House of Cards makes Scandal seem like a series about lovable, good-natured people. House of Cards is a riveting look at an amoral couple’s efforts to succeed at all costs. Yes, in Season 2, some ridiculous things happen that strain believability, but House of Cards is so committed to its anti-heroes, expertly and joyously played by Kevin Spacey and chillingly played by Robin Wright, that you find yourself inadvertently rooting for evil. House of Cards does not flinch from showing the casualties of the anti-heroes’ treachery-some more innocent than others, but abandon all hope ye who enter here. Even when good things happen, it seems incidental to the larger agenda, which has yet to be fully revealed. A fellow viewer, Aaron Rand Freeman, correctly summarized it as what would happen if the anti-Christ won. Warning: animal lovers should possibly run the other way. House of Cards isn’t for everyone: it has sexual content, cursing and is not bound by the conventional standards of network or cable tv, but does not explicitly cross lines than HBO hasn’t already transgressed–only implicitly by being committed to a bleak, corrupt world.

POSSIBLE SPOILER:
If you have seen Casino Jack and the United States of Money, many of the plot twists may make more sense.