House of Cards and To Play the King
Okay, I wrote up some actually coherent thoughts (read: squee) about House of Cards and To Play the King.
This series is truly awesome. I've seen House of Cards and To Play the King so far (although like an idiot I've spoiled myself on The Final Cut... oh well) and they were both fantastic. The characters are brilliant, and the plot is very interesting, even though I'm sadly ignorant of how politics work in the UK so I feel like I'd get more out of it if I knew what all the terms meant ^^;; As always, though, it's the characters I like the best :3
Urquhart is evil, and I adore him. I'm kind of expecting him to crack up a bit in the last series, because his progression has going in a pretty Richard III sort of way so far. The fact that he talks to the camera delights me to no end (and what is it with RIII-type characters talking to the camera while in the men's room? Ian McKellen's Richard did that too). It gives the audience this delightful complicit feeling, which is made even better by the fact that as Urquhart's actions get more and more reprehensible, he starts trying to defend himself in these fourth-wall-breaking moments, as if he knows we disapprove. I think my favorite of these moments so far is when he's in the car on the way to talk to the Queen after Mattie Storin's murder, and he's all "No comment, I told you!" as if, for once, the audience is the one initiating the conversation and not him.
His absolute delight in his evilness is one of the things I liked the most in House of Cards - a knowing eyebrow raise at the camera here, a smiling sarcastic remark there, the entirely self-conscious repetition of "You may very well think that..." - but it seemed like he was a little more harassed in To Play the King and he didn't enjoy it as much. This definitely recalls Richard III, since once Richard actually gets the throne it all starts going downhill. You can also see that his ruthlessness is starting to get to him, too. In the first series, Urquhart's moments of hesitation or unsureness were few and far between (the only one I remember off the top of my head is when Mattie told him she wanted to call him "Daddy" - he was kind of like "O_o What? Uh, well, whatever you like..."). In the second series, he seems almost desperate at times, and he's continually haunted by Mattie's murder. One of the best scenes in To Play the King was when he told Sarah Harding about Mattie's death. It's obvious he's making things up left and right - telling her it was suicide and he tried to stop her and so forth - and he gives quite a good performance as distraught guilt-ridden former lover/mentor, but the brilliant thing about it is that you can't tell how much of it he's feigning and how much is genuine.
I'm interested in the seeing The Final Cut, because I wonder if he'll be as tormented by guilt for having Sarah killed as he was for killing Mattie. He always insisted to Sarah that their relationship was completely different from his with Mattie, and I didn't get the impression that he was particularly attracted to Sarah in that way, since he seemed kind of surprised when she initiated their affair. I don't really think he'll be terribly remorseful about having Stamper killed, though ¬_¬
Speaking of Stamper - best part of this series, or best part of this series? Yeah, I think so too. I've become such a Colin Jeavons fangirl. I don't think it's possible for me not to like him in a role. Stamper is pretty awful, but he's a great character, and he's never creepy. He's manipulative and has no qualms about using things against people in a way that Urquhart calls "ungentlemanly," but he's not skeevy, he's calculating - and his willingness to act without scruples stems from absolute loyalty to Urquhart. Urquhart says he doesn't have much brains, but I don't think that's true. I just think he's less aware of (or cares less about) keeping a shiny veneer on things than Urquhart is.
I was telling caitirin what was going on in the first couple of episodes of To Play the King (I was watching it on my computer with headphones while she did other stuff) and she said at one point, "Is Stamper carrying a torch for Urquhart or something?" And at the time, I said, "I don't really think so... considering how they've portrayed David Mycroft, I think they'd make it clear if they meant it that way." I was wrong. And what was awesome about it was that they didn't handle it like they handled David Mycroft - there was no standing up in front of everyone declaring "I am a homosexual." There was just Stamper's expression when Sarah told him that she loved Urquhart, his comment that he wondered whether she knew the meaning of the word, the timbre of his voice when he said "All I ever wanted was to serve him. To be close to him." This is why Colin Jeavons is such a talented actor - he didn't need to come out and say anything. It was obvious from his slow realization that he was about to be thrown under the bus, and his subsequent bitter resignation to how little Urquhart really valued him. His jealousy was palpable once he figured out that Sarah had replaced him in Urquhart's good graces (Mattie, I imagine, wasn't threatening because she wasn't a political advisor) and even more so once he realized that they were having an affair. He wanted to be Prime Minister, of course, but it seemed to me that it was a "if I can't have his trust, I might as well get something out of this" sort of thing. He was a bastard, to be sure, but all the poor guy wanted in the end was for Urquhart to appreciate him, and when it became clear that was impossible, his revenge carried the added benefit of a bid for power.
