--- description: The new season isn’t compelling enough to keep the audience watching title: Review: Netflix’s House of Cards Season 5 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32c773ad62bfb1a8/6988ced52dce017ca89eda33/house-of-cards-netflix-robin-wright-kevin-spacey.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Review: _House of Cards_ Returns With a Thud  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 25, 2017 12:58 PM CUT  Power couple: Robin Wright and Spacey as running mates Power couple: Robin Wright and Spacey as running matesDavid Giesbrecht—Netflix  by [Daniel D'Addario](/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 25, 2017 12:58 PM CUT As real-life politics generates high drama, the political shows that flourished in the Obama years–_Veep_, _Scandal_–suddenly seem less urgent. No show feels more diminished than Netflix’s _House of Cards_, now in its fifth season. _Cards_ is still what it has always been: a melodrama about power-thirsty creeps. But the thrill has waned, its characters’ machinations blunted by having actually attained power. President Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) continues to run roughshod over the dopes in his way, but this season’s focus on manipulating the election to guarantee him a new term seems small compared with what came before. Underwood isn’t Nixonian or Clintonian (pick your villain); he’s a flat character for whom recognition is its own reward. This may make the show a surprisingly good fit for our times. But onscreen as in life, the desire for fame alone is insufficient motivation to compel viewers to stay tuned. House of Cards _streams on Netflix beginning May 30_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4793881/house-of-cards-returns-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4793881/house-of-cards-returns-review/"},"headline":"Review: House of Cards Returns With a Thud","datePublished":"2017-05-25T12:58:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:06:51.290Z","description":"The new season isn’t compelling enough to keep the audience watching","url":"https://time.com/4793881/house-of-cards-returns-review/","keywords":["Television","house of cards","Reviews"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32c773ad62bfb1a8/6988ced52dce017ca89eda33/house-of-cards-netflix-robin-wright-kevin-spacey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32c773ad62bfb1a8/6988ced52dce017ca89eda33/house-of-cards-netflix-robin-wright-kevin-spacey.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"house-of-cards-netflix-robin-wright-kevin-spacey","caption":"house-of-cards-netflix-robin-wright-kevin-spacey","creditText":"David Giesbrecht—Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4793881/house-of-cards-returns-review/","name":"Review: House of Cards Returns With a Thud"}}]}] ```