House of Cards — Series 2: Episodes 1, 2 and 3

You know, I have to admit to being up, comparatively late.

The night before I go back to work.

But … ?

Well, I wanted to tell you about a bad habit of mine.

Oh, nothing MAJOR.

It’s I’ve got a bad habit of binge-watching TV box sets.

And thought I’d share … !

~≈†≈~

You’re possibly aware I’m a Dr Who fan: and have been for many years.   You’ll probably ALSO aware I’ve watched, and enjoyed, the first two series of Penny Dreadful.

You’ll possibly ALSO realise I’d caught the first series of the Netflix version of House of Cards: and wrote about how much I enjoyed it.

Well … I managed — tonight — to finally start watching series two.

Oooooh … 

~≈†≈~

Directly following the climax of Series 1, Episode 1 of Series 2 shows us Frank Underwood and wife, Claire — Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright — jogging through a local park: after Frank hard been named as Vice President of the United State.   The episode reminds us EXACTLY how ruthless Frank is: as, on finding former lover, and reported, Zoe Barnes — Kate Mara — has evidence he killed Congressman Peter Russo, Frank pushes the hapless reporter in front of a train.   It also sees Barnes grief-stricken lover, Lucas — Sebastian Arcelus — picking up the story, convinced she’s been muredered by Frank.   In addition, Frank sets in motion a plan to ensure that Jackie Sharp — Molly Parker — is named as his successor as Democrat party whip.

Episode 2 sees Lucas deciding to try and access the Deep Web, in order to find a hacker who can access Frank’s phone records for the details that will show Frank knew Zoe: AND killed her her, after things between them went bad.   It also sees Frank engineering the collapse of trade talks with China: in order to frustrate businessman Ray Tusk (Gerald McRaney).

Episode 3 shows us us President Walker trying to put together a State of the Union address: whilst Frank attempts to build a compromise with the Republicans, in an upcoming Senate vote.   It also sees Lucas contacted by Gavin Orsay — Jimmi Simpson — a hacker who claims to be able to access Zoe Barnes phone records.   

~≈†≈~

Now, I’ll happily admit to being slightly rushed, watching these episodes: helping a friend understand kernel panics*, and how to deal with them from an end user viewpoint.

But … ?

Series 2 of House of Cards looks like it’s opened up in a very strong way.

Cast, crew and writers?

Are back in action.

And frankly?

I think buying the box set was a sound investment.

*        Kernel panics are something to keep an eye open for, if using a Mac: or any other computer with a Unix derived OS.   If I’ve understood things correctly, panics usually happen when various bits of software or hardware interact badly with each other.   Usually, the simplest remedy to prevent them happening frequently is a Safe reboot.   Again, assuming I’ve understood things correctly, this re-sets the buggy software or hardware.