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House of Cards S5 |OT| What’s said in the family, stays in the family - Netflix 5/30

valkyre

Member
Lmao this show has become a joke really... the last 2 episodes are borderline science fiction bullshit material... insulting to say the least.

They should throw the writers down a flight of stairs....
 

HvySky

Member
Finished the show on Thursday. Easily the worst season of the show and just all around genuinely bad television. It was rough from the outset but episodes 12 and 13 really crank up the stupidity to excessive levels and killed any and all interest I have in returning. I'll read up on how season six goes down but I'm not wasting my time watching this garbage anymore.

It was my plan all along! Fuck off Frank no it wasn't
 

inm8num2

Member
(Since the two weeks are up I'm omitting spoiler tags.)

HoC is still a fun show to watch. It veers into moments of pure ridiculousness that make it all the more entertaining ("I think you should take a fall..."). The big draw is just watching Spacey and Wright wholly command every scene they're in, and when they're together and alone you can never be sure what cards each one holds in their hand.

After LeAnn slept with Doug all I could think of is that scene from Scream about the rules for surviving horror movies.
There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive House of Cards. For instance, number one: you can never have sex with Doug Stamper. Big no no! Big no no! Sex with Doug equals death, okay?

Then in the finale my instincts were correct, although LeAnn's fate is still unclear and it doesn't seem Doug knew that would happen. Regardless, Doug is one horrible but loyal bastard. Frank is still a motherfucker Mr. President. I don't know what to expect from Claire next season. I could have sworn her eyes turned yellow like a Sith lord in that final shot staring at the camera.
 

Mau ®

Member
Not as good as previous seasons but it doesn't outright suck like S3.

I enjoy Claire being president. She's always been my favorite character.
 

spekkeh

Banned
i hate all the election part(maybe because it was 3 years long and the finish was very rushed)
i like the 2nd part mostly because the new characters (Usher, Jane)
I'm the other way around. The part of winning the election brought back a lot of the classic scheming and while the final solution was kind of out there, it still felt well played. However then the second part of the season lost focus. It seems like they wanted to incorporate Trump (foreign country trying to influence the elections, hearing, FBI director, first hundred days etc), but much like with season three, whenever they want to blur the lines between the real and the fictitious, the series just falls complete flat. It becomes farcical, the scheming preposterous, the lack of a message grating. I guess the biggest faux pas though was that for all of the different plot threads introduced over five seasons, his impeachment was rushed and hardly incorporated anything. Like again they wanted to have it over with before Trump did.


As for Usher and Davis, I liked their characters, and in the end you watch this show because of all of the elaborate string pulling. but they felt too much like too powerful Deus Ex Machinas. Who are these people that command them such power if not the lobbyists (at some point I was ready to roll my eyes at mentions of the deep state, but luckily they didn't go there). I guess we'll find out next.
 

WaffleTaco

Wants to outlaw technological innovation.
I'm still wondering if I think this season or season three was worse. I'm pretty surprised because Season 4 was actually pretty good. I might post more thoughts later.
 
I'm still wondering if I think this season or season three was worse. I'm pretty surprised because Season 4 was actually pretty good. I might post more thoughts later.

I'm right there with you, dawg. Season 3 really soured me on the series and a lot of the characters. Season 4 was a definite step up, but I don't know if Season 3 or 5 is the worst.
 
Absolutely loved the season and can't follow the criticism at all, except for the push of Durant. Not sure how that made it in. Wtf.

Especially loved the introduction of Jane Davis. Her character veers a little on the side of absurdism, and I dig that so much. Her mannerisms are eerie and out of place, yet no one truly questions her after the initial surprise. Love it.

And the buildup for next season has been tremendous. The clash I've both been wanting and not wanting to happen all this time. Bring it on.
 

Raging Spaniard

If they are Dutch, upright and breathing they are more racist than your favorite player
Definitely enjoyed it but the shove on Cathy was fucking weaksauce.

Like, honestly, he HAS to make sure shes basically dead before he pushes her and even then the most likely scenario of that shove should have been a sprained ankle. It borderline ruined the narrative because shell wake up, know what happened and cause a lot of damage.

Also completely unnecessary given the twist later in the show.
 

Paganmoon

Member
Why the hell would you kill Tom at Usher's house, why give the guy even more leverage? There was so much stupid in this season.
 

hamchan

Member
Frank's master plan this season might be the stupidest thing I've ever seen from a supposedly smart character.

What a bad end to a season that started well.
 

RoKKeR

Member
This show has entered Homeland levels of insanity, but it is still an entertaining watch. Scrolled through this thread just now and mostly agree with people's criticisms of the WTF moments, especially with the
stair push and Claire killing Tom while fucking him lmao. At least he is gone now, though. Also Leanne... damn it, she was great.

I'll continue to watch the show for the acting and cinematography, and will continue to enjoy the ride while having the occasional laugh at its absurdity every now and then.
 

Sami+

Member
Welp I started watching this earlier tonight but judging from this page I guess I might as well skip lol. I really hated S3 and didn't really care for S2 either, it's probably for the best haha.

