House of Cards (2013)

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Season 5
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Feb 1, 2013
Season #: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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Critic Reviews

  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Daniel Fienberg
    May 30, 2017
    50
    Fans of the series will be relieved to know that new showrunners Melissa James Gibson and Frank Pugliese have kept the trains moving on time, while more tentative or wearied viewers should be warned that the frustrating aspects of the series have only grown worse and House of Cards spends at least seven or eight episodes of the new season spinning its wheels and running on forgettable fumes. To the show's absolute credit, entertaining and amusing things begin to happen by the 11th or 12th episode.
  2. Time
    Reviewed by: Daniel D'Addario
    Jun 1, 2017
    40
    Underwood isn't Nixonian or Clintonian (pick your villain); he's a flat character for whom recognition is its own reward. This may make the show a surprisingly good fit for our times. But onscreen as in life, the desire for fame alone is insufficient motivation to compel viewers to stay tuned.
  3. Salon
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    May 31, 2017
    40
    Five seasons in, House of Cards still trades in predictable scripting that recycles the same themes time and again. Even now we’re made to contend with an endless march of one-note side characters and expedient problem-solving via criminality, a set of moves that lost their ability to entice and shock some time ago.
  5. Variety
    Reviewed by: Sonia Saraiya
    May 30, 2017
    40
    The relevance doesn’t redeem the execution. Plot points take interminable hours to come to fruition, and if the show ever had any sense of fun before, it’s lost it almost entirely. ... At the same time, House of Cards continues to be adept at mimicking and critiquing media narratives, with a facility that tends to transcend the plot of the show.
  6. Vox.com
    Reviewed by: Emily VanDerWerff
    May 30, 2017
    40
    After five seasons, but especially in 2017, House of Cards’ curdled cynicism feels less and less like weary wisdom and more like a high school student flipping off a civics teacher.

Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Most Discussed TV Season of 2017
62
#62 Most Shared TV Season of 2017

User Reviews

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User Score
6.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 222 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 121 out of 222
  2. Mixed: 47 out of 222
  3. Negative: 54 out of 222
  1. wakeboardjake
    Jun 1, 2017
    2
    It hurts me to give a negative review to a show I've loved for years. But this season was distasteful and wretchedly boring. Couple goodIt hurts me to give a negative review to a show I've loved for years. But this season was distasteful and wretchedly boring. Couple good instances get muddied with overdrawn monologues that seemingly go forever with no real point. And the ending... wow... well in my opinion it lacked everything that characterized this show for it's four past seasons. So disappointing...… Full Review »
  2. NotAmerican
    May 31, 2017
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. I wrote that rapidly, I hope you appreciate nonetheless.

    A FEW SPOILERS! Nothing big.

    If you thought season 3 and 4 were disastrous, season 5 will make you want to commit seppuku.
    Where to start is the real question... The plot perhaps, or the characters, or the general story ? I don't know. It feels to me nothing was executed correctly. And it probably wasn't planned correctly either by the looks of it.

    Let's get this stuff done quickly. Destroying this monstruosity will not be a grave problem. We'll start with the orchestra of characters, and I do not say this lightly; there are way too many characters. Half of them female replicates of the male characters. By which I mean, if there's a male that plays both sides, you are bound to find a female that plays both sides. I don't remember their names even though I watched the 13 episodes today. They are terribly boring. I found myself carving things in the corner of my keyboard with a swiss knife for 3/4 of an episode.

    Let's jump on the plot. Oh dear lord, what an epic failure. If you asked me to resume that trainwreck to you, I wouldn't know where to start. There also it looks as if they tried to fit 3 seasons into one. There is 4 presidential swearing-ins in this season just so you get an estimation of size of the crash.

    There's at least a dozen sub-plots, for 13 episodes mind you, and 3-4 main plots. Plots that end nowhere. Conway, the Republican just disappears into thin air. The old journalist investigates Zoe Barnes to no avail. The audience already knowing what happened to Zoe and it renders this plot useless and not interesting to watch. And it's that for the entire season. There's no end. Frankly, I don't even know how long the 13 episode last in the story's timeline.. 4 months, 2 years. I have no clue.

    One part that particularly irritated me was the irrealistic portrayal of international affairs. I am willing to accept the incredible armor plot around Francis becoming President so easily, but seriously, in the portrayal of international politics, there is no reason to write it with this level of retardation. Maybe they should've spared a dollar in costume and hired a geopolitician to reinforce the international politics aspect of things. Seriously, to me, it seems the writers filled their script with stuff they heard on CNN. By the way, real news people doing interviews with fake characters for TV is a growing, and worrying trend.

    Next step: the cynicism. I won't waste a lot of lines on the portrayal of the "Russian president who isn't Vladimir Putin because he has a beard now." One more caricature and he would be eating caviar while sleeping with whores in a bath filled with vodka. Francis or Claire, or Putin with a beard don't do things because they believe in them - NO ! - they do things because it serves their sociopathic egos. Only american pessimism can create such flawed characters. There's no point in watching a show where everyone is Machiavelli. All they want is the big chair and they're willing to do anything to get the big chair, so what happens ? They all do the same things.

    Gynocracy. Do I need to say more ? It's her turn, now, boys! Let Claire be the sociopathic President, it's only fair ! One thing came constantly to mind: "Go back to the Kitchen." How Francis is capable of **** his way to the presidency and how he becomes a literal cuckold gay man once he's finally at the top is beyond me. They finally transfer at the end of season 5. Claire becomes the main character and frankly, I couldn't care less.
    Breaking Bad with Skyler making the meth. That's how it feels now.    … Full Review »
  3. max1c
    Jun 1, 2017
    3
    I have never been more disappointed in anything this much in my life. This was literally the worst thing I have watched in my life.I have never been more disappointed in anything this much in my life. This was literally the worst thing I have watched in my life. Specifically the ending. This show used to be the epitome of beautiful writing, acting, composition, and elegance. Now, it is all ruined.… Full Review »
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