Kártyavár

Joel Kinnaman is a good action actor, but emotionally he can't quite deliver, at least for now; and not only because he’s lagging behind Frank by leaps and bounds. Another half-dead episode, which makes the fifth season so far a futile search for a face. (2019.01.07)

A solid dramatisation of the situation around the elections. This season’s first dynamic episode. (2019.01.07)

Let's hope the second half picks up the pace. So far, the weakest first half of any season. (2019.01.07)

For the way some of the plot lines are dissected in detail, there is a leap forward in feeling by at least 2 episodes. I even checked to see if I had skipped any episodes. A bit hard to understand, but a very sensible move for the overall concept of the fifth season, and one that certainly won't lose its suspense. (2019.01.16)

Atypical. The bunker scenes are very interesting and the episode is quite atypical, something refreshing in a time of underhanded tactics and electoral intrigue. (2019.01.16)

A peculiar episode from the woods that lacks the dynamism and urgent spark of everyday reality that this series holds very successfully most of the time. (2019.01.16)

Clouds of blather and one inauguration. When they will start pulling aces out of their sleeves, God knows, and when one indomitable journalist will take the plunge, nobody knows either. Soon, I hope, because this episode is very uneven. (2019.01.21)

The clouds are receding a little, but Frank is making suspiciously obvious schoolboy mistakes and everyone seems to be feeding them to him without thinking. He has it way too easy. Where's the good stuff? (2019.01.21)

A tightening loop as impressive as the end of the second episode. Hopefully we’ll get a heart-attack inducing finale. (2019.01.21)

First-class carnage. It’s not the best episode ever, but it’s certainly among the best. (2019.01.21)

The carnage continues, but with some scenes on the verge of screenwriting acceptability and actually relying more on hardly feasible coincidence than a brilliant mind. But it’s still alright. After the average middle, my fears were greater. (2019.01.21)

It was as expected. Wright can’t carry it alone and the writers don’t make things easier for her. Spacey is sorely missing, and only here do the viewers realise that this is actually a series about one single person, with everyone else playing second fiddle. A prolonged last episode, which seems to have nothing at all in common with the previous, generally excellent seasons. (2019.02.02)

I’m taking it as the slowest start of all seasons. Frank is hugely missed because, like everyone else in the story, the viewer finds that the President herself is "nothing" without her husband. (2019.01.26)

The borefest continues. The sparks between Diane Lane and Robin Wright are rather funny. Greg Kinnear saves the day a bit, but you should avoid thinking about his roles as dim-witted individuals a decade or two back, otherwise it will be hard to believe him as a tough aristocrat. (2019.01.27)

Finally a slightly more substantial episode, where Claire still overacts a bit as an actress and as a character, but the oligarchs, Doug, Mr. Vice President have a lot to offer. (2019.01.28)

Whenever President Petrov is on the stage, things are fun. So far, the best episode of the final season. (2019.01.28)

An awesome controversial ending, but otherwise a borefest with excruciatingly long passages of chatter that don't go anywhere. You can see at times the impotence and incoherence of the writing. This episode felt so long. (2019.02.02)

A wild ride and the creators are clearly losing it. The realistic drama is turning into a pure cinematic farce. (2019.02.02)

Another pack of bullshit. A several month limbo? Some completely unrelated scenes and passages? Utterly out of concept. (2019.02.02)

The biggest screenwriting blunder of the entire series. The fatal problem is that it had to happen in the very last episode of the saga, totally burying it. It will be better to pretend that there was no sixth season. (2019.02.02)