It was this sort of thing that makes me wonder what Urquhart really gets out of everything he does. He must get off on power to an immense degree if he's willing to sacrifice what amounts to the people closest to him for it. I hesitate to say "the people he loves" because I think he'd sell out even his wife if it were necessary, and she'd probably understand, even if she didn't like it. She's fascinating in her own right - it's got to be the power-by-association thing, because she's egged him on and planted the seeds for all his most ambitious ideas. The fact that "Elizabeth" sounds like "Lady Macbeth" probably played a role in their decision to change her name from the book (in which it was Miranda, I think?). She was frighteningly enthusiastic about getting him mistresses (and I think she's got a thing going on with Corder, who we thought was called "Cawdor," as in thane of, until I read his name in the credits).
Come to think of it, David Mycroft and his partner were the only characters so far whose romantic relationship wasn't completely dysfunctional XD And they had their problems, but obviously they worked them out. And aww, when they were sitting in bed holding hands while watching the King's commercial about caring and equality etc. etc. ;_; They were adorable, and I'm really glad nothing worse than David resigning his position happened to them. I was quite sure he was going to end up the series' tragic gay guy (that's Stamper, apparently *runs*).
As an aside: "Starsky's Lady" is the most depressing episode of Starsky & Hutch EVER. So far. And there wasn't even any hugging*. Get with the program, people.
*There was essentially a declaration of love, but we've had those already. I don't doubt they love each other; I'd just like some comfort to go with all the hurt, plzkthx. I mean, the getting hammered and playing Monopoly was comforting, but... hugs. Time to watch another episode and hope there's lighthearted banter.
I think a happy Solomin Watson icon is in order.
This series is truly awesome. I've seen House of Cards and To Play the King so far (although like an idiot I've spoiled myself on The Final Cut... oh well) and they were both fantastic. The characters are brilliant, and the plot is very interesting, even though I'm sadly ignorant of how politics work in the UK so I feel like I'd get more out of it if I knew what all the terms meant ^^;; As always, though, it's the characters I like the best :3
Urquhart is evil, and I adore him. I'm kind of expecting him to crack up a bit in the last series, because his progression has going in a pretty Richard III sort of way so far. The fact that he talks to the camera delights me to no end (and what is it with RIII-type characters talking to the camera while in the men's room? Ian McKellen's Richard did that too). It gives the audience this delightful complicit feeling, which is made even better by the fact that as Urquhart's actions get more and more reprehensible, he starts trying to defend himself in these fourth-wall-breaking moments, as if he knows we disapprove. I think my favorite of these moments so far is when he's in the car on the way to talk to the Queen after Mattie Storin's murder, and he's all "No comment, I told you!" as if, for once, the audience is the one initiating the conversation and not him.
His absolute delight in his evilness is one of the things I liked the most in House of Cards - a knowing eyebrow raise at the camera here, a smiling sarcastic remark there, the entirely self-conscious repetition of "You may very well think that..." - but it seemed like he was a little more harassed in To Play the King and he didn't enjoy it as much. This definitely recalls Richard III, since once Richard actually gets the throne it all starts going downhill. You can also see that his ruthlessness is starting to get to him, too. In the first series, Urquhart's moments of hesitation or unsureness were few and far between (the only one I remember off the top of my head is when Mattie told him she wanted to call him "Daddy" - he was kind of like "O_o What? Uh, well, whatever you like..."). In the second series, he seems almost desperate at times, and he's continually haunted by Mattie's murder. One of the best scenes in To Play the King was when he told Sarah Harding about Mattie's death. It's obvious he's making things up left and right - telling her it was suicide and he tried to stop her and so forth - and he gives quite a good performance as distraught guilt-ridden former lover/mentor, but the brilliant thing about it is that you can't tell how much of it he's feigning and how much is genuine.
