10 Problems With House Of Cards Nobody Wants To Admit
9. Nobody Cares About The Sub-Plots
The main meat of House Of Cards is the various interlocking machinations of Frank Underwood, as he manipulates and murders his way to the top of American politics. With an hour to kill in every episode (sorry, chapter), though, the show has to broaden its view a little to encompass characters other than Congressman Leghorn. Usually in the first season, at least that meant focussing on the parallel trajectory of Kate Mara's Zoe trying to make a name for herself in the world of political journalism, which mainly consisted of people yelling about blogs and social media and remindng people of All The President's Men. And when it wasn't Zoe, it was Claire Underwood. Robin Wright is probably the only actor you could get that would match Spacey's acting prowess. She's perfect casting. But nobody could give a monkeys about her B-plot stories. Something to do with clean water or NGOs or something? It doesn't seem to have much to do with her husband, or...well, anything.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
