Note: As of writing, I have watched through the second season.

3 Word Summary: Dirty, filthy politics

Here’s the thing. I am a proud libertarian, so I tend to hate politicians on principle. So it might follow that I would hate the show House of Cards, set in the back rooms of Washington, as much as I hate Washington itself. I might, if the show weren’t so fantastic. House of Cards was the first Netflix original series to debut and was a serious experiment in itself. The mail-order DVD rental service turned streaming giant (/DVD rental service for those folks who still use that) has made a very good living on TV shows since it’s streaming service became a real power, but it made money on other people’s shows, shows with established fan bases usually cultivated over a number of years and with the full marketing power of the channels that produced them. How can you make a TV show when you’re not on TV? I can’t speak to the commercial viability of Netflix’s gamble, but the votes are in on the artistic viability and mine is not the only positive voice. House of Cards made history by scoring a plethora of Emmy nominations including three wins (Director, David Fincher; Casting; Cinematography). Netflix now has a number of original series for your on-demand viewing pleasure.

Netflix is not a normal TV channel, and House of Cards shares a number of features in terms of production value and trends with many of the very fine shows produced by other not-normal (so-called premium) channels like HBO and Showtime. The attention to detail with which each episode is approached feels heightened when compared to most shows on cable or network channels (I will make a notable exception for AMC), and each episode feels just a bit more expensive. Subject matter is less susceptible to censorship and the writers do not shrink from the use of profanity or adult content. While I generally perceive this as a positive feature of the show, there are times when the sex feels gratuitous and detracts from the overall picture rather than adding to it. Netflix doesn’t have to deal with sweeps week, so eye-rolling moments like two beautiful women kissing seemingly out of nowhere is even pettier here than it is on most TV shows. That said, the creative team does a reasonably good job of keeping the adult content where it belongs from a story perspective and it never feels like the sex hijacks the show, as it often does in some other premium channels’ offerings.

The action follows Francis Underwood aka Frank (Kevin Spacey), the Democratic Majority Whip in the House of Representatives. He is as unscrupulous as he is conniving; this is made clear from the get-go. Francis is the best/worst kind of politician in that he will say or do anything to get to the top, and he is very convincing. The only real match for Francis is his wife, Claire (Robin Wright) who brings a softer touch but just as hard an edge to the marriage. The show is a political thriller, and it is thrilling. The story is well-paced, cliffhangers well-placed, and the writing does what Netflix is all about (keeping you coming back for more). For those of you binge watchers out there (Aye), your habit is literally what this show was made for. That said, there are times when Francis’ plots come off simply as too convoluted. He keeps too many moving pieces out there, has to predict too many people’s responses, and has to cross boundaries that honestly don’t need to be crossed. It makes sense from a story perspective to keep all these sub-plots going, to keep raising the stakes, but some of Francis’ plans are difficult when easy would work just as effectively. This frays their believability somewhat.

The show really excels on the basis of its characters. Spacey is dazzling as Francis. He’s a snake, a politician’s politician, but he’s just so darn good at what he does that I find myself pulling for him. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I like him (I certainly wouldn’t if he were real), but I like to see a plan come together. Francis indulges in frequent asides to the audience that would come off as sloppy storytelling in many writers’ hands, but they are just what the doctor ordered in this case and I genuinely looked forward to my lessons in asshole politics (are there any other kind?) and to Francis’ occasional knowing glances at the camera. Francis is completely unpretentious before the audience. He knows who he is, he understands what he is doing, and he makes no excuses. Despite Francis’ many faults, he has a very strong sense of loyalty to his own and a thorough watching will show that he usually follows through on his promises. His brilliance and his deviousness is that it is often very difficult to tell if you are one of his own and Francis following through on a promise does not mean you will get what you think he told you. He’s like the devil in that. Francis is not dangerous because he is deceitful; he is dangerous because he walks the line between deceit and truth so masterfully.

The other characters do a fantastic job, most notably Wright as Claire Underwood and David Kelly as Underwood’s Chief of Staff Doug Stamper. Kate Mara plays an ambitious young and beautiful reporter very convincingly, and while I found her character to be extremely annoying, some people really like her.

I expected more of a political statement from a political show like House of Cards, but I didn’t feel as if it came down strongly in one camp or the other. Francis and most of the other main characters are democrats, but they could just as easily have been republicans without the show losing a whole lot. The struggle between democrat and republican is central to the plot, so the republicans often come off as antagonists in Francis’ struggles, but it never feels like the show is getting behind either party. The republicans are enemies not because they are better or worse than the (highly unscrupulous) democrats, but simply because somebody had to make that call when the show was being written.

All in all, despite a few minor faults, House of Cards is a fantastic first outing for Netflix and has done a fantastic job paving the way for their other offerings. Next time the news from Washington disgusts you, try following my lead and tap into an imaginary world where the stuff that is so infuriating in real life becomes rather fun.