House of Cards | Daredevil
The two Netflix produced shows, Daredevil and House of Cards, debuted their 2nd and 4th (respectively) seasons in March; and unlike the stereotypical 20-year-old in college I have a life outside of Netflix, so it took me a few weeks to watch them both. However, now that I have watched the 2nd season of Daredevil, and the 4th season of House of Cards, there has to be some discussion on these wildly entertaining shows. For the record, there are no spoilers.
I wouldn’t say that either of them are these massively original or award-worthy shows. That doesn’t mean they aren’t also incredibly entertaining and enjoyable to experience. Each, of course, isn’t anything like Master of None in that there isn’t much in terms of lighthearted exchanges, or cheery story lines that cause you to smile as you watch them unfold. Both, however, carry intense dialogue and compelling situations that make for entertaining television.
House of Cards hits the perfect note of political scheming and satire that I hope, and mostly believe, Washington D.C. is truly about, short of the murder. Frank Underwood is a vastly dramatic and brutal politician that desires political power and success over money and fame. The brightest spots of the show itself were the first few seasons when Frank and Clare were striving and grasping for White House power. At this point in the show, as the sitting president running for another term, he’s fighting against losing his place of power. Both are versions of the ruthless Frank Underwood, just a different type of ruthless.
Kevin Spacey’s character manages to be just as entertaining as the Democratic Majority Whip and the President of the United States. Of course, as president Frank can’t murder people like he apparently could as Whip, but he still plays manipulative and somewhat evil games to get what political power and leverage he wants. House of Cards especially hits home regarding the election cycle. The drama of this year’s election makes House of Cards look semi-normal. Give it a shot if you enjoy political satire, not All the Presidents Men style of satire, but still somewhat in the same vein of adding drama to Washington.
Daredevil on the other hand is just straight up amazing television. House of Cards succeeds in drama, and what I like to call the mob movie effect: putting the audience in an environment they’ve wondered about and like to make more dramatic than actually exists. There very well could be a name for that, I just don’t know it.
I absolutely loved Daredevil season one and two. I didn’t think there was any way that they follow-up season one with anything as good, and in my opinion season two is even better than season one. I’m not trying to be hot take guy with that opinion. The reasons season two was better to me are a result of a variety of things. One of them could be general bias. If someone who hadn’t seen any Daredevil watched season two, rated it, had their mind erased and then watched season one, and rated it, which would be better? Who knows. So the fact that I enjoyed the show meant that I was hoping it would be good. However, I also enjoy season one of Fear the Walking Dead, hoped that season two would be good, and its sucked so far. I admit that! See, I can be honest in my opinions.
Season two wasn’t just good because of its amazing action scenes, it was also good because of rich character development and environmental realism. New York felt raw, gritty, and small. There were scenes that showed the best aspects of New York, the closeness of a neighborhood, and the relationships developed there. It was somehow an enjoyable and relatable environment to be taken into despite its overall gritty nature.
The character depth of Electra and the Punisher were amazing. I don’t know how they juggled giving major roles to Electra and the Punisher throughout an entire season of TV without them feeling like they were the main stars. The obvious main star is Murdock, but it felt like either of Electra or the Punisher had enough depth once you finished the season that either of them could have been the star and you wouldn’t have known any better. The show juggled three incredibly large characters all while remaining light on their feet, and keeping their entire show’s story line interesting. It hardly ever felt stagnant. It was always moving from story line to story line, yet I never once felt as if I needed more depth from someone to care about them or understand why they were who they were.
I won’t spoil anything, because the storyline is amazing and so good it needs to be experienced going in (much like Murdock himself) blind. Thankfully Zack Snyder didn’t leak any storylines in the trailer and ruin it for anyone, so I won’t either.
