Why we love to watch the Underwoods

They’ve got a plan. I know it might be a bit controversial to put the meat of a piece of writing at the very beginning of said writing but it’s true. The Underwoods know the direction they are heading and they pursue that direction with all due haste (and reckless abandon for civility, laws and general ethics, but they pursue it nonetheless!). It’s the same reason we like airplane travel (the beginning and ending are written on the ticket – now that’s order) and why movies are predictable (happy endings aren’t called sappy endings after all). You see as humans it’s ingrained within us to like order and structure. Yet we’re drawn to chaos and disorder. In this way the Underwoods win again. They know which way they’re headed but they cause all sorts of chaos in their wake.

 

In many ways, Netflix has simply dramatized our current political situation (minus anyone up there actually knowing which direction they want to go and all the bravado that’s the hallmark of an Underwood plan, I kid, I kid – well sort of). The world of House of Cards is an increasingly beautiful, faster paced, and infinitely more understandable version of the Washington D.C. we know and hate. It’s fun to see the things that are plastered across our television screens get talked about in a fictional world and it’s even more entertaining for Frank to tackle those very issues. They take the type of no nonsense risks that most politicians would never consider and man is that ever entertaining to watch (particularly when it works).

 

Today, more than ever in recent years, we feel like the political system and status is unfixable. We have the same recycled Presidential candidates (from both parties), we are always dealing with unemployment, political instability and headlines that look like they’ve been ripped from a newspaper published 20 years ago. But we can watch the Underwoods tackle those issues head on with out moral scruples and judge them for it. It makes me feel better, it makes me love Netflix and it makes me want to find the next show to binge watch. In it’s third season, House of Cards is better than ever. Go watch it, but keep your eyes peeled – that Frank is a dangerously effective man.