On domestic television, series with political connotation is not uncommon. Quite often, scriptwriters and producers pay attention to the history of our country and find ideas for film adaptation there. It is enough to recall the series "Brezhnev" And "Empire under the blow". However, in terms of the level of influence on the viewer, they are not compared with the western, let's say, “analogues”.
In 2013, one of the leading online cinemas and creators of the series, company Netflix , I presented House of Cards, known in the Russian -speaking segment of the Internet as “House Cards”. This series made an incredible effect on the audience with its openness and detail. Viewers of the whole world recognized the life within the White House and the Capitol, the essence of the interactions between the US Congress and the President, as well as the actions of journalists and their consequences.
A distinctive feature of the series was the main role of Kevin Spacey, who played the congressman Francis Anderwood. For four seasons, he not only masterfully intrigued, impressed with unexpected political moves and cruel decisions, but also inexorably attracted the viewer to the screen with entertaining comments and amazing sincerity in his intentions: to reach the top of power in the United States.
But in the fifth season, the main intrigue of the series is revealed – is it easy to stay at the top of the authorities.
By the end of the fourth season, Frank Anderwood reached everything that he dreamed about at the very beginning of the first season, and even more than that. He is the President of the United States of America. Exactly so, with a capital letter. After all, he almost completed his personal empire. An empire capable of fulfilling any task of its president. But there is a nuance: even the US president is a living person, and each person has his own past, and it can not always please or contribute to a career. Even if it is a presidential career.
That is why Frank takes the initiative from the very first series. His fiery speech in the Congress sounds so loud and clearly, as if it were Roman legionnaires to mint a paving stitch outside the window. Such an association is not accidental – current presidents do not have the right to attend meetings of the Congress, with the exception of special cases initiated by Congress itself. And the speaker of the congress announced this immediately.
But Frank does not care about these features of the Constitution, he solves his tasks, the main of which is to distract the Congress from the investigation of his dark affairs in the past. And what can distract attention better than the declaration of war to terrorism in the person of one Islamic caliphate, very similar to one forbidden organization of four letters. Moreover, her followers left a very noticeable mark on the territory of the United States, Spintime Casino and this trace of Anderwood could not endure. Add the upcoming elections to this and get a dynamic plot tie.
Despite the power close to the absolute, there are still democratic institutions in the USA, the value of which is very high for a simple American. In many respects, because of this, the Republican presidential candidate Will Convei and the chief opponent of Frank in the upcoming elections use “folk” rhetoric: constantly speaks of freedom, democracy, dangers of war and how he once fought. He is young, hot, difficult to manage, and besides, the blond. It does not resemble anyone?
But he really looks like a person leading the White House at present.
The first minutes of the fifth season leave a dual impression. It is as if you are watching a political series not dramatic and subtly tuned to the audience, but another action movie dedicated to the eternal struggle of the United States with terrorism: the struggle against the followers of the terrorists at home and too obvious political intrigue. Sometimes it even gives the impression that Frank got bored in his chair and does not wait for anything new. He even gives less witty comments for the audience.
But the first impression is deceptive. The fifth season resembles a professional runner giving the head start to the other participants in the race. He does not start right away, kneads, evaluates opponents, recalls past victories, and then begins his run. And now the viewer sees a presidential race in which Frank recognizes his defeat, and does it unexpectedly for everyone and not just like that, and the whole race resembles recent events in America.
As if this is not enough, the script is spinning in the direction of Syria and Russian actions there, and references to Edward Snowden, as well as Russian studies in the Arctic, are not forgotten. The series is relevant in a political plan, and now the first impression changes to the opposite – and Frank Anderwood from the presidential candidate turns into a cunning gray fox, which has been sitting in the basements of the White House for a long time, but at the right time jumps on its prey to its prey.
True, the prey is also not out of simple. Despite all their political grip, it is not so easy for underwear to withstand the blow of political opponents. The presidential race left more questions than answers, and the past does not allow to fall asleep calmly. Even on the couch in the White House.
But on this couch there are many memories from past seasons. This is a very neat plot move. Those who watched all episodes can brush up the mean tears of memories, and new viewers will find out what happened before, even if they watch the series for the first time.
Against the background of political intrigues, all modern trends are not forgotten. Presidential candidates love to photograph everything on smartphones, use messengers and play in the Samsung VR virtual reality helmet. New Time – New Fashion.
But the problems are old: the Anderwood family needs to stay in power and make it at the cost of changing data, bribing and erasing facts from their own biography. After all, now Frank and Claire are paired.
This is not to say that the series is perfect. The “cranberries” did not disappear, the Russian President Petrov eats a barbecue with caviar right in the Kremlin, and there is a glass of tea from those times when the country was called the USSR is nearby. There are plot breaks: for example, the chemical threat is completely far -fetched, and the casting of Claire and Francis in the presidential chair is so fast that it can not be noticeable, and all this looks strange and comical. The season is as if loaded by the presidential officialdom, which cannot be reset, but it’s hard to go further with it.
Against this background, every memory looks like Francis's desire to enter into a new presidential term updated, discarding four seasons, and in the fifth to start building its own empire. Empire of Anderwoods. How much he succeeds, the viewer will recognize at the very end of the final series
Perhaps that is why there is a feeling that the fifth season is a formal restart of the entire “card house”, which has long been turned into an unshakable structure of the Anderwoods. Whatever happens, they are always afloat, always one step ahead, and they always have a solution. A solution that will not work in the final of the season, but will leave the viewer satisfied.
The fifth season is an alloy of all the best ideas, thoughts and phrases met in the series throughout all four seasons. The house house is strong and firmly opposes new political winds. Yes, these winds carried humor into the past, complicated political intrigues and pulled the plot ligaments from past episodes to the limit. But the wind will leave, and the foundation of the series will remain. Memories will remain of the best political series of modernity ..
… who became such only at the end of the fifth season, even if he was rejecting his former ease.
