Much to say about this series. I'll save the spoilers until the end. First, some comparisons between the US and UK versions, in general (non-spoilerish) terms.
The lead characters, both named Francis, are played by expert actors. I could easily see them living side by side in the same reality, but the two are very different characters. America's Francis is introspective and has more than a little bit of doubt. Also, by virtue of the number of episodes, he finds himself distracted by inconsequential things. The UK's FU is a staunch conservative, but the America's FU is a Southern Democrat. The most crucial difference is that the farther you get into the two respective shows, the less fun America's Francis seems to have. The UK FU revels in being conniving and duplicitous -- revenge is a game to him, and he is a master of the game. Mrs. Urquhart and Mrs. Underwood are as dissimilar as two characters could be. Mrs. Urquhart is Lady Macbeth, constantly breathing fire into her husband's ear, puffing him up, and even berating him on the ultra-rare instances when FU is shaken. Mrs. Underwood, however, operates largely independently of her husband, still doing things for him but resenting that his ambitions trump hers. In the UK series, the Urquharts have the same ambitions, both working to bolster FU because it suits them both to do so. The two reporters, Matty (UK) and Zoey (US) share many attributes. It isn't a spoiler to reveal they have an affair with their respective Francis. They both banter with Francis, and Francis leaks them information that serves his interest. Kate Mara, who plays Zoey, is the actress Katie Holmes THINKS she is. The differences between Matty and Zoey highlight why I have praise for Mara -- because her character Zoey isn't half as capable as Matty. Both reporter characters don't know the extent to which FU is using them, but Zoey doesn't seem to know the political arena she is covering, beyond the fact politics is involved. Neither character is naive, but Zoey is far less savvy than Matty. Matty knew the players; Zoey does not. Matty had one guy on a part-time basis helping to topple the "House of Cards" in the UK (and the guy in question was basically just there so Matty could provide exposition without talking to herself), but Zoey has a team who ought to have been driving around in a panel van with the words "Mystery Machine" on the sides. Kate Mara manages to take a sort of scaled back role and do amazing things with it. Stamper exists in both shows as FU's right-hand man. In the US series, the character is expanded and we get to see him constantly proving his worth. The character is not unlike John Cusack's role in the movie "City Hall." That the Stamper role becomes more than just a yes-man is actually enjoyable. The series is beautifully shot, even the darker parts of DC resonate. The music is a bit over-the-top at times, but so was the music in the UK series. Always nice to see Robin Wright flex her acting muscle -- as I understand it she chose to step away from her career years ago, which is too bad considering some of the crappy actresses who seemed to rise after she faded away. Now, some spoiler-filled comments... S P O I L E R S The UK's FU would chew up and spit out the US FU without blinking. In fact, he probably wouldn't bother, considering the highlighted failures we see in the US series, the UK FU would see it as a waste of time -- he might have saddled his Stamper with the task. Both begin with a betrayal, and both begin with FU vowing revenge, yet when the US Francis is betrayed by his wife halfway through the season, there is no such vow. Of course, her betrayal ultimately served his interests, but it felt odd the character would tacitly accept someone close to him causing him pain. I could not have been less interested in Mrs. Underwood's storyline. If, by the season's end, we discovered there had been a secret purpose to her piddling around at the non-profit organization, that would have been something. Instead it felt like padding material to turn what was a four hour series into a 13 hour series. Speaking of padding, the entire alma-mater episode was a standalone that in no way moved the story forward. FU had a gay relationship with a former roommate... so? Netflix wanted their first original series to be groundbreaking. They brought in big names behind and in front of the cameras. Which is why I can't figure out why certain things seemed so watered down compared to the UK series. Francis Urquhart was a hate-filled racist, sexist, antisemitic, power-hungry tyrant, yet viewers rooted for him, liking him in a similar yet different way than we liked Archie Bunker. Francis Underwood merely seemed out for revenge... until he kills, he is just another back-stabbing politician. You shouldn't want to root for the UK FU, but there's no reason not to root for the US one. When Francis Underwood murders a man, it isn't even made fully clear that Mrs. Underwood knows. By stark contrast, Mrs. Urquhart waves goodbye to the man her husband poisons, and can't help but think she whispered the idea into her ear. For those who never saw the UK series, it is a non-issue. For me, it was jarring, like Lady MacBeth being unaware of what MacBeth was doing. Another example where they softened the edges was that though both shows featured a cocaine and alcohol addict, the UK series had him ask his true love/assistant to whore herself out on his behalf, but the US series created a separate call girl character and made the addict the one to engage in sexual misconduct. In America, he hurt himself, but he never asked her to compromise herself. It isn't required, but it makes the characters blander. It felt like we were supposed to like the characters more in the US version, and it is never explained why. The ending to what Netflix is clearly hoping is just the first of many seasons royally pissed me off. There was no ending. There was a fucking cliffhanger. When I saw husband and wife dressed in black to go out jogging, my secret hope was that they would finally work together to remove all the people standing in their way, under cover of darkness, because the UK duo certainly would have. But instead we just see them jog away, leaving us to wonder if they will be victorious. I realize the original novel ends very differently, but one of the things that made the UK "House of Cards" TV series so compelling is that the bad guy wins in the end, and the audience liked that. It is a rare dichotomy -- sometimes the bad guys win, but I can't think of another time when they did so to the audience's collective delight. The narrative they used worked amazingly... by cheering on FU's initial steps/victories, by the time he gets really sinister, he turns to the camera and tells you -- the viewer -- that you knew he was a bad guy all along, and that you were a part of it. I always felt converting "House of Cards" to the US would have been an interesting intellectual exercise... expanding it to 13 episodes, then not really ending the series at all would not have been my choice. The darker tone would not have been my choice. Seeing Zoey in the white dress would have been my choice. Getting a better understanding of Stamper's character was a great choice. Had Netflix merely centered a Washington DC drama on original characters, I doubt it would have generated as much interest for me (and probably not for international audiences, either). -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. 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