**This blog post contains various spoilers for the Netflix series House of Cards, I will attempt to shield your eyes to the best of my ability
Although sometimes clumsy in execution, House of Cards’ myriad references to video games are a refreshing addition to its storytelling.
I love me some heaping helpings of unfiltered, free range, no-holds-barred Kevin Spacey. So becoming enraptured in a television show like House of Cards was easy. With every one of Frank Underwood’s fourth wall-breaking winks and nods to the camera I grew more and more immersed into his quest for power in a wading pool of political dirty laundry. But as an avid gamer I couldn’t help but notice the amount of blatant nods to video games within House of Cards. Usually any time a television show makes an attempt to show anyone playing a video game I have to rip my eyes from the screen in horror awaiting what painfully obtuse gameplay experience the writers have ginned up. I still wake up in a cold sweat from the occasional night terror recalling when in Breaking Bad, Jesse played an on-rails version of RAGE with a light gun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCNSF7lsoSY
And that is what most of these video-gamey vignettes end up becoming with respect to the episode: A speed bump, a pothole, a distraction that brings the scene to an ass-grinding halt so that my nitpicking brain will react with a “what the FUCK are you doing”.
But House of Cards is different. In certain instances, there is a charm and an attention to detail with which the show references in-ter-act-ive en-ter-tain-ment. The writing team appears to show a knowledge of and passion for video games otherwise absent from television shows of the like. So it does raise the question: why go to such an extent to include video games in the show? Is it just simply product placement? I’d like to go through each example of this and discuss what the viewer can draw from these scenes.
Killzone 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvrUJ8Pxv_Q
Frank Underwood’s video game habit is displayed in the very first episode as he feverishly bangs out a session of Killzone 3 before bed. Honestly I struggled to hold back laughter upon seeing Kevin Spacey locked in an online session of team deathmatch. His game face, mouth agape and bereft of emotion, resembled that of my own and he jiggled the controller around in a manner that wasn’t too outlandish or unrealistic. As the scene unfolded and I stopped chuckling, I enjoyed discovering that there are wrinkles to this character outside of my expectations. But more importantly it’s the show’s choice of a twitchy and frantic first person shooter here that I’d like to highlight. The viewer is presented with a man bent on revenge who earlier in the episode, learned that his former political allies went against their word, and refused to appoint him as Secretary of State to the new president-elect Garrett Walker. This seemingly innocuous Killzone sesh reflects Underwood’s current situation, and the attitude that he will carry throughout the season: One of aggression, revenge, and swift conquest that only an FPS power fantasy can simulate.
Monument Valley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-rMd2eR04o
On the other hand, the manner in which House of Cards introduces Monument Valley is not without its share of stumbles. The show shines a perplexing amount of spotlight on this indie mobile title, having Underwood reference it apropos of nothing on multiple occasions. In one scene in particular, Underwood interrupts his advisers to first ask if they had played, and then suggest that they play, Monument Valley. In turn causing an audible “say what now?” from both the characters listening to this nonsense, and myself.
Monument Valley is further highlighted when Underwood brings in an award winning writer named Thomas Yates to pen a propaganda-laden biography for him. Conveniently enough, Yates wrote video game reviews on the side prior to meeting Underwood, and his colorful diction displayed in his review convinced the president to try the game out. In a scene with both men in the oval office, Underwood quotes Yates’ review of Monument Valley as a vote of confidence in the young author stating,
“I tend to play shoot-em-ups, the indie games don’t really interest me, I need adrenaline, action. But when I read this, I had to try it. If you can convince me to be a silent princess with just 100 words, imagine how many millions you can convince with this book.”
I can’t help but draw the comparison to one Dan Ryckert, and envision the president reading Air Force Gator and asking him to come in upon finishing his Breath of the Wild review. But I digress.
