House of Cards (season 1)

Main Cast: Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll, Michael Kelly, Kristen Connolly, Sakina Jaffrey;

Kevin Spacey is Frank Underwood, devious and machiavellian Congressman of South Carolina and House Majority Whip for the Democrats. After being blind-sided by the newly elected president and denied the position of Secretary of State, he decides to seek revenge with the help and support of his equally cunning and ruthless wife Claire (Robin Wright), head of an environmental NGO. Frank is also aided in his enterprise by faithful right-hand/consiglieri Doug (Micheal Kelly) who is not afraid of doing the dirty work, and ambitious, “new-media” journalist Zoe (Kate Mara), with whom he strikes a quid-pro-quo deal. Peter Russo (Corey Stoll), the rookie Congressman from Pennsylvania, is volunteered to participate in Frank’s game, well… more a “he received an offer he couldn’t refuse” type of situation. We see the characters move in this world of political maneuvering, back-room bargains and shady compromises, quite stunning in its infinite shades of gray. I haven’t seen a show this impressive since The Wire (well… Boardwalk Empire comes very close). The acting is brilliant and Kevin Spacey reaches an incredible level of bravura, and I love his breaking-the-fourth-wall monologues! The cinematography and the directing is top-notch, I’ll just say that the first two episodes have David Fincher at the helm. Last but not least the writers, chief among them the creator of the series Beau Willimon (The Ides of March rings a bell?), don’t drop the ball for a moment and keep you wondering about Frank’s end game. So if you like political drama, gritty and dark with a healthy dose of cynicism, this is for you, if not… well, it’s your loss. —9/10