House of Cards

I don’t know how I missed House of Cards, if KP hadn’t mentioned it I wouldn’t know the existence of this great political drama. Somehow I am glad that I missed it when they aired the first season, hence I watched the whole two seasons at a stretch, with no breaks, without waiting for another year.

“There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that’s only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.” With a cynical narration, Frank Underwood starts his mission to become the most powerful man in the United States of America. His wife, Clair Underwood is his backbone and helps him unconditionally to achieve his ambition. Even though Zoe Barns is just a pawn in this game, she plays a significant part with a great ambition to become a top journalist. Frank Underwood cynically moves Peter Russo as his Pawn with the help of Doug Stamper, one of his Nights, to win this political game.

House of cards is an adoption of a BBC TV mini-series from 1990s and it is based on a book from the author Michael Dobbs. As for me, the cast, the direction, the writing and the visuals are better than the old TV series. Kevin Spacey’s incredible charismatic performance as Frank Underwood really drew me in and kept my attention. Robin Wright’s performance as Clair Underwood is stunning and just as good as Spacey. It is fascinating to watch how each character evolves through the season with their unique personalities. One of the main success factors of House of Cards is its cast. I can’t think of any better cast for this outstanding show.

Even though this is a political drama, it hasn’t bored me for a second. The excitement at the end of an episode was so much that I couldn’t fight off the urge to watch the next episode straightaway. So I finished watching the first season within 3days. One of the great benefits of binge watching is that you don’t have to wait till the next week to see the next episode, you can watch it right away or you can watch it whenever you have time. Also the excitement after the end of an episode doesn’t fade away while you are waiting for the next episode to be aired.

This is a great TV series in every way, writing, directing, visuals, everything is so perfect. I didn’t even want to blink for a second and take my eyes off from the show. The direct talk to the audience from Frank made it easier to understand Frank’s motives and perspective. I am very excited to see Frank’s next dark mission to stay in the power, unfortunately I have to wait till next year to see the next season. Counting down the days!

My Rating: 5 out of 5

Welcome to Level Seven – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D

Welcome to level seven; Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) is back from death. He is assembling a new team for the S.H.I.E.L.D (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division). The team includes Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), a combat specialist and espionage; Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen), pilot and martial art specialist; Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker), a weapons technology specialist; Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge ), a genius bio-chemist, and new recruit computer hacker, Skye (Chloe Bennet).

After so many teasers and hype, Marvel’s Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D (Oh NO!! do I have to type this official title every time?) has finally aired last night. When I saw the first trailer and the cast I thought this might not be very exciting as Marvel movies. So I didn’t have a huge expectation from this new TV series. However, surprisingly I enjoyed the premiere episode very much. It was awesome, so much more than I expected, and hilarious.

Agents of Shield almost felt more like a movie than a TV series. Even though there were few fake shots, the overall special effects were impressive. The directing was really good and there were lots of humor throughout the show which reminds Joss Whedon’s signature. The cast is colorful and great. I hope we will be able to know each character and their backgrounds very well in future episodes. So far my favorite character is Skye. She is a witty, super smart hacker. I really want to see how she fits into this Marvel Universe with her personality.

This, the premiere episode, is a great start to a promising series. However I have no idea about how they are going to continue the series. Will they go on hunting for new heroes/villains each week? Anyhow, Joss Whedon has his good reputation of not disappointing the audience. Therefore, now I have full confidence in him and his team to keep this show exciting and moving.

Orphan Black – How Many of Us Are There?

When I found out about this new show, Orphan Black, it has already aired the first season. But I am glad that I got to enjoy the entire season without any interruption. It is hard to wait week after week to get answers for the questions and satisfy the curiosity, when watching a TV series like Orphan Black. Surprisingly I enjoyed this show more than any of the sci-fi TV series I have ever watched and I have never got bored for a second.

Sarah Manning witnesses a woman, who looks like her (Beth), jump in front of a train while she was returning to States to reclaim her daughter. Sarah assumes her dead doppelganger’s identity and lands in the middle of a huge human cloning conspiracy. The story elaborates the ethical issues and impact of human cloning.

One of the strongest elements of this show is its cast, to be more specific, the leading performer who portrays Sarah Manning and her other clones, Tatiana Maslany, is brilliant. She can disappear into a role so deeply you forget the actor and only see the character she portrays. Honestly, she can play ANYONE. Each of the different characters of the clones has unique personality, mannerism, and dialect. Maslany disappears into each woman’s identity effortlessly and you never have to wonder which character you are looking at, and you almost forget the same actress performs all these characters. I have never seen a performer play multiple roles simultaneously with such success.

Other casts of the show also perform brilliantly in this show. Jordan Gavaris plays Felix Dawkins, Sarah’s foster brother, who is gay. Dylan Bruce plays Paul Dierden, Beth’s lover and later Sarah’s lover. Maria Doyle Kennedy portrays Mrs. S, Sarah’s foster mother and Kira’s guardian (Sarah’s daughter). Michael Mando plays Vic, Sarah’s drug-dealing, abusive boyfriend. Kevin Hanchard plays Detective Art, Beth’s police partner.

Even though I don’t like to spoil the storyline with many details, I must say that the plot is very unique, captivating and thrilling. You can’t find other sci-fi elements in this series such as time travelling, aliens with actions, and teleporting. Instead you land to a more realistic scientific world of clones and genetic experiments.

Orphan Black is one of the best TV series I have ever watched with a good cast and a unique storyline. I am impatiently looking forward to dive into the second season of the series in the next year, and it is really sad that I have to wait that long.

My Rating: 5 out of 5