic plot as it has thus far. Maybe a battle with the SCOTUS. The series have diverged enough that what Frank does with his power isn't really predictable right now.
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Mar 4, 2014 20:38
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If nothing else, I would think they may diverge wildly in season 3 for the very reason that it would be a curveball to UK-show watchers who think they know how it will all pan out. At least, I'm hoping that's the case.
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Mar 4, 2014 20:42
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Retail Slave posted:Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to see Frank's legacy preserved. With all the awful things he's done, I want him to go completely down, just like Walter White did, only you don't have to have him redeem himself to an extent in the final episode. His fall should be like Nixon's, only worse. What legacy? Like other people have said, he doesn't have any clearly defined goals besides power power power. The show really should have shown him having something he wanted to change / implement once he actually got all his power.
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Mar 5, 2014 01:02
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Just finished season 2. I enjoyed it but my main complaint was there was never really any point where you worried for FU (though I guess announcing S3 before S2 airs doesn't help). Also I found the amount of characters now removed either from being killed or just benched somewhat worrying. Zoe's replacement is bland and Freddy added some variety. The Rachel plotline was eh too. At least Stamper's void should create some serious trouble for FU. For the Meechum thing, I thought reassigning him was more as a toy for Claire. That college episode in S1 made it clear that Frank had at least experimented and the hints were there but I wasn't expecting Meechum to go along with it. He is now at least in the unique position of saying he has had sex with the president.
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Mar 5, 2014 01:13
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CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK posted:What legacy? Like other people have said, he doesn't have any clearly defined goals besides power power power. The show really should have shown him having something he wanted to change / implement once he actually got all his power. Every President has a "legacy." And I'm sure he'll change/implement lots of things in Season 3.
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Mar 5, 2014 05:15
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I think Frank getting shot would be the best possible ending to Season 3. He just builds himself up and builds himself up only to watch the sweater unravel and just when it seems like he's about to become disgraced some patsy snipes him from a grassy knoll. It would be the ultimate gently caress you to everyone who hated Franks guts because then none of them would be allowed to speak ill of a dead president.
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Mar 5, 2014 16:46
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Doltos posted:I think Frank getting shot would be the best possible ending to Season 3. He just builds himself up and builds himself up only to watch the sweater unravel and just when it seems like he's about to become disgraced some patsy snipes him from a grassy knoll. It would be the ultimate gently caress you to everyone who hated Franks guts because then none of them would be allowed to speak ill of a dead president. That never stopped anyone before.
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Mar 5, 2014 18:04
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spronk posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUWYFu_lHjU It's my understanding that Netflix is not creating original content to get new customers, they're doing it to keep their existing customers from cancelling. Content is getting very very expensive for Netflix to acquire, so creating their own is starting to make financial sense. If more people subscribe to Netflix because of the content, that's a bonus in their eyes. RE: House of Cards, I read it was 100M for the first 2 seasons. Season 3 is being negotiated last I heard. This GQ article has a confirming quote in it precision posted:Netflix is making money hand over fist Netflix makes a profit, but they hardly make money 'hand over fist'. Last year they had an operating profit of 228 Million dollars on 4.37 Billion in revenue(sales), which is a paltry 5.2% profit on revenue. HBO on the other hand does indeed 'make money hand over fist'. HBO had revenue(sales) of 4.9 billion and an operating profit of over 1.7 billion, a very healthy 34% profit margin. Zwabu posted:I wonder if Netflix and HBO have ever had talks to merge or have one buy the other. Now that would be a juggernaut, would give the combined company the biggest library of original content and save HBO from its problem of having to piggyback on cable services instead of offering their own online subscriptions. Why would HBO do this? Look at the numbers above. HBO made 1.7 Billion dollars last year. Netflix made 228 Million. I would say HBO's partnership with cable companies is very profitable and in their best interest. I wouldn't call it a problem at all. HBO would be dumb as hell as to try to become Netflix.
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Mar 5, 2014 18:30
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You figure that Netflix must pull production costs from other interested investors though and that part of the costs for producing these shows goes into that total gross revenue. I mean it's the same concept as Twitter. It's not making any money but people recognize the power of the program and will gladly pour money into it. Same thing with Netflix. It currently has the best model for delivering content to its customers with reasonable overhead costs. Subscription based models are also fantastic if they're popular.
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Mar 5, 2014 18:43
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Dugong posted:For the Meechum thing, I thought reassigning him was more as a toy for Claire. That college episode in S1 made it clear that Frank had at least experimented and the hints were there but I wasn't expecting Meechum to go along with it. He is now at least in the unique position of saying he has had sex with the president. I can't help but wonder if Frank isn't just completely gay. My memory of season 1 is kind of crap, but have we ever seen him actually be more than just affectionate with his wife? The whole lamenting about their lack of freedom kind of gave me the impression that Claire knows she doesn't do it for him, and the whole thing with her and Meechum was basically her wrapping him up with a bow and giving him to Frank. It kind of reinforces the whole impression that they basically got married because it was advantageous for both of them.
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Mar 5, 2014 19:44
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He seemed to enjoy his thing with Zoe unless that was just him liking the power aspect.
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Mar 5, 2014 19:53
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bamhand posted:He seemed to enjoy his thing with Zoe unless that was just him liking the power aspect. His whole thing with Zoe was pretty creepily like that. I don't think he was ever intimidated by her like regular guys would be. He saw this gorgeous smart college grad and just narrowed his eyes thinking "fish in a barrell". Then there were all the pictures and that whole scene where she talked to her dad on the phone while he was eating her out. There's some pretty blatant themes with sex in both seasons. Like Claire and the photographer was almost Claire's version of Zoe and Frank.
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Mar 5, 2014 19:57
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Lyz posted:I can't help but wonder if Frank isn't just completely gay. I honestly think this may be the case, as I said earlier. Zoe was all about power, it seemed, especially in retrospect.
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Mar 5, 2014 22:47
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Lyz posted:I can't help but wonder if Frank isn't just completely gay. My memory of season 1 is kind of crap, but have we ever seen him actually be more than just affectionate with his wife? I was thinking the same thing as well. A gay democrat from the south wouldn't go so far so he just hides it. It explains Claire's relationship with the photographer as well. I really hope Claire snaps in S3 just to see where it goes. Both of them have a lot of history for press/opponents to dig it up.
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Mar 5, 2014 23:44
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