House of Cards

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

My main hope for this season (I think it may already have jumped the shark by killing off the cokehead Congressman last season, alas) is that Underwood's plots actually fail for once. Right now he's basically a supervillain.

This

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Netflix should really stop trying to make original content, they're terrible at it.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Netflix should really stop trying to make original content, they're terrible at it.

No. If Netflix were a TV network, it would definitely be one of the better ones.

Nah, FX, HBO, Comedy Central, and AMC are the good ones.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Netflix should really stop trying to make original content, they're terrible at it.

You've clearly never watched OITNB.

Can't say that I have

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Netflix should really stop trying to make original content, they're terrible at it.

You tried too hard to jump onto the anti-HoC bandwagon that is forming here.

Personally, I wholeheartedly enjoyed it...

Lol, I stopped watching after Season 1 because of how bad the first season was and the only interesting character (that alcoholic Congressman Corey Stoll played) got killed off.  There may or may not be a bandwagon, but I've thought it was an awful show for a while.  I've also seen the British series, so I know how much better this material could've been done. 

I mean, I'm glad you like it and all, but I still haven't seen evidence Netflix can produce anything decent as far as original content goes.  I haven't seen OITNB, so I can't comment on that, but House of Cards was a disappointment (cringe-inducingly bad writing with a couple of good performances), Lillyhammer looked boring, the Netflix season of Arrested Development wasn't funny, and Hemlock Grove was one of the dumbest pieces of crap I've ever come across.  Maybe it's too early to render final judgement, but if House of Cards is the best they can do...

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Lilyhammer is great pastiche. Season 3 is partially over the top but the end has some compelling drama and seeing Bruce Springsteen as a hitman never wears off.

Bruce Springsteen isn't the hitman, it's the guy who played Silvio (Tony's consigliere) on The Sopranos.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

RIP Zoe Barnes

For some reason Zoe Barnes annoyed me

She was definitely the most annoying character, for sure.  Btw, have they gotten any more subtle about their product placement?  I seem to recall it being patheticly blatant in Season 1 with regard to video games.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

RIP Zoe Barnes

For some reason Zoe Barnes annoyed me

She was definitely the most annoying character, for sure.  Btw, have they gotten any more subtle about their product placement?  I seem to recall it being patheticly blatant in Season 1 with regard to video games.

I liked her at first, but the more she dug into Frank, the more I grew tired of her.

What annoyed me about her was:

1) She's pretty obnoxious in an uninteresting and unentertaining way.  It was grating.  When her boss gets fired for calling her a c**nt/bitch (I forget the exact word), it was hard to disagree with his assessment even if he was an idiot for calling her that to her face rather than just firing her or banishing her to a broom closet office until she quit.

2) It felt like about a third of her screen time was an excuse for the show to babble about how "OMG, interweb journalism is teh futurz!!!"

3) Worst of all, we're often told by other characters that she's a talented/up-and-coming reporter, but she never actually does anything to remotely demonstrate this.  It's like how characters on Homeland always babble about how "brilliant" Carrie is even though by any objective measure she's a crazy person who should've been fired early in the first season and is terrible at her job.  All Zoe Barnes actually does is have sex with a powerful member of Congress and prostitute her self for scoops (and is being used as an unwitting pawn by said Congressman).  She can't get any stories when she stops sleeping with Underwood.  Actually, now that I think about it, I can't think of any female reporters in the first season who occupy their position based on merit rather than who they sleep with.  This is a problem in and of itself.