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6 Reasons To Watch House Of Cards

After being speculated about for what felt like years, Netflix finally released its first original series House of Cards last week. It’s garnering tons of attention for a number of reasons. Perhaps the standout reason for its publicity is that it marks Netflix’s first foray into the realm of original programming, a big deal for a site that formerly dealt exclusively in streaming other movies and TV shows. In a way, it follows the same model as HBO, which began as a channel designed to play movies, as indicated by the name Home Box Office. It was later that it became the beacon of high quality original programming that other channels have only recently begun to emulate. Netflix now looks to follow a similar path, and many are looking to House of Cards as well as the return of Arrested Development as indicators of the level of quality television that Netflix will contribute to the current golden era of TV shows.

[h2]2: The leads and supporting performances are great[/h2]

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The casting in this show is phenomenal. The lead role of Francis Underwood played by Kevin Spacey is obviously excellent, as anyone would expect of an actor with a track record like Spacey’s. The supporting cast is all equally strong though. Kate Mara as the journalist Zoe is outstanding, making the character someone you, like everyone in her life, underestimate, but then surprises you with some really big moments. Corey Stoll, who I only really know as Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris but has built a pretty impressive résumé on stage and screen, is absolutely terrific as Congressman Pete Russo, possibly my favorite performance.

Another fabulous actor who has only really done small character work previously is Michael Kelly, playing a behind the scenes staffer to Underwood which aligns nicely with the actor’s actual professional career. And then there’s Robin Wright as Claire Underwood, wife of Francis, disappearing into the role as she’s been doing rather often lately. It’s an ensemble that lives up to the somewhat demanding but meaty material of the show, able to keep you on your toes and bring this Washington setting to life, even if it’s not meant to be entirely realistic.

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