![]() ![]() Or perhaps I should say, the season gets pushed off its platform into the path of an oncoming train. Surprisingly, 'Chapter 14' of House of Cards doesn't simply plod along like Frank and Claire's leisurely jog connecting the seasons it jumps right off a narrative cliff without checking to see what's below. But when Russo was killed off late in the season, House of Cards once again became the Frank Underwood Show – a workplace revenge story that just happened to be set within the confines of the United States government. Stoll's performance not only afforded the series a sense of humanity and gravitas that evened out the more cynical nature of characters like Underwood, his wife Claire ( Robin Wright), and the ambitious, but ethically challenged journalist Zoe Barnes ( Kate Mara), it gave the series an ensemble quality that suggested greater things beyond the central plot of Underwood's ascension. Aside from Spacey's fourth wall-breaking antics, the series stood out largely on the performance of Corey Stoll as Peter Russo, a recovering addict and unwitting pawn in Underwood's scheme. The first season had plenty of standout moments, and a handful of terrific performances that helped elevate the series above the sometimes-unremarkable tale of Senate Majority Whip Frank Underwood's Machiavellian rise to a spot in the White House. ![]() ![]() ![]() "The essence of it is realistic," said Bai, "even if all the dramatic flourishes aren't a part of our daily lives.For the most part, the series came off as a serviceable political drama that certainly carried itself with the kind of attitude necessary to convince audiences it belonged at the prestige-y end of the television spectrum, without necessarily demonstrating what it had done to deserve such a seat. What about how "House of Cards" depicts journalism overall? He made a few tweaks, like ditching a line in which he talks about the "angle" of his piece: "I would never discuss my stories in terms of angles." "We OK-ed it given the context within the series and Matt's involvement," said Eileen Murphy, a Times spokeswoman.īai likewise got to look over his portions of the script. Higher-ups at the Times were shown a mock-up and they signed off. Willimon also asked for permission to depict a copy of a fake New York Times Magazine. With the blessing of Hugo Lindgren, who was the editor of the Times Magazine back then, Bai filmed for a day in August and another in September. When work on season two began, Bai got a call from Willimon letting him know that he was being written into the plot and they wanted him to shoot a few scenes. Bai even stopped by the show's writers' room one day in Venice Beach, Calif. In the run up to season one, Bai sat down with them over dinner at The Capital Grille while they were on a "fact-finding mission" in Washington. Let us know if we're missing anyone!)īai said he knows "House of Cards" showrunner Beau Willimon, and that the show's official political consultant, former Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton press secretary Jay Carson, is a friend. (Disclosure: We haven't finished the season yet. "This is going to make waves like you've never imagined," Banfield tells her. doyenne whose ruthless conniving is surpassed only by her hero-villain husband, Vice President Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey). This season, actual media figures seem to have a larger footprint, with cameos from the likes of Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews and Sean Hannity.ĬNN host Ashleigh Banfield does an explosive interview with Claire Underwood, a manipulative D.C. Daily, perhaps an homage to the tabloidy Washington Examiner, which switched to a weekly format last summer. Season two brings us The Wall Street Telegraph instead of The Journal the New York Examiner instead of the Post and the D.C. Season one was also packed with nods to real-life media by way of made-up publications like The Washington Herald, a venerable daily that presumably serves as a stand-in for the Graham family's legendary broadsheet (now owned by Jeff Bezos), and Slugline, an irreverent website widely assumed to be based on POLITICO (which is owned by the same company as Capital). The Times made a brief appearance in the first season when one of the main characters, Peter Russo, was interviewed for a story in the paper. "It was harder to play myself than I expected it was going to be," Bai told Capital. No spoilers here, but we will tell you that Bai appears in two separate scenes, one of which dramatizes a source interview. In the show, Bai is working on a Times Magazine piece that plays a not insignificant role in the hit political thriller's always scandalous story-line. The reporter he's referring to, however, is anything but fictional-the last name is Bai, formerly of The New York Times Magazine (at Yahoo News since November). ![]()
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