Majority House Whip Francis ‘Frank’ Underwood (Kevin Spacey) takes us on a perilous journey through the Jurassic park known as Washington DC and the life of crime…sorry I meant politics that he leads. He means to exact his own form of retribution on those he feels have wronged him. This spans from his own cabinet members up to the President himself. Pragmatic, charming, cold, witty, cunning, calculating and vicious. Frank, with his equally ruthless yet enigmatic wife, Claire (Robin Wright) take Washington by storm through climbing the political and social hierarchy one rung at a time to absolute power.

Kevin Spacey is a formidable talent and in all his scenes he dominates the floor. He’s so commanding and his acting is contagious. You can’t help but imitate him. The writers of the show have done well and he always get the best lines. Badass quote after badass quote. The sheer number of quotable lines are infinite. When you have watched the series as much as I have, some begin to stick and work their way into everyday conversation. Many of them are applicable to everyday life as well. The show is so current, incorporating things like: blogging, social media, Tor , hacking and the dark internet. These things only surfacing because of technological advancements post-2004.

“Power is a lot like real estate. It’s all about location, location, location. The closer you are to the source, the higher your property value.”

Frank Underwood

Politics, power, greed, betrayal, backstabbing and amazing metaphors. No, this is not Game Of Thrones but it is just as cutthroat as Kings Landing. Frank Underwood is a bit like Tywin Lannister. A cold man, serious, intelligent and will do whatever it takes to achieve his end goal. Claire is more like Cersei Lannister in the sense that she is a complete bitch to many but I can’t help but like her. Then she has also shown traits of the Queen Of Thorns. Claire’s plans actually work which can hardly be said for Cersei yet she is just as ruthless. Let me tell you with another quote.

“I’m willing to let your child wither and die inside you if that’s what it takes”

Claire Underwood

There’s politics in the White House and politics at home in Frank’s life. There is no getting away from it. They are both roleplaying in their daily lives playing this facade to the point that their personalities are false because they are always deceiving someone to elevate their position. Major character development is when we, as an audience begin to see their masks crumble.

This series is basically Game Of Thrones in DC with all the betrayal, back stabbing, political power plays and even murder. Valar Morghulis. Frank pushes a certain journalist in front of an oncoming train when she begins to ask too many questions. What did you expect Frank? She’s a journalist. She’s just doing her job which ultimately cost her head…as it was mush after the train had done its work.

“You have to respect your own mortality”

Frank Underwood

I told you didn’t I? Badass quote after badass quote. Washington is a Jurassic park. The weak are eaten by the predators. The ones who are ethical and do things by the book are preyed upon by people who don’t have a moral code. A classic example being when Frank leaked Donal Blythe’s education reform bill to the press in the first season. He knew Blythe would assume full responsibility because he has a code. Frank names Blythe vice president at the end of the third season knowing that his wife had died from Alzheimer’s. He did this purely so Blythe couldn’t cause him any trouble in Congress and Blythe would get the sympathy vote due to his wife’s demise. Frank disposes of his victims like throwing out the trash. Donald wasn’t on Frank’s list. He was just someone Frank could use for his own means. Politics is like a game of chess and Donald was just a pawn on a chessboard, vulnerable to attack from all sides.

“The best thing about human beings is that they stack so neatly.”

Frank Underwood

In conclusion, politics is a harsh business. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes to win. Ugly? Nice? You have to play dirty and you don’t get to the top by playing by the rules. You’ve got to cheat to win.

Netflix has changed television forever with shows like House Of Cards as well as Marco Polo, Bloodline, Sense8, Hemlock Grove, Daredevil and its ilk. It has changed the way we watch television. The term bingewatch is often associated with Netflix due to the online network releasing the whole season at once. This causes people to actively watch the whole season in a day and then spend the whole next day sleeping due to epic exhaustion. I believe there may come a time when Netflix will put the minor networks out of business. HBO, AMC and FX being the main producers of great dramas such as The Sopranos, The Walking Dead and Sons Of Anarchy. They will remain strong where the minor ones like the CW, Starz, BBC America and potentially Showtime could suffer. They are minor compared to what I think are the big three. Having a Netflix account seems like a better option than paying a monthly bill for cable. Unlimited viewing for £5.99 per month across movies and TV series. We also have Amazon Prime and NOW TV as well. It seems more cost-effective to subscribe to any of these than have cable. Only time will tell.

One last quote