Season two ‘House of Cards proves’ worthy

Photo by futureatlas.com, via flickr 

Michael Collado/Contributing Writer 

The first scene of Netflix’s “House of Cards” first episode shows Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) killing a dog. In season two, “House of Cards” dares to push Frank from antihero to fully fleshed villain. The result: “House of Cards” season two may very well be the most dismal 13 hours on television.

Every episode’s monotonous score and its slow fades only complement its dispiritedness. And yet, “House of Cards” is as every bit as thrilling as it was in season one.

“House of Cards” premiered its second season on Feb. 14. It’s a political thriller developed by Beau Willimon, most notable for writing “The Ides of March,” and adapted from a British series of the same name that features the most barbarous antihero on television, Frank Underwood.

Last year’s television landscape was oversaturated with antiheroes. The Walter Whites, the Don Drapers, the Hannibal Lecters, and to a lesser extent the Hannah Horvaths have consumed the pop culture conversation with their ruthlessness.

But Frank isn’t a terminal cancer patient seduced into building his empire, nor is he a cannibal serial killer. Yet somehow, the events that transpire on “House of Cards” are less believable than the debris of two planes crashing down on Walter White. He’s just a self-serving egomaniac.

And that’s OK. “House of Cards” is cartoonish. It’s a cold and sadistic depiction of those who run the Capitol.

Season two begins where season one left off. Frank is poised to become vice president, and Zoe Barnes is digging into the death of Peter Russo. A murderer is a heartbeat away from the presidency. But Frank can’t wait that long. Soon, everyone is backstabbing everyone. It’s “Dallas” for the bleak and dreary.

What in real life must be a boring back-and-forth of conversations, “House of Cards” injects a sense of welcome mischief. Season two brings in some newcomers, the best of which is Jacqueline Sharp (Molly Parker) as Frank’s successor and sometimes-unwilling puppet.

The second season also breathes a bit more; if there is one thing “House of Cards” does well, besides its commitment to being grim, is giving glimpses inside the lives of its peripheral characters.

You might empathize with them, but nothing is as satisfying as Frank coming out the victor.

Though if there is but one issue with season two, it’s the lack of consequences Frank faces. Everything feels too easy. You might actually yearn that Frank gets some due comeuppance toward the end of the season.

Even with the additions, “House of Cards” is still playing with its original characters. Here, the most notable is Claire Underwood, played by Robin Wright who won a Golden Globe for the role last month. Alongside Frank, Claire is every bit as cold and calculating, but at least reveals emotions that make her human. It’s because of this that she’s a much more charismatic element to the show. Where season one had both Underwoods doubting each other, this season is about them working together to take their throne.

And though you might think it crass to root for Frank, nothing will stop you from reveling in every step Claire decides to take. Together, they’re the best mustache-twirling power couple on television.

“The Americans,” a show on FX about a married couple who are also Soviet spies, premieres its second season this week. And ABC’s frothy soap “Scandal” begins the latter half of its third season this week, too. HBO’s “Veep,” a relentless comedy, but one about a vice president vying for power, returns sometime this spring. All display their own version of the political antihero. “House of Cards” is after something much more sinister.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes “House of Cards” so compelling. It’s a spectacle in highbrow form, a fantasy of what happens behind closed doors in Washington. Perhaps we enjoy watching politicians rummaging through murderous muck, watching Frank Underwood use everyone as his chess game pawns, as an escape, a contrast from the stalemate of Washington politics. Even if it follows a villain ripped from a comic book, “House of Cards” is a pulpy thriller.

And its ability to dig under the flesh is unparalleled.

 life@fiusm.com