House of Cards

There was an article in the newspaper on Saturday trying to explain why all of a sudden people like to watch series that revolve mostly around 'bad guys'. It somehow went from the black-and-white villain world of Lord of the Rings, via the Cold War, to the current 'everyone's a shade of grey' thinking. Which to me still doesn't explain why people like to watch stuff like the Red Wedding scene; there is nothing grey or 'in the middle' about that one. Bad guys are generally still bad guys, the good guys are the good guys. Combined with an article I read today about how Captain America is the only moral beacon left in an otherwise corrupted and confused world, I had to conclude that we still tend to over-analyse things. If people want to watch series like Dexter or Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones, let them. There are also loads of people still watching Friends reruns or sobbing about the HIMYM finale, so it's not really like the world has changed that much. (The one thing they did get right was that paid networks like HBO or Netflix do not have to cater to the taste of lots of people because they don't rely on advertisers, so they can experiment more and therefore make more daring series. But that doesn't really say anything about the 'spirit of the times' except that it's still all about money.)

Anyway, one of the series mentioned was House of Cards, which we have been watching for quite a while (no, we don't have Netflix, yes, downloading was legal until 2 days ago, yes, we downloaded all of it before it became illegal). I've visited Washington, even took a tour of the Capitol, which makes me go 'been there!' every other minute, which is always nice (it also made me notice the horrible inconsistency in the opening scenes of Captain America: Winter Soldier, but that's a whole other thing). Other than that, there isn't much I can relate to. I'm not that much into politics, or lobbying, or fund raising, or journalism, and even less into playing games and manipulating people. Still, it's a great series to watch. And the article I mentioned got me thinking: why do I like to watch this?
Firstly, of course, because everybody is watching it. I've been getting Postcrossing cards for months with people saying "I watched House of Cards today - it's great!" from Canada, India, Latvia, and everywhere in between. Most of my colleagues are also watching, with whispered information and reactions passed on during the breaks (whispered not because we're ashamed, but because some people will shout "No spoilers!" if you talk too loud). It's a group thing, because everybody is talking about it.
But it's more than that. Also... the acting is great. I am really starting to loathe Kevin Spacey, which means he must be doing something right. But the plot is great too: I'm curious as to what crazy thing he's going to do next - he must be satisfied with what he's got at some point, right? But no, he's off again, aiming higher, going further, manipulating more.
And then there is that nagging feeling of 'Could this be real?', generally immediately followed by 'No, it can't be real! Right?'. Is this the hidden world of politics? Is this how things really work? Is this what politicians really think of 'the common man'?
Funnily enough, they don't really do cliffhangers. The end of season one was as un-cliffhangeresque as you'll ever see. Nothing was really happening, no 'who killed JR' moment, just people jogging in the park. Most episodes also wrap up nicely; the main problem or problems have been resolved, most people have gotten one step closer to their goals, some people have been diverted or confused a bit more, and everybody is happy. But still, you want to see the next one. You want to know what happens next. Amazing, when you think about the lack of suspense at the end of an episode.

So I'll have to conclude that it's great writing, great acting, and a slightly voyeuristic 'behind the scenes' feel that make me hooked. And that will be my stint of over-analysis for the day, time to watch another episode!