House of Cards

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

Lilyhammer is great pastiche. Season 3 is partially over the top but the end has some compelling drama and seeing Bruce Springsteen as a hitman never wears off.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Lilyhammer is great pastiche. Season 3 is partially over the top but the end has some compelling drama and seeing Bruce Springsteen as a hitman never wears off.

Bruce Springsteen isn't the hitman, it's the guy who played Silvio (Tony's consigliere) on The Sopranos.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

RIP Zoe Barnes

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

RIP Zoe Barnes

Everyone I know found that scene hilarious.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

RIP Zoe Barnes

Everyone I know found that scene hilarious.

I did too. The way she just flew through the air was a bit silly, and I fully expected it as soon as she entered the station.

[Edu]

Lilyhammer is great pastiche. Season 3 is partially over the top but the end has some compelling drama and seeing Bruce Springsteen as a hitman never wears off.

Bruce Springsteen isn't the hitman, it's the guy who played Silvio (Tony's consigliere) on The Sopranos.

Bruce Springsteen appears in the season finale of the third season, that's what he's referring to.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

RIP Zoe Barnes

For some reason Zoe Barnes annoyed me

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

RIP Zoe Barnes

For some reason Zoe Barnes annoyed me

She was definitely the most annoying character, for sure.  Btw, have they gotten any more subtle about their product placement?  I seem to recall it being patheticly blatant in Season 1 with regard to video games.

[Joe Republic]

RIP Zoe Barnes

For some reason Zoe Barnes annoyed me

She was definitely the most annoying character, for sure.  Btw, have they gotten any more subtle about their product placement?  I seem to recall it being patheticly blatant in Season 1 with regard to video games.

Season 3 featured a blatant ad for an iPhone game app, which is admittedly awesome, but not free.

[Adam Griffin]

Was it just me, or did anyone else notice that Frank seems to "talk to the audience" less in this season? Subtle snubbing of us now that he's made it big?

[Deus Naturae]

Definitely the worst season, since it became even more absurd without becoming more engaging (at least for me). Claire's character development is interesting though.

[RI]

Claire's character development is interesting though.

Development is a kind word for what they've done with her. I don't find her actions in S3 remotely consistent with the previous seasons. It seems all she is now is someone who intentionally or otherwise messes up Frank's plans and is a general pain in the ass. I can't stand her anymore.

[Mister Mets]

Was it just me, or did anyone else notice that Frank seems to "talk to the audience" less in this season? Subtle snubbing of us now that he's made it big?

I liked how the judge with alzheimers seemed to pick up on it.

[Cory]

Was it just me, or did anyone else notice that Frank seems to "talk to the audience" less in this season? Subtle snubbing of us now that he's made it big?

I liked how the judge with alzheimers seemed to pick up on it.

I think that's supposed to represent how the Judge could see through Frank's facade and could see his true character.

[Vega]

Yeah but they really should have just straight up named him Vladimir Putin.  They're not fooling anybody.

Given what happened with the Interview and Kim Jong Un that's probably not a great idea. Russia isn't North Korea, but still.

[Brewer]

Was it just me, or did anyone else notice that Frank seems to "talk to the audience" less in this season? Subtle snubbing of us now that he's made it big?

Ugh, I certainly noticed. It was for the worse, IMHO.

[morgieb]

Just finished Season 3. This show has gotten f[Inks]ing terrible now.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

RIP Zoe Barnes

For some reason Zoe Barnes annoyed me

She was definitely the most annoying character, for sure.  Btw, have they gotten any more subtle about their product placement?  I seem to recall it being patheticly blatant in Season 1 with regard to video games.

I liked her at first, but the more she dug into Frank, the more I grew tired of her.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

RIP Zoe Barnes

For some reason Zoe Barnes annoyed me

She was definitely the most annoying character, for sure.  Btw, have they gotten any more subtle about their product placement?  I seem to recall it being patheticly blatant in Season 1 with regard to video games.

I liked her at first, but the more she dug into Frank, the more I grew tired of her.

