House of Cards S4

House of Cards – Season 4 – Netflix

My musings on S4…

I’ve binge watched House of Cards every year since S1 and this was the first year I wasn’t looking forward to it. Season 3 was beyond boring with very little to show for it or look forward to by the end. Nevertheless, I grabbed my chips and dip (HoC required binge food) and jumped in.

Season 4 plunges in head first and doesn’t let up until after the halfway point. It is draw droppingly good – and shocking. The only thing worse than being an enemy of Claire and Francis – is when they turn that venom on each other. Yeah – it gets pretty ugly.

The show runners did a good job tying in previous story lines and weaving in past characters while dropping in several shocking events that I didn’t see coming.

The addition of a young power couple – vying for the republican presidential nomination, while Frank struggles to get the democratic party's nom, adds a nice contrast – showing the aging Frank and his cold marriage to Claire in stark contrast with the virile, Instagram friendly family.

There are a few missteps. The show occasionally gets caught up in other characters story arcs that don’t lead anywhere, develop other characters – just to toss them aside, and under develop stories that could lead to a deeper understanding of our leads. Especially the arc involving Claire’s mother. Instead, most of these twists are just to get Claire and Frank from point A to B.

Every time I finish a season of this show I wonder where it could possibly go next. The writers throw EVERYTHING! - balls to the wall each season and I fear that it will become so far fetched that I won’t be able to continue. Season 4 certainly hits that mark. It has jumped the shark. Claire and Frank have done things that (I hope) are unforgivable and couldn’t ever happen in real life. (again…I hope) Yet. I still find it to be compulsively watchable.

Have you guys watched it yet? What do you think of S4?