I'm interested in the seeing The Final Cut, because I wonder if he'll be as tormented by guilt for having Sarah killed as he was for killing Mattie. He always insisted to Sarah that their relationship was completely different from his with Mattie, and I didn't get the impression that he was particularly attracted to Sarah in that way, since he seemed kind of surprised when she initiated their affair. I don't really think he'll be terribly remorseful about having Stamper killed, though ¬_¬
Speaking of Stamper - best part of this series, or best part of this series? Yeah, I think so too. I've become such a Colin Jeavons fangirl. I don't think it's possible for me not to like him in a role. Stamper is pretty awful, but he's a great character, and he's never creepy. He's manipulative and has no qualms about using things against people in a way that Urquhart calls "ungentlemanly," but he's not skeevy, he's calculating - and his willingness to act without scruples stems from absolute loyalty to Urquhart. Urquhart says he doesn't have much brains, but I don't think that's true. I just think he's less aware of (or cares less about) keeping a shiny veneer on things than Urquhart is.
I was telling caitirin what was going on in the first couple of episodes of To Play the King (I was watching it on my computer with headphones while she did other stuff) and she said at one point, "Is Stamper carrying a torch for Urquhart or something?" And at the time, I said, "I don't really think so... considering how they've portrayed David Mycroft, I think they'd make it clear if they meant it that way." I was wrong. And what was awesome about it was that they didn't handle it like they handled David Mycroft - there was no standing up in front of everyone declaring "I am a homosexual." There was just Stamper's expression when Sarah told him that she loved Urquhart, his comment that he wondered whether she knew the meaning of the word, the timbre of his voice when he said "All I ever wanted was to serve him. To be close to him." This is why Colin Jeavons is such a talented actor - he didn't need to come out and say anything. It was obvious from his slow realization that he was about to be thrown under the bus, and his subsequent bitter resignation to how little Urquhart really valued him. His jealousy was palpable once he figured out that Sarah had replaced him in Urquhart's good graces (Mattie, I imagine, wasn't threatening because she wasn't a political advisor) and even more so once he realized that they were having an affair. He wanted to be Prime Minister, of course, but it seemed to me that it was a "if I can't have his trust, I might as well get something out of this" sort of thing. He was a bastard, to be sure, but all the poor guy wanted in the end was for Urquhart to appreciate him, and when it became clear that was impossible, his revenge carried the added benefit of a bid for power.
It was this sort of thing that makes me wonder what Urquhart really gets out of everything he does. He must get off on power to an immense degree if he's willing to sacrifice what amounts to the people closest to him for it. I hesitate to say "the people he loves" because I think he'd sell out even his wife if it were necessary, and she'd probably understand, even if she didn't like it. She's fascinating in her own right - it's got to be the power-by-association thing, because she's egged him on and planted the seeds for all his most ambitious ideas. The fact that "Elizabeth" sounds like "Lady Macbeth" probably played a role in their decision to change her name from the book (in which it was Miranda, I think?). She was frighteningly enthusiastic about getting him mistresses (and I think she's got a thing going on with Corder, who we thought was called "Cawdor," as in thane of, until I read his name in the credits).
Come to think of it, David Mycroft and his partner were the only characters so far whose romantic relationship wasn't completely dysfunctional XD And they had their problems, but obviously they worked them out. And aww, when they were sitting in bed holding hands while watching the King's commercial about caring and equality etc. etc. ;_; They were adorable, and I'm really glad nothing worse than David resigning his position happened to them. I was quite sure he was going to end up the series' tragic gay guy (that's Stamper, apparently *runs*).
As an aside: "Starsky's Lady" is the most depressing episode of Starsky & Hutch EVER. So far. And there wasn't even any hugging*. Get with the program, people.
*There was essentially a declaration of love, but we've had those already. I don't doubt they love each other; I'd just like some comfort to go with all the hurt, plzkthx. I mean, the getting hammered and playing Monopoly was comforting, but... hugs. Time to watch another episode and hope there's lighthearted banter.
I think a happy Solomin Watson icon is in order.