Sucks, S1 is so good. S4 was pretty ok
 

Foxxsoxx

Member
Just finished it. Although the last two episodes were pretty bizarre, I did end up enjoying it.

The dialogue, cinematography, and acting is just so good.
 
Once Conway was gone from the story the season took a sharp nosedive. He was a good character, I was really disappointed how badly they rushed/depicted his collapse.
 
Frank in the first season:
Remy Danton is a fool. Doesn't he know that lobbyists are meaningless, and power is greater than money?

Frank now:
All the real power comes from lobbyists, money controls everything. Not being the President was my plan all along.
 
Frank is a parody of himself. Happens to a lot of shows but the world of House of Cards was always a bit heightened. Frank reached peak monster too soon to be interesting.
 
My fiancee and I finished this season last night. We both thought it was horrible; by far the worst season, and we had to force ourselves through it.

Full season spoilers:

Sigh, I don't even know where to begin?
~It seems like Conway's PTSD stuff came out of no where ( I don't recall any of it last season.) Clearly just needed to further the plotlline of him losing.
~These two new power players that came out of no where this season..what? Esp. the woman (I think her name is Davis something.) She also seemed like a terrible actor, and was basically just trying to remember her lines.
~Why is Doug saying he killed Zoe....how loyal can this broken man be..
~The deaths...my god the deaths. Who shot the NSA guy in the face? Clair having sex with Tom as he died, and leaving him the living room with her evidence literally on the guy?
~How did the Russians get the NSA guy?
~Frank pushing Durant down a few stairs and her being knocked out? LOL I could push my grandma down some stairs and she'd break a hip but would still be conscious.
~I don't understand the woman saying she was having sex with Doug because she hated him; can someone explain that to me?

TLDR; this season:
jump_the_shark1.png
 
When the main goal of a TV show is not to tell or adapt a good story but to see how long it can be stretched out until people stop watching, its no surprise it becomes shit.
 

Paganmoon

Member
My fiancee and I finished this season last night. We both thought it was horrible; by far the worst season, and we had to force ourselves through it.

Full season spoilers:

~These two new power players that came out of no where this season..what? Esp. the woman (I think her name is Davis something.) She also seemed like a terrible actor, and was basically just trying to remember her lines.

TLDR; this season:
jump_the_shark1.png

I think we're past the spoilertagging mark right?

Anyway, agree on all your points expect the one I left in the quote. That was "in-character" as in her trying make herself look and seem less threatening, like she's not really all there. I got the feeling from the get go, as she was complaining about a migraine.
 

phanphare

Banned
My fiancee and I finished this season last night. We both thought it was horrible; by far the worst season, and we had to force ourselves through it.

Full season spoilers:

Sigh, I don't even know where to begin?
~It seems like Conway's PTSD stuff came out of no where ( I don't recall any of it last season.) Clearly just needed to further the plotlline of him losing.
~These two new power players that came out of no where this season..what? Esp. the woman (I think her name is Davis something.) She also seemed like a terrible actor, and was basically just trying to remember her lines.
~Why is Doug saying he killed Zoe....how loyal can this broken man be..
~The deaths...my god the deaths. Who shot the NSA guy in the face? Clair having sex with Tom as he died, and leaving him the living room with her evidence literally on the guy?
~How did the Russians get the NSA guy?
~Frank pushing Durant down a few stairs and her being knocked out? LOL I could push my grandma down some stairs and she'd break a hip but would still be conscious.
~I don't understand the woman saying she was having sex with Doug because she hated him; can someone explain that to me?

TLDR; this season:
jump_the_shark1.png

show jumped the shark when they dragged that rachel shit out for a whole season, didn't commit to killing her, then dragged that shit out another whole season, and just ended up killing her anyway
 

Rien

Jelly Belly
Okayish Season, not very good but not bad either.
Its a good show but i still think stuff like what happened like
killing of Zoe Barnes, the suïcide of that guy in the bathtub after being handled a razorblade by Frank, Tom Yates, now the pushing off the stairs
is bringing the realism down, for me at least.


Off-topic: Artisan banned? That user is always super relaxed. Never expected to see him banned.
 

Sec0nd

Member
Hmmm... I enjoyed the season but it was probably my least favorite so far.

There was so much shit going on and important information being passed in such a hurry I had some trouble following what was going on during some points. Like the Durant push thing lol. I was watching away for one second and she was out cold (thought she was dead) and that storyline was literary over at that point. Only mentioned one or two times. Also when they got this voice recording to destroy Conway. That was presented in like two sentences.

And so many other jarring things. Like Ms Davis just showing up, being really fishy and weird. With Frank and Claire being suspicion, to Ms Davis being in the inner circles with barely any explanation. And how is Frank going to get even more power not being the President? That just shot entirely over my head. That entire twist was just one big let down.

I just wanted shit to truly unravel this season. And while it sure kinda did, all the evidence is once again just kind of swept away again. I'm sure it'll come back around. But at that point Frank is no longer President so his fall won't be as dramatic. I just wanted him to see everything falling down around him and going all dictator-y before being brought down. But that's not going to happen I guess. House of Cards used to be my favorite series by far. But at this point I'm not really that excited for the next season. Quite honestly they need to wrap the series up. Even if this season was the best yet I always thought they should've ended the series either this season or the next.
 
