A few weeks back, Netflix fired a major salvo in its battle to establish itself as a major player in the original content market (its first original TV series, Lillyhammer, debuted in 2012 to little fanfare). The streaming delivery service stepped up its game with House Of Cards, a new political drama featuring high-powered stars like Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, and overseen by writer Beau Willimon and director/executive producer David Fincher. Netflix reportedly spent $100 million on two seasons of the show (the second season is set to begin production this spring), and every penny is visible on screen–House Of Cards most closely resembles the high quality of the most prestigious HBO series, in both its tone and its execution. But in the increasingly competitive world of cable drama, where networks like AMC, FX, and Showtime continue to raise the stakes with innovative, challenging programming, can House Of Cards compete? Perhaps a better question is, with Netflix’s bargain-basement pricing structure of eight bucks a month, and all thirteen episodes of a season being made available to subscribers simultaneously, do they even need to?
Adapted from a 1990 BBC series, House Of Cards stars Spacey (who also produces) as Frank Underwood, a conniving Majority Whip who prides himself on being one of the premier power brokers in the Washington influence game. When the new President he helped get elected passes him over for a coveted Secretary of State position, Frank puts into motion a long-range revenge scheme that will satisfy his thwarted ambition. It takes several episodes for the details to emerge but Frank’s scheme involves a lot of pushing people around like pieces on a chessboard, including a hungry young journalist (Kate Mara, sister of Rooney), an idealistic, alcoholic congressman (Corey Stoll), and even his own wife, Claire (Wright), who heads up the Washington-based Clean Water Initiative.
Much like the HBO shows it clearly aspires to emulate, House Of Cards rewards viewer patience. Frank’s master plan is very much the focus of the first few episodes, but it soon takes a backseat to individual stories about the back-and-forth of Washington politics, not to mention the equally intricate politics of Frank and Claire’s marriage. The series loses a bit of momentum around the middle as a result, but the true scope of Frank’s plan emerges in the final three episodes, and we can see that much of what has seemed incidental at this point is, in fact, all part of the bigger game. Fincher directed the first two episodes, with later entries helmed by former Spacey collaborators like James Foley (Glengarry Glen Ross) and Joel Schumacher (A Time To Kill), and even Sopranos veteran Allen Coulter. The style established by Fincher in the early episodes is maintained throughout thanks to the crisp cinematography of Eigil Bryld and Tim Ives, and the thoughtful art direction of Steve Arnold. Spacey is excellent as usual, sporting a snide southern accent and breaking the fourth wall often to address the audience directly–a storytelling trick that might have come off as a silly gimmick, but instead manages to elevate Frank Underwood to the status of a Shakespearean rogue. The entire cast rises to the challenge and there isn’t a bad performer in the bunch, but special attention is due to Stoll; his Peter Russo is frustratingly human in his weakness, becoming the show’s unlikely moral center. Russo damns himself almost immediately, but Stoll makes you want to see him redeem himself.
In the current age of binge-watching, made possible by DVD box sets, iTunes, and, of course, Netflix, House Of Cards has an edge on the traditional weekly TV model. Where, say, a traditionally-aired show might bleed viewers if the show’s creators take too long getting to the point from one week to another (this kind of deliberate pacing killed promising series like HBO’s Rome and AMC’s Rubicon), the all-at-once delivery system Netflix has opted for allows fans to plow through the entire season at their own pace. With a series like this one that’s focused on long-range plotting, this is a handy way of getting around storytelling fatigue. It’s unclear how the success of this model can be measured–Netflix has refused to release any actual numbers regarding new subscribers, although they have claimed that House Of Cards is their most-streamed program right now (beaten out only by a few high-profile movie offerings). These questions will continue to linger as more original Netflix series are doled out (the Eli Roth-created Hemlock Grove debuts in April, and May will see the long-awaited, Netflix-exclusive relaunch of Arrested Development). But given the much-deserved buzz around House Of Cards, it’s looking like the gamble has paid off.