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House of Cards season 4: EW review
by Jeff Jensen
House of Cards
Genre: Drama; Starring: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright; Series Premiere: 02/27/2015; TV Parental Guideline Rating: TV-MA; Broadcaster: Netflix; Status: In Season; Seasons: 1, 2, 3, 4
Posted March 2 2016 — 11:42 AM EST
We watch our screens and we see a transparently craven and amoral hustler make a mockery of the political system and we are as enthralled as we are dumbfounded. Why would anyone vote for this terrible man? I’m talking about Frank Underwood, of course, the spectacularly hollow wretch at the center of House of Cards, and the chilling pleasure of watching him on the stump in the show’s engrossing if preposterous (or is it?) fourth season. The cutthroat wheeler-dealer who lied, cheated, and murdered his way into the Oval Office finds himself in the fight of his life as he tries to keep his ill-gotten gains by actually winning an election. The odds are against him. But ‘tis the season for improbable things. Just look at the polls. Which makes House of Cards a fitting if imperfect comment on our now. We find Frank as we find ourselves, flailing through a topsy-turvy primary season. The public hates him for soaring gas prices. A righteous opponent (Elizabeth Marvel) is slagging his rotten character and scoring points. His slippery press secretary (Derek Cecil), certain of doom, is sabotaging him. Everything about Frank – his establishment rep, his white male privilege, his Dixie heritage – is a liability, and even more so as the scandals come. Old skeletons and older ghosts comes back to haunt him – the show’s history works marvelously to its advantage this season – and by episode 4 Frank’s worst sins are exposed and put before the electorate for judgment. His arc feels like the final leg of an antihero’s journey, especially as things turn downright apocalyptic, though it surely isn’t: Netflix has already renewed the series for another year. More here: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/02/house-of-cards-ew-review
Shut the flippin' front door! ~~ Do you think you were born awesome, or just grew up badass? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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