Jackson Ball reviews the season finale of House of Cards season 2…. We’ve finally reached the climax of Season 2, after hours of character investment and meticulously orchestrated narrative arcs. Frank (Kevin Spacey) and his wife Claire (Robin Wright) are agonisingly close to their coveted goal of ultimate power, but have they overlooked something in […]

Jackson Ball reviews the twelfth episode of House of Cards season 2… It’s the second season’s penultimate episode, and the Washington walls are beginning to close in around Francis ‘Frank’ Underwood (Kevin Spacey). He and his wife Claire (Robin Wright) are so close to the goal they’ve been working towards the entire series, but now […]

Jackson Ball reviews the eleventh episode of House of Cards season 2…. They’ve done it again! Those crafty House of Cards writers have blindsided us again with another unexpected plot device. Just as Episode 11 was looking to be a little on the dreary side, they pull out sharp, dialogue-free twist in its final scenes. […]

Jackson Ball reviews the tenth episode of House of Cards season 2… So far, much of this season has involved several independent story arcs running parallel to each other, thinly connected through Frank (Kevin Spacey) and Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) and their ultimate quest for power. Over the past couple of episodes though, those parallel […]

Jackson Ball reviews the ninth episode of House of Cards season 2…. This latest instalment from the second season returns House of Cards to its compelling best, as we finally see the collateral damage caused by the schemes of Francis ‘Frank’ Underwood (Kevin Spacey). Until now it has mostly been political figures and journalists that […]

Jackson Ball reviews the eighth episode of House of Cards season 2… The second season is currently in limbo. All the buzz from the explosive opening has long since dwindled, and the show is yet to gain the momentum that comes with being on the ‘homestretch’. The result is this sagging middle-ground which, while totally […]

Jackson Ball reviews the seventh episode of House of Cards season 2… Back in my review of the third episode of Season 2, I applauded the House of Cards for adding some much-needed depth to the character of President Garrett Walker (Michael Gill). After spending much of the first season as a one-dimensional puppet figure, […]

Jackson Ball reviews the sixth episode of House of Cards season 2… The ongoing battle of wits between Vice President Francis ‘Frank’ Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and billionaire industry tycoon Raymond Tusk (Gerald McRaney) begins to heat up, as both parties desperately try to sway the President’s favour in their direction. Spoilers Ahead – You have […]

Jackson Ball reviews the fifth episode of House of Cards season 2… This season’s explosive beginning is now just a distant memory as we start to enter its meaty core. Francis ‘Frank’ Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and his loving wife/partner-in-crime Clare (Robin Wright) have already overcome most of the obstacles laid down in the season’s opening […]

Jackson Ball reviews the fourth episode of House of Cards season 2… If House of Cards’ last chapter can be accused of criminally underusing the character of Claire Underwood (Robin Wright), then this episode more than makes up for it by placing her right in the thick of it. Spoilers Ahead – You have been […]