House of Cards (2013) TV series

Starring: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Justin Doescher, Derek Cecil, Nathan Darrow, Mark Falvo, Jayne Atkinson, Lamont Easter, Mahershala Ali, Paul Sparks, Gary Ayash, Neve Campball, Gerald McRaney, Campbell Scott, Patricia Clarkson

More info: IMDb

Plot: A Congressman works with his equally conniving wife to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

Seriously, watch the first five minutes and that's all you need to see if you're going to like this or not.  Those few minutes define what you're in for with such ease that it's brilliant.  This is great political drama.  It crosses the line every once in a while and challenges my suspension of disbelief but it's mostly grounded in what feels like reality.  Frank and Claire (Spacey and Wright) behave in ways that we suspect our elected politicians do but hope they don't.   The writing, acting, score, etc. are superb and except for one big thing, and all of that is consistent throughout the series (I've seen the entire show).  SPOILERS...  The show is at its best until Frank becomes President.  Then instead of his and Claire's hunger to do whatever it takes to get the top job, they now have to do whatever it takes to keep it.  That changes the dynamic and things get stranger and more complicated and, as a casualty, less interesting.  I guess you can attribute that to being "it's the journey, not the destination".  It's still a very good show and worth staying through to the end.

I wrote this up (and scheduled ahead) a couple of months ago, days after Spacey's sexual assault allegations went public.  Netflix suspended production of season six, the final season.  Netflix severed ties with Spacey.  It seems as if the show is dead but I'm optimistic they are simply taking a breather to regroup, re-write season six without Frank and continue for that final (or more) season.  The way season five ended it wouldn't be that difficult to have Frank killed off.  I can see a scenario where that could actually work to the show's benefit.  Or it could all be over just like that and five seasons is all we get.  Regardless, I still have the two seasons of the UK show this is based on plus three great seasons of this version and two very good seasons on top of that...and that's good.  Fuck you, Kevin Spacey, for being so good at your job and so horrible of a human being!