₦airaland Forum

oyaskii:
House of Cards (2013 - 2018)

"The rise and fall of a streaming era pioneer show".

The Rise (2013 - 2016)

There was a time when primetime TV and cable TV shows held sway. Shows like "The Wire", "The Sopranos" and "The Vampire Diaries" dropped new episodes every week with huge excitement and anticipation. Then the "binge" era came around circa 2012/2013, pioneered by Netflix, and they were looking for that one show to break the ice, to break the hold that traditional serialized TV had. So entered "House of Cards".

Now, to call this show a phenomenon at the time might be an understatement. It basically put Netflix on the map. An adaptation of a show from 1990, which itself was adapted from a 1989 book, it revolutionized what a political thriller could be. The showrunner was Beau Willimon. For context, he was involved with Andor S2, so anytime he steps out to make or write a show, you'd know it's gonna be a serious, serious project.

House of Cards centred around Frank Underwood, an immoral Democrat politician, and his equally ambitious wife Claire Underwood, and their eventual scheming, manipulation and dramatic rise from the Capitol to the White House as POTUS and FLOTUS. S1 and S2 especially were peak TV political drama, edge of your seat stuff.

The show's reputation was almost single-handedly bolstered by its lead, Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey. A crazy adherent of the method acting school who seemingly couldn't separate his real-life self from the character. This show was Kevin Spacey and Kevin Spacey was this show.

There was this recurring gag by Frank Underwood where he hits the table with his ring as a celebratory gesture, a show of intimidation, political trademark and personal branding that became so popular and synonymous with the character that it's rumoured Netflix got their now-famous "tudum" sound branding from it.

The show also popularized the 4th wall break on serialized TV and, together with "Fleabag", it's the best use of it I've seen on television. Everything freezes as Frank Underwood talks directly to us about his scheming process, and it felt so personal.

Then suddenly, after 5 really good seasons, the show took an unexpected turn that it never intended.

The Fall (2017 - 2018).....

There is a saying that goes, "Oh man, if you can control your libido, you can touch the sky".

In 2017, allegations started coming out that Kevin Spacey was touching and caressing young boys willy, back in the day. He tried to brush off the allegations and put them down to youthful exuberance, and he came out immediately afterwards. But the PR damage was already done. Netflix duly fired him from the show, and neither he nor the show was ever the same.

Now, there are some characters that completely embody the art they are involved in, and it simply won't work without them. Like I stated earlier, Frank Underwood was House of Cards and House of Cards was Frank Underwood.

After much rewriting, the 6th and final season was released with his character killed off, and his wife Claire Underwood becoming the lead and now POTUS in some woke feminist gibberish garbage fest. And all respect to Robin Wright as Claire Underwood, she tried her best, but she was no Frank Underwood.

By then, Beau Willimon had already stepped down after S4 as showrunner, and charlatans who didn't understand the show took over the direction and writing, and of course it duly tanked. The ratings graph across all seasons encapsulates my thoughts better. The sharp decline in ratings by S6 really tells the whole story.

Kevin Spacey's career derailed after that, effectively getting "blackballed" in the industry, so much so that there are rumours he currently can't even afford housing, which is such a shame because he really is a very, very talented actor.

Despite all this, I'd still like to think this show is one of the greats. A true pioneer of the type of shows popular today, and one I'll always have fond memories of.

abduleez1:
June can't come soon enough

johnyace:
Including the Vampire lestat, omo I can't wait

abduleez1:
Yeah, I don't think I'm really interested in it.
I'm still struggling with Interview With The Vampire S2.

abduleez1:
June can't come soon enough

joseph1832:
WaIting for MK II? Lol

johnyace:
I'm fully interested, well if you're in season two and you aren't yet interested then it's probably not for you

armadeo:
I saw a trailer of this show on you tube. The minute he broke the 4th wall I was in. I followed it till he was written off and wasn't even aware about the scandal then.

I lost it at the last season when he left and didn't bother to finish it.

abduleez1:
It's already on the high seas na..... I've downloaded it since last week sef, na to watch am be problem.

DieRich5:
All of them are new and the talk of the internet, I’ve only watched number 1 and 8 few episodes and I’m not feeling it and the rest waiting to complete.

The reviews I’m seeing on No 2 and 6 will definitely be interesting anime.

1: Do You Like Big Girls?
2: Agents of the Four Seasons
3: classroom of the elite (new season)
4: Daemons of the Shadow Realm
5: the rampart of ice
6: Marriage toxic
7: Gals Can't Be Kind to Otaku!?
8: Witch Hat Atelier

abduleez1:
It's already on the high seas na..... I've downloaded it since last week sef, na to watch am be problem.

joseph1832:
Ah ah. So why are you now waiting for June?

abduleez1:
June don already come na and it has some of my most anticipated projects.
I would have watched the MK2 by now, as I say make I cop am, the picture quality I saw wasn't encouraging or it's the visual effects. It just looked weird in my eyes so I just aborted mission.

Maybe it was because I've been watching vibrant series and films like Avatar 3. So I dunno.... 🤷🏽‍♂️

samistry:
MK2 hitting the highseas this early is likely a cam copy

samistry:
MK2 hitting the highseas this early is likely a cam copy

abduleez1:
June don already come na and it has some of my most anticipated projects.
I would have watched the MK2 by now, as I say make I cop am, the picture quality I saw wasn't encouraging or it's the visual effects. It just looked weird in my eyes so I just aborted mission.

Maybe it was because I've been watching vibrant series and films like Avatar 3. So I dunno.... 🤷🏽‍♂️

BlackManta:
Something good to binge this public holiday

All episodes are dropping today

BlackManta:
It's not cam.

It's HD. Very clear.

I've watched it.

BlackManta:
It's not cam.

It's HD. Very clear.

I've watched it.

abduleez1:
Lol, I remember when everybody dey think say na low quality rip I watch for Wuthering Heights.
Something wey sharp die for my eyes. The colors was beautiful.