Frank Underwood: House of Cards and the Fourth Wall.

    House of Cards is a hit Netflix Original Series that has run from 2013 and released it's third season on Netflix as of last February. It revolves around Frank Underwood (played by Kevin Spacey) a corrupt and often maniacal politician in Washington doing anything he can to get on top. The show itself is great for so many reasons, blocking, sound, color; but I think what really grabs people's attention is the fourth wall breaks (breaks from the story directed at the audience) periodically scattered across the show. Here's a quick video to demonstrate.

   
      Fourth wall breaks, to me, are typically found in comedies and typically movie, not TV shows. The classic fourth wall break can be seen in movies like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Space Balls, Annie Hall, ect...But to see these breaks in television I think was a new experience for me and here's why it works.
     They allow us into the world of Frank Underwood, it gives us his moves and his plays before his opponents know what's coming. By allowing this we also start to sympathize with an almost unlikeable character. It also doesn't come across as cheesy or overdone. This show has a very Shakespearean storytelling style to it, and as actors often broke the fourth wall in plays to give monologues Frank Underwood masterfully does the same in this show.
     Fourth wall breaks are an technique that can only really work when it is used tastefully and well. If it isn't the audience won't receive it. House of Cards manages to do this in the best way I have seen in a long time not only drawing us into the story more but propelling a narrative in a more interesting way.

Props to Netflix

Recently Netflix has become its very own network of original series. Combined with the endless amounts of series it already has streaming, it has started to produce its very own media.
For example its hit series Orange is the New Black and House of Cards have been the frontrunners for Netflix's original series.  Both of which have caught the eyes of millions of viewers worldwide. Both of which have also managed to become award winning series.

But what I really love about Netflix is their work with the Trailer Park Boys series. Trailer Park Boys is a comedic mockumentary about a drug dealer and his friends living in a trailer park in Canada trying to make it out of poverty. The series has been around for 8 seasons and has made multiple movies before making its debut on Netflix. In my opinion the 9th and most recent season which was produced by Netflix is by far the best. This season offers the best quality videography and editing as well as writing.  

 

Things are changing in the way of watching television. Just about every show and season of that show can be seen on Netflix. Viewers much prefer the instant and on demand style of watching television and Netflix is taking advantage of that.  Watch for Netflix to start producing even more original series for us to watch. 

House of Cards Part One: The Parts to Like

So on my 22^nd birthday, I got a package from my girlfriend. I was at the age when I wasn't expecting too much, just happy to get something. Hopes for something cool and mysterious were not high but there were there. I opened it up. It was the second season of House of Cards on DVD.

A cheeky grin and a hushed string of expletives followed.

See, around episode eleven of House of Cards, I decided a casual distaste for the show would not suffice and I would instead need to take upon myself a rather fiery, impassioned crusade that involved spewing overly-analytical bile upon any person who crossed my path with even a vaguely informed positive impression of the show, a mindset that would win me no friends but a whole series of very, very casual acquaintances that probably wouldn’t mind not seeing me again. I made this clear to Ms. Ryan O’Leary and perhaps labored upon the point a tad too often because a week later all talk of House of Cards was banned. A few months later, smartass little bastard, she had a joke at my expense with my birthday gift.

House of Cards came into play with perfect timing. People are dissatisfied with the wallowing cesspool of greed and incompetence that defines the government, with 75% of people expressing dissatisfaction with the direction of America and Congressional approval ratings at an all time low. And yet at the same time there is also a distinct absence of mainstream entertainment willing to address this unease. It was Kevin Spacey’s first big project since we, as a people, realized we missed Kevin Spacey. Also, acclaimed director David Fincher’s first foray into television after a wildly successful career in film. All this delivered to viewers via Netflix’s revolutionary bulk delivery of episodes, an innovation not unlike when HBO first debuted The Sopranos fifteen years ago without commercials but with boobs and fucks and blood. Yes, House of Cards had the narrative of innovation and singularity behind it to be considered for entry into the Pantheon alongside the other greats such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men. And Deadwood if you pretend it has an ending, which I do, and Twin Peaks if you ignore the ending, which I don’t. Honorable mentions to Hill Street Blues for kicking it all off though. That show gets something like a plaque on the wall or they name the whole building after it.

Anyway.

House of Cards, in case the reader is unaware, is about a Congressman with a nice southern drawl but probably a penis a couple sizes too small for his liking cause he sure works hard to compensate for something we’re never really made aware of by ruining a variety of lives until he reigns supreme and powerful at the top of it all, named Frank Underwood. Slighted and angered when he’s denied the promised position as Secretary of State by the administration, he crafts an elaborate plot to attain revenge and power. Shenanigans follow.

There was a lot to like as I started watching. Sometimes, to marvel at. Spacey as Frank Underwood kills it, giving him a somehow simultaneous edge of camp and malevolence. Robin Wright, as his wife Claire, is just as good, though Claire is not given nearly enough interesting material for Robin to shine as much as she could. Of the bunch though, the stand out is Corey Stoll as an alcoholic congressman looking to clean up his act for the big time named Peter Russo. For the first few episodes he was the only actor of the ensemble to ever make feel any emotions, but that’s more due to the character than anything. The plot machinations can be hit or miss, but there are certain moments and episodes that offer a real cathartic look at just how dreadfully fucked government can be. On a technical level, the cinematography is a pitch perfect collection of dull grays and blues that bring to mind for whatever reason a cold unexpectedly caught on a cloudy summer day or a dreary day spent in a hospital room when it’s raining outside but for some reason you leave the window open. It’s a perfect match for the cynicism that underpins every facet of the show.

All this added up to a good show. In its strongest moments, a really good show. But as I kept watching, I still felt a distance. When a TV show hits me, it burrows into my gut and rests there. I’ll spend countless hours, though only really countless because I don’t care to know how much time I’m wasting on this shit, reading, understanding, analyzing, rewatching the parts I can’t quite let go of. And it wasn’t happening with House of Cards. But it was with everyone else. Next week, I'll get into what wasn't clicking with me. 

The Evolution of Netflix

Over the past several years, Netflix has revolutionized the way people watch television.  As with most fledgling companies, it took Netflix several years to carve out a niche in the video rental industry. In 2000, only three years after Netflix was founded, video rental behemoth Blockbuster turned down the opportunity to purchase the company for a mere $50 million. However, as the 21^st century progressed, Netflix emerged as a viable contender to companies like Blockbuster. Unlike many of its competitors, Netflix embraced emerging technology that made provided more convenient ways to view movies and television shows. As brick and mortar stores diminished and streaming became popular, Netflix flourished while most of their competition diminished.

Although they started solely as a video rental service, Netflix quickly evolved into an unprecedented medium of media. A significant part of this evolution began in 2011, when Netflix announced that it would be acquiring original content for its streaming service. In 2013, House of Cards became the first original series to stream on Netflix, receiving critical acclaim. In many ways, Netflix’s new business model models that of HBO’s pay-tv model. Interestingly, in October of this year, Netflix passed HBO in the number of paid U.S. subscribers.

With thousands of older television shows and movies alongside original series, Netflix has caused some individuals to leave their cable providers. Along with the ability to binge watch series, Netflix is changing viewer’s expectations for watching television.  However, the television industry isn’t the only industry that may feel the effects of Netflix’s business model. Just last week, the company is considering releasing films on Netflix and in the theaters on the same day. Although such a plan is likely years off, its repercussions would be huge. With movie attendance already seeing a decline, Netflix is in a unique position to change the future of the industry.