Although “House
of Cards” is a show about politics, the structure of the popular Netflix series
often has more similarities to a gangster narrative. These crime narratives
contain illegal activities which catapult the antihero to a position of fame
and/or fortune, which is what we witnessed from Francis Underwood (Kevin
Spacey) in the first two seasons of the show. At the end of season two
Underwood had manipulated, lied, and murdered his way into becoming the
President of the United
States
Now that
Underwood has achieved his position of power, many of the show’s early elements
must be dismissed as unrealistic. He no longer has the type of freedom which
allowed him to carry on extramarital affairs with reporters, not to mention the
deviously calculated murders. Perhaps it is this inability to connive and
control that takes away Underwood’s edge, because he begins to show a great
deal of weakness within the thirteen episodes of season three. Part of this
seems to stem from the destabilized relationship with his wife, Claire (Robin
Wright). When we join him and his equally deceitful partner at the beginning of
season three, they are already amidst marital troubles and sleeping in
different beds. As we have seen in the earlier seasons, Claire is as
self-serving as her conniving husband, and doesn’t enjoy playing the role
expected of the first lady. She wants more, which spells trouble for the end
goals of President Underwood.
The other major
way that Underwood loses control as president comes from the actual political
process. This is where the series suddenly becomes far more interested in
parallels to real-world politics than it has been in previous seasons.
Underwood has big plans to save the country’s economy, but finds that it is
much more difficult to accomplish when he can’t murder those who stand in his
way. In a massive plan that is clearly meant to resemble Barack Obama’s health
care initiative, Underwood attempts to pass a bill called America Works in
order to resolve the unemployment problem. This is met with expected resistance
from the opposition, as well as his own party. In a sad commentary on the real trouble
with politics, any big changes are seen as secondary to the task of preparing
for re-election.
At the same time
that Underwood is meeting resistance at home, he must simultaneously handle
sensitive international issues. The Russian leader and dictator named Viktor
Petrov is meant to be loosely based on Vladmir Putin, though not so loose that
the comparison is not blatantly obvious. As well as casting actor Lars
Mikkelsen who shares similar facial features, season three includes a cameo
from real Russian political activists/punk rock band Pussy Riot. They have a
few scenes openly disparaging Petrov, though it is clearly a transparent
commentary about Putin. The show still has an edge unlikely to be found on a
network station, but these ripped-from-headline political subplots often
resemble narratives I might have expected from “The West Wing.” The show mostly
manages to keep the edge by throwing in a few random sexual encounters that
rarely do much for the overall storyline.
With each season
containing 13 episodes, many have theorized that the fourth season may be the
last, so that there would be an episode for each card in a complete deck. This
would make for a nice symmetry between the title and the number of episodes in
the series, but more importantly would allow the show to end while still
somewhat ahead. There are episodes and scenes within the third season which are
as strong as anything in the first two seasons, but much of the show seems to
be slipping further from what made it great in the first place. The fact that
this is the first season David Fincher has not returned to direct an episode
says a great deal about the decline of quality.
Though most fans
of the show have likely already watched this season on Netflix, those without
an account now have the benefit of seeing the show on home video instead.
Depending on how strong the internet connection, this may be preferable to
streaming anyway. Even on DVD this has always be a polished looking series,
mimicking Fincher’s style from the pilot even in his season three absence. The
special features include only a single behind-the-scenes featurette, though it
is one more perk for encouraging fans to add these thirteen episodes to their
DVD collection.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of Filmmaking:
7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 7/10
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