House Of Cards: Every Season Ranked Worst To Best

House of Cards took its final bow last month, with a delayed, reworked, and shortened final season of eight episodes wrapping up the story of Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) following her ascension to the Presidency previously held by her husband Frank (Kevin Spacey).

Though the legacy of the series has been heavily tainted by its association with Spacey, who was fired from the show following the wave of sexual abuse allegations that were raised against him last year, it cannot be understated just how much of an impact it has had on shaping and redefining the medium of television as we know it. The first season was a huge gamble for Netflix given that they had yet to commission an original drama series before, their only experience in the field being their co-production of the Norwegian-American drama Lilyhammer.

Fast forward five years and the streaming platform is one of the biggest players in the world of entertainment, with hundreds of original series and films under their belt. It could be argued that they now favour quantity over quality, given how only a handful of these (such as Stranger Things and a couple of their Marvel adaptations) have garnered a popular and critical reception comparable to House of Cards. Regardless, every one of their media competitors has stepped up their game in response.

Looking back at Cards now that it is finally finished, how do its six seasons stack up?

House of Cards definitely adhered to the law of diminishing returns over time and it eventually became more shocking when a few episodes went by without there being some sort of major twist or revelation, desensitising viewers. Both Frank and Claire had become quite one dimensional by the time that season five rolled around, frequently seeming to be diabolical for the sake of it rather than for the 'greater good' in the pursuit of their ambitions.

It has the highest body count of any season, but Tom Yates had long become a joke by the time Claire poisoned him, his schoolboy-like fawning over her having become more and more ludicrous with each passing episode. Aidan Macallan (Damian Young) and Leann Harvey (Neve Campbell) never felt like more than bit-part players and the former's Edward Snowden-esque arc felt rather forced.

On the living front, Will Conway (Joel Kinnamon's) eventual meltdown in the face of Frank's employment of voter suppression and terrorist activity to manipulate their election seemed very out of character even if it had been gradually hinted that he wasn’t as perfect as he seemed, whilst several new forgettable additions to the cast (such as Alex Romero and Sean Jeffries) couldn't even make the cut for season six.

The ending was admittedly intriguing, though it seemed farfetched that Frank would engineer his own downfall to accelerate Claire's career. Ultimately we’ll never know how this was supposed to pan out given the Spacey situation.