House of Cards Season 2 Review: Netflix Show Gets Positive Early Review

House of Cards Season 2 Review: Netflix Show Gets Positive Early Review
(Netflix)
Zachary Stieber
1/30/2014
Updated:
7/18/2015

The House of Cards season 2--set for a February 14, 2014 release date--has gotten a positive early review, plus an interesting cast update.

Brian Lowry of Variety was able to view the upcoming season and said that season two generally proceeds the same way as season one, “exhibiting a show with abundant strengths–foremost among them Kevin Spacey’s showy performance as an unscrupulous politician–but also underplayed weaknesses, including a continuing failure to present its scheming protagonist with equally matched foes.”

“Dense and smart, ‘Cards’ is still partially skating by on reputation – and for Netflix’s purposes, that’s good enough,” he added.

Without dropping spoilers because of nondisclosure agreements on the upcoming season, Lowry did reveal new information--Molly Parker, a newcomer to the cast, will be playing a young congressman.

“As usual, Underwood goes about the business of charming, cajoling and coercing those he must bend to his will,” Lowry writes. Parker “is no slouch in that department, either,” he said.

Lowry does emphasize that season 2 doesn’t bring a powerful protagonist, with no one in Washington D.C. seeming to recognize Underwood’s ruthlessness and trying to combat it--including the sitting president or the president’s billionaire confidant.

Other new information includes that multiple D.C. journalists make cameos.

“In short, the show remains an intriguing mixed bag – albeit one that has already yielded ample dividends to its distributor in terms of publicity and, when paired with subsequent offerings like ‘Orange in the New Black,’ establishing Netflix’s credibility as another premium TV service,” Lowry concluded.

“Like its fictional pol, Netflix also managed to achieve all that while largely keeping its cards close to the vest in regard to the show’s popular vote count. In D.C. or TV terms, that’s what you call a winning ticket.”

Zachary Stieber is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times based in Maryland. He covers U.S. and world news. Contact Zachary at [email protected]
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