By: Joe Suszczynski
Season one of “House of Cards” blew up on Netflix, making it an instant hit. The show was nominated for numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards, only to end up winning said awards in their respective categories – for both the Emmys and Golden Globes. Now, Frank Underwood and company are back for seasons two of the series.
To avoid giving any major spoilers away, assume that season two picks up right after the last episode of season one ended. Frank (Spacey) is now faced with new challenges in front of him in order to achieve his goals. Sub plots involve his wife, Claire (Wright), along with some of his staff members (Michael Kelly & Derek Cecil), who have their own issues to deal with, in addition to a new character, just introduced into the series: Congresswoman Jacqueline Sharp (Molly Parker).
Season two blows season one out of the water in terms of acting, story and directing. The cast really capitalized off of the first seasons unexpected success as one of Netflix’s few original series’.
Kevin Spacey does it again with his performance as Frank Underwood. He takes his character to entirely new depths that viewers will not be expecting out of him. Wright does a great job playing Frank (Spacey’s) wife, who has issues of her own and deals with them competently, along with Michael Kelly, who serves as Underwood’s chief of staff, Doug Stamper. The additional cast deserves much credit to the shows added excitement: the actors and actresses that recently joined the series – because they did a great job in their respected roles.
The story is wonderfully penned. The first episode hits you like a tank after you see what carnage happens from the fallout of the last episode of the first season. From then on it just snowballs into something bigger, making for the first episode to seem insignificant. The writers really knew how to strategically ramp up the suspense and thrill levels in season two, with all the twists and turns that occur throughout Frank’s handling of certain adversaries he faces.
The directing was superb because, like the first season, the show uses multiple directors for different episodes. All the directors, including Robin Wright who directed episode nine, do a fantastic job directing these episodes. We really witness the grittiness of politics and how low some politicians have to sink to make a deal. The directors also make certain shots and cuts to really emphasize Frank’s quest for power by showing him in different poses at certain camera angles especially the final shot in the last episode; it’s quite gripping and memorable.
If you’ve have Netflix and have seen the first season of “House of Cards”, than I would highly recommend watching season two. If you haven’t seen season one, then I would suggest watching the show chronologically, because you’ll be greatly confused about what is happening if not. Numerous aspects of this show are outstanding; the only problem is that now there is another year until season three, the show will leave you yearning to see what happens next.