I'm in Episode 9 and everytime Yates is on screen I have a gut reaction of repulsion because I know the following scene will be a boring and inconsequential one. So far he's been as important as a Zero to the left of a number. I can't remember how many slogs of a scene have been there with him and Claire that amounted to NOTHING!!! Even if the show pulls a fast one and he ends up mattering a lot I still don't see how giving this character so much time was worth it.

Jesus even him
fucking the tour guide in the goddamn press room
amounted to nothing. I hate this character.
 

Davide

Member
Frank in the first season:
Remy Danton is a fool. Doesn't he know that lobbyists are meaningless, and power is greater than money?

Frank now:
All the real power comes from lobbyists, money controls everything. Not being the President was my plan all along.
Oh man

I skipped all of Tom's scenes. How did anyone think he was a good idea?
 

bremon

Member
When we finished this season my partner and I looked at each other and said "well this show is pretty shitty, I'm not sure we will bother watching next season". The election stuff was decent but the back half was awful. No compass whatsoever; just a fast paced heap with no sense of direction. The two new power brokers falling from the sky, Frank's "plan", and Claire's last line were especially awful.
 

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
I'm in Episode 9 and everytime Yates is on screen I have a gut reaction of repulsion because I know the following scene will be a boring and inconsequential one. So far he's been as important as a Zero to the left of a number. I can't remember how many slogs of a scene have been there with him and Claire that amounted to NOTHING!!! Even if the show pulls a fast one and he ends up mattering a lot I still don't see how giving this character so much time was worth it.

Jesus even him
fucking the tour guide in the goddamn press room
amounted to nothing. I hate this character.

Any time his character gets on screen, I switch to the gaf tab and browse gaf until I stop hearing his voice.
 

spekkeh

Banned
I watched Designated Survivor s2 right after and that actually did bring some renewed appreciation for how the politics in HoC s5 is written and directed at least.
 

Kalor

Member
I finally finished this season and it got really dumb in the last couple of episodes. I actually though the first half was okay but once the presidency was solidified then it just started meandering. I'm not even sure I could tell you what happened in the second half beyond the fact that there was a committee, it was all just dull and I couldn't care about what was going on. Whenever Frank announced his resignation I thought they might do something interesting with it but instead we're just getting more Frank/Claire conflict. It's disappointing because the first half actually got back to the political scheming that the first season had but it just feels like they don't know where to go now.

I'll watch the next season but that's just because it must be the last one. There's too much against the Underwoods now that it can't last much longer.
 

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Honestly, I think Trump and his administration ruined this show for me. What Frank does reminds me of Trump.
 
Honestly, I think Trump and his administration ruined this show for me. What Frank does reminds me of Trump.

I think that is part of it. We are more less likely to forgive the show now as we was in season 2.

That said...

It was my plan all along! Fuck off Frank no it wasn't

To be honest this has always been an issue with the show. House of Cards season 2, a bunch of crazy impossible to control shit happens which ends up Frank as president. In the end they were like every step that led to this was part of Frank's master plan. Bullshit. It was just lazy unbelievable writing.

While season 1 and 4 were good, this show has never been great. While I enjoy watching the leads their performances are becoming one dimensional (especially Robin Wright's). Urg I feel like I am to the point of just hate watching this show.
 
Not the strongest season but I still found it entertaining enough. A lot of ridiculous stuff happened but really, after all the bizarre bullshit that's been happening in real life I don't think any of us can say the show jumped the shark. Real life jumped a fucking pod of blue whales and then some...
 
This show has escalated its annoying tendency to resolve plot threads by conveniently
killing characters
to such an extreme point that the show just sucks now. So so so fucking lazy.

Do the writers not understand that bloodlessly passing legislation, Frank eating ribs, and small town political brush fires in Georgia was much more entertaining than episodes demonstrating Frank can only now retain power by
stacking bodies
? Yawn.

And just like the "I'm leaving you" season ending - you know S6 will quickly resolve this ending.
 

theWB27

Member
I think that is part of it. We are more less likely to forgive the show now as we was in season 2.

That said...



To be honest this has always been an issue with the show. House of Cards season 2, a bunch of crazy impossible to control shit happens which ends up Frank as president. In the end they were like every step that led to this was part of Frank's master plan. Bullshit. It was just lazy unbelievable writing.

While season 1 and 4 were good, this show has never been great. While I enjoy watching the leads their performances are becoming one dimensional (especially Robin Wright's). Urg I feel like I am to the point of just hate watching this show.

Did I read that situation wrong? I thought Frank only said that to try and keep Claire in check? It was pretty clear he'd lost control of it all. Claire, throughout the season, had made decisions that didn't always go with what Frank wanted...especially when she didn't pardon him...and he's saving face. Cause it didn't look like she was buying any of it while he was saying it. She even kicked him out the white house.
 

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
I preferred it when it was just Frank trying to work his way to the top and the characters weren't going on killing sprees to get there.

Didn't enjoy the season much.
 
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