What annoyed me about her was:

1) She's pretty obnoxious in an uninteresting and unentertaining way.  It was grating.  When her boss gets fired for calling her a c**nt/bitch (I forget the exact word), it was hard to disagree with his assessment even if he was an idiot for calling her that to her face rather than just firing her or banishing her to a broom closet office until she quit.

2) It felt like about a third of her screen time was an excuse for the show to babble about how "OMG, interweb journalism is teh futurz!!!"

3) Worst of all, we're often told by other characters that she's a talented/up-and-coming reporter, but she never actually does anything to remotely demonstrate this.  It's like how characters on Homeland always babble about how "brilliant" Carrie is even though by any objective measure she's a crazy person who should've been fired early in the first season and is terrible at her job.  All Zoe Barnes actually does is have sex with a powerful member of Congress and prostitute her self for scoops (and is being used as an unwitting pawn by said Congressman).  She can't get any stories when she stops sleeping with Underwood.  Actually, now that I think about it, I can't think of any female reporters in the first season who occupy their position based on merit rather than who they sleep with.  This is a problem in and of itself.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

RIP Zoe Barnes

For some reason Zoe Barnes annoyed me

She was definitely the most annoying character, for sure.  Btw, have they gotten any more subtle about their product placement?  I seem to recall it being patheticly blatant in Season 1 with regard to video games.

I liked her at first, but the more she dug into Frank, the more I grew tired of her.

What annoyed me about her was:

1) She's pretty obnoxious in an uninteresting and unentertaining way.  It was grating.  When her boss gets fired for calling her a c**nt/bitch (I forget the exact word), it was hard to disagree with his assessment even if he was an idiot for calling her that to her face rather than just firing her or banishing her to a broom closet office until she quit.

2) It felt like about a third of her screen time was an excuse for the show to babble about how "OMG, interweb journalism is teh futurz!!!"

3) Worst of all, we're often told by other characters that she's a talented/up-and-coming reporter, but she never actually does anything to remotely demonstrate this.  It's like how characters on Homeland always babble about how "brilliant" Carrie is even though by any objective measure she's a crazy person who should've been fired early in the first season and is terrible at her job.  All Zoe Barnes actually does is have sex with a powerful member of Congress and prostitute her self for scoops (and is being used as an unwitting pawn by said Congressman).  She can't get any stories when she stops sleeping with Underwood.  Actually, now that I think about it, I can't think of any female reporters in the first season who occupy their position based on merit rather than who they sleep with.  This is a problem in and of itself.

Yeah, even Janine slept around for sources. Only the paper's badass owner is portrayed as "above the belt."

[Beet]

SPOILERS

I always thought Zoe Barnes was a sympathetic character. The conflict with her editor is the classic clash between "old media" and "new media", the established vs the up-and-coming. Of course, as the younger character, Zoe was going to be cast in the role of "new media". The point of her editor's firing was that it was new media that got him fired - the new media that can get someone fired just for one mistaken word that is publicized in the wrong way. House of Cards would hardly be a relevant show if it did not acknowledge the presence of social media and its significance in politics in some way.

Of course both her and Janine are portrayed as only getting stories by sleeping with those in the "inner circle." But Janine's behavior is in the past, so all we see is Zoe's- and you can hardly blame her, given the vast benefits that doing so accrued her. Her only mistake was getting too close to her subject... So the guilt of promoting negative stereotypes of women journalists rebound on the show's writers, not the characters. However, when I was watching it, I thought it was supposed to be a commentary on how power at the center is still male in nature and that trading sex for favors (of any type) does not alter that dynamic. Women who trade sex for favors from the rich and powerful are still at their mercy.

[BaconBacon96]

Just finished Season 3. Wasn't as a good as the first two. The pacing was off, the stories weren't as engaging and so on. Still liked it, just a step down from before.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

SEASON 4 IS UP! SEASON 4 IS UP! SEASON 4 IS UP!

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I was foolishly hoping the season 4 would be a resolution of the story. Now we have to wait yet another year...

[Cory]

Great season. Good to be back on track after a slow third season.