House of Cards

A constant push and pull with billionaires from the US, China and a bit of cybernetics. I could imagine a more meaty episode in the middle of the second season, but it still doesn't ruin the damn high quality. (2018-12-11)

Too much time invested in one big conflict that puts much more interesting storylines with journalists or rivals in the White House on the back burner. One of the weaker episodes. (2018-12-11)

Mrs. Underwood's breathtakingly tense weaving of threads. She beats China and the USA together. (2018-12-11)

Tusk vs Underwood. An impressive mind battle between two great but very different personalities for the favour of the President. There was no winner or loser, but the race was certainly memorable. (2018-12-13)

An impressive digression with Freddie, but the leaked photos and the continued high play of the two patriots are far juicier. (2018-12-13)

Lots of overwrought dialogue passages and going around in circles. Situationally gripping, but unnecessarily drawn out in some moments. (2018-12-16)

A drawn out set up for a powerful finale with a weird WTF scene where the writer exposed a bit too much. (2018-12-16)

A penultimate episode where the cards are dealt and the thunder begins. It brings to the surface what has been expected and gradually prepared since about halfway through the season. Thus, the gradual build-up of the finale becomes slightly predictable, but appropriately striking and thunderous. (2018-12-16)

The best episode of the series so far. (2018-12-16)

The most personal season yet. Clearly, it needed to be put together a little differently, since the main character is already at the top of the career hierarchy. I can't help feeling that watching Frank climb through the ranks and ticking off the elimination of this or that potential and real adversary from his death list is more interesting than the family etudes and the more detailed delineation of the personal lives of a number of characters. On the other hand, maybe it's the right ingredient for proper depth and catharsis for the coming episodes. We’ll see. (2019-01-02)

An interesting and somewhat atypical opening episode, which seems to deliberately emphasize the supporting characters instead of the main one. Of course, Frank takes the main highlights for himself with his antics in the oval office. (2018-12-22)

The first manoeuvre of the main characters and it is already clear what the third season will be about – we have plenty to look forward to. If the first two seasons were about gaining power, the third will certainly be about maintaining and prolonging it. (2018-12-22)

A fascinating clash of two balanced players, two ideologies and two superpowers. It feels very close to reality; one of the best episodes. (2018-12-24)

An episode with a slightly religious rhetoric? For the sake of spice and specific symbolism, why not. Dunbar is again an excellent woman with balls, it will be interesting to watch her future clashes with the show's main star. (2018-12-24)

Almost pure satire and damn self-aware. An episode where nothing that serious happens, but probably very aptly reflects the current reality of political circles. And that is no small feat. (2018-12-24)

An emotional episode crowned by a phenomenal pragmatist-pragmatist and pragmatist-woman exchange that oozed emotion for the first time in a very long time, if not ever. Excellent. (2018-12-24)

Matchmaking and family etudes. Hopefully, this will be an exception. (2018-12-25)

A hurricane on the scene, but this episode doesn't really pull it off either. The tension and the pulling of strings has faded a bit. Doug saves the day. (2018-12-25)

A military feeling episode of a failed military intervention that will result in another high political game on the chessboard. (2018-12-25)

Lots of loose ends and lots of characters with question marks. It will be interesting to see how they reach the finish line. On the other hand, Frank and Viktor’s conversation – thumbs up. (2018-12-25)