cigarette

Sharing a . . . . um, Cigarette in the Shadows

[Editor’s Note: The new season of Netflix’s House of Cards was just released on Friday, and I’m happy to report that round #2 — or at least the first 4 episodes — are every bit as good as season #1.  It’s almost impossible to discuss the new episodes without divulging a shocker (or three).  So, here’s a (very minor) spoiler alert:  the cigarette the two principals — magnificently played by Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey — sensuously share in the shadows is now an e-cigarette.  Here’s the rest of my season #1 review.]

“Everything is ultimately about sex.  Except sex; sex is about power.”

–Kevin Spacey’s character Francis Underwood; “House of Cards”

If you’re a political junkie like me, you’ll love the 13 episode season #1 of “House of Cards,” featuring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as a modern-day Richard III and Lady MacBeth, respectively (“Machiavellian” works, too).

The DC-based series is full of political intrigue, sex, and sensuality — just not in the way you might expect.

House2Example:  the most sensuous activity the two leads regularly share, late at night in the shadows, is  . . . a cigarette.

Not as a post-coital ritual, mind you.

Rather, the shared cigarette is the sex, and intimacy, and lots of other things all rolled (sorry) into one.

Symbolic Cigarette; Last Things First (& Vice Versa)

Watching these two acting virtuosos langurously pass a solitary cigarette back and forth conveys more umphh than anything Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have ever done on-screen.

ziskieIt all sort of recalls Thomas Wolfe’s updated “1st base, 2nd base, etc.” coupling vernacular from his novel “I am Charlotte Simmons.”

I’ll leave out the intermediate steps — after all, this (still) a family-rated blog.

Suffice to say, “getting to home base” now consists of the two partners formally introducing themselves to one another.

Breakout Series as Launching Pad

Just like “Breaking Bad” served not just to put Bryan Cranston once and for all on the map, but also introduced his splendid supporting cast, so too “House of Cards” is likely to be a launching pad for a coterie of heretofore unknown character actors.

The list includes Corey Stoll as Congressman and danforthGubernatorial candidate Peter Russo; Kate Mara as Zoe Barnes, a scheming reporter/tweeter for The Washington Herald and later “Politico”-style upstart “Slugline”; Michael Kelly as Congressional Chief of Staff Doug Stamperand Sakina Jaffrey as White House Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez.

Even the subsidiary characters are pitch-perfect.

My favorite:  craggy Dan Ziskie (middle photo) as Vice President Jim Matthews — and dead ringer for former real-life Missouri Senator John Danforth (photo, above right).

P.S.  The series’ “where” is clear:  Washington, D.C. and its environs.

But how about the “when?”

Curious, I “freeze-framed” a shot of Zoe Barnes’ cell phone from a scene near the end of season #1; the date:  November, 2013 (as in, the near-future).

Now, that’s cutting edge — and great detail, to boot.

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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