This scene is so strange! Yate’s vacant smirk throughout the conversation and his delivery of the line “You read my video game reviews?” made my eyes roll so far back into my head i was seeing the formations of the words “fuck off” jump across my synapses before they could meet my vocal chords. But Yates' vapid performance and Underwood’s incorrect use of the term “shoot-em-up” aside, I do respect the bold choice that a video game review would provide the motivation for a major character to enter the show. Plus the fact that Frank Underwood is even familiar with what an “indie game” is and goes through the trouble of reading reviews in the first place is way beyond any expectation I had of the protagonist of a political drama. If this were mere product placement, why go through all of this care to show their main character has far more than a surface-level knowledge of video games?
The question of whether ustwo, the developers of Monument Valley would pay to get featured on House of Cards, and have the writers worship this game to the extent that it does is perplexing. But it is upon closer investigation of the gameplay of this indie darling where the choice to feature Monument Valley so prominently may be based on more than it appears. The following link is to a video by a guy named Trip behind the channel theme addict which explores this further.
Trip quotes a ghost at the beginning of Monument Valley who introduces the protagonist, Ida, to the “Valley of Men” stating,
“Now all that remains are our monuments, stripped of their glories.”
This can be seen as a direct comparison to the Washington D.C. in which Frank Underwood finds himself. As Trip puts it “A literal valley of monuments” that celebrates a bygone era of former glory and America’s rise as a democracy by the people, for the people. Comparisons between the game and Underwood's behavior can be seen again later on in Monument Valley when Ida encounters the Totem, which the game describes as a friend. But when the player progresses to the end of the level and continues on successfully, the totem is left behind, disposed of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krSI0tCoY7c&t=20s
Just like in the game, Underwood creates an ally and then tosses them aside once their usefulness is spent. This is seen both in his treatment of Zoe Barnes and Peter Russo, characters whom Underwood had no trouble offing once they were no longer needed.
Finally, the stark difference in this game’s mechanics to the previous game referenced in the show, Killzone 3, reflect Underwood’s transition to different maneuverings and tactics to overcome his goals. The adrenaline-fueled displays of might and revenge from Killzone-crazed Season 1 Underwood are no longer appropriate. Instead, we see Underwood manipulating his surroundings and his peers to achieve success. These similarities go well beyond coincidence, and perhaps alludes to the writing staff being way more savvy toward video games than I had anticipated. Could other appearances of games throughout the series have the same winks and nods to the situations the characters currently find themselves?
Playstation VITA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGDgnp7-uck
No fucking idea.
Underwood asks Peter Russo a question I am confident no elected official has ever uttered in the history of America
“Is that a VITA?”
Now, I was hoping Underwood would start waxing poetic about his Persona 4 Golden playthrough and how far his social link with Chie had reached but I was just left with this total non-sequitur as the scene moves on. The awkward remark exists as either another nod to the fact that Underwood will enthusiastically pepper gaming into conversation, or a means of small talk between he and Peter Russo, attempting to appear harmless and friendly in the face of a character he would murder later in the series. Or maybe... the writers used the VITA’s lack of an audience in recent years as an allegory to foreshadow Russo’s death!
I think I might be reading into that a little too far.
Agar.io
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZvfXLHejsc
Again... this one is goofy as hell. I'll give it to you. Underwood and his political rival, Governor William Conway, have a brief meeting and begin arguing about their respective views. Conway then asks Underwood “You play video games right?” As if a cue card with those words fell from the fucking sky. Literally had no reason to bring that up. The men then begin talking about Agar.io, a mobile game about consuming other players to become bigger, while avoiding players larger than yourself. Upon handing his phone to Underwood he states,
“The bigger you get, the more you gotta avoid getting eaten by the bigger players, meanwhile you’re trying to eat the smaller players.”
A philosophy directly related to how Underwood came to power in the first place. Underwood even realizes this himself when responding with “Sounds a little like running for president.” But aside from the surface level symbolism, the rest of the scene plays like product placement. Underwood asking Conway if he’s playing with real people and the governor responding in turn with “yea with people all over the world.” Like the brief appearance of the VITA, this is one of the clunkier, "why the fuck would they throw this here" moments in the series.
Samsung Gear VR
The show’s latest foray into the featuring of video games as an instrument of story-telling came in season 5 where Governor Conway strapped himself into a Samsung Gear VR and made