House of Cards season 3

Reviewing season two feels like ages ago, and it felt that way when I started watching season three of House of Cards but I was no less excited to see what the popular Netflix show had to offer this time around. Now Frank Underwood had become President Underwood, it would be interesting to see how he would hold this position of power and what skeletons in his closet would come back to haunt him.

With that said, I was also cautious as I had heard some mixed responses from what others had thought of this season. The last one seemed unanimously loved by all and I really enjoyed it too. It was the perfect drama that kept me engaged and offered plenty of surprises, so I was afraid season three would lack this but I'm pleased to say I was mistaken.

I'll avoid spoilers for the most part but one of my favourite additions this time was Lars Mikkelsen as Russian President Viktor Petrov. Just like his brother, he brought charisma, charm but also an underlying intensity to the topical role which almost stole the show from the equally great Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Now an Oscar winning actor, Mahershala Ali faired much better this time around with a more developed role that was great to watch. Michael Kelly was also on fine form in what I feared would be the slower parts of the show but his subtle performance really paid off towards the end with some of the most chilling scenes so far.

Keeping this brief again, I find it hard to fault season three in anyway. Watching the show develop as the characters grow has been great, and is a masterclass in direction. By the time the credits rolled on the final episode I was hooked to see what happens next and can strongly recommend this series for anyone in search of a thoroughly immersive drama.