Season 25 - The Final Cut (1995-1996)
The House of Cards Trilogy was a defining moment in television history. When The Best of Masterpiece Theatre was chosen for its thirty-fifth anniversary it easily made the top twelve with every celebrity interviewed reciting Francis Urquhart's famous line; "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment." Until now I had only watched the first arc, House of Cards, and one can't deny Ian Richardson's talent. This role was made for him. The way he insouciantly address us, the audience, as his confidants and collaborators, and his breaking of the fourth wall is iconic. This was the insight into the backstabbing world of politics and the monarchy we had been longing for adapted by Andrew Davies from a book written by a Thatcher insider. The problem I had when I first watched House of Cards is that Francis Urquhart is, in my mind, asexual. What turns him on is power, not other people, unless it's his control over them. He only begins an affair with the young journalist Mattie Storin, played by Susannah Harker, because he realizes that that is what she wants and that is how he'll exert control. This is his leverage. Making her feel special. But her desire to call him "daddy" was just too creepy. There's just such an ick factor to it that Mattie and her relationship with Francis is actually creepier than the fact that Kevin Spacey played the role when it was adapted for American audiences by Netflix. Years later going back to watch this I was still just revolted by the whole "daddy" of it all. But I was determined. This was the time for me to not just watch the first arc but to finish the whole series by watching To Play the King and then The Final Cut. First off, watching this when I was already suffering form political fatigue was probably not the best of ideas, but that's on me. The problem I have with the final two arcs is, taken as a whole, they don't feel like a logical progression of the character. Once Francis becomes Prime Minister he proceeds to make all the mistakes that his predecessor did which led to Francis ousting him. What's more he begins another affair which makes even less sense because this is supposedly purely sexual in nature, and, as I've said, he is not a sexual being. What's more he somehow succeeds in toppling the monarchy. To an extent. To Play the King is about him clashing with the new king played by Michael Kitchen and they portray the man who is in all but name Charles III as a very nature loving, exercise obsessed, goody. The exact opposite of Francis and he just bows down to Francis for no reason I can see. It literally makes no sense, nor does how they portray the Royal family by noticeably not referring to the real people and their problems but doing it with a nudge and a wink. But this show keeps unraveling more and more. It literally collapses like a house of cards with Francis somehow catching remorse. This is not a man who has remorse and becoming a secondary character before his ignoble assassination in The Final Cut is absurd. He's Shakespearean, he's Machiavellian, he's not, in any way, human. Yes, you could say he went the way of Macbeth, on which this is heavily based, but no. It doesn't work. In the final analysis did I end up hating the whole series? You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.
The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson
