Cynical, jaded, entertaining - House of Cards 2013

House of Cards (2013), in what is obviously season 1 of several, does come together in the final third - a series worth watching, even it at times it suffers in comparison with the British original. No matter how sly and smarmy Spacey is as Congressman Frank Underwood, he's not as slick as Ian Richardson in the original. And in the 2103 v. we do have to accept a tradeoff: Spacey makes much less use of the reporter, Kate Mara/Zoe Barnes, to achieve his ends, but on the plus side the role of his wife, Claire/Robin Wright, is greatly enhanced, and she becomes a terrific character. For better or worse, like so many recent TV series (e.g., Mad Men), this is a feel-bad series: though we're spellbound by the plot twists and by trying to stay a step ahead of Spacey as he manipulates others in pursuit of power, we don't really like any of the characters - even the reporters, though they do become  more sympathetic as they band together in the final few episodes to try to figure out the truth about the death of Congressman Russo. It's kind of improbable that the 3 reporters would click so well as an investigative team, and as in so many mystery movies and stories, the clues just fall into place for them far too easily, but that said by the last few episodes we watch in fascination as they get ever closer to the truth about the role Spacy/Underwood played in Russo's rise and fall. Spoilers here: As I watched the whole season I kept wondering how or whether Spacey would kill Mara/Barnes as Richardson killed the reporter in the original. It seemed to me impossible - on a literal level, in that he would obviously be found out (that was a flaw in the original) and on a marketing level, as Mara is too good an actor and Barnes too good a character to lose. I was right - she's still on his tail at end the season - but the possibility is still out there: how can Spacey tolerate a team of reporters on his case as he tries to rise to the vice presidency and higher? Yet how can he kill anyone and get away with it, being such a prominent public figure? In fact, you have to say that the death of Russo should have raised more flags: why wouldn't the cops be suspicious about a "suicide" by CO poisoning if the dead man is in the passenger seat? Anyway, this is a series that picked up in momentum as it moved along - maybe not a great series, but fully entertaining in its cynical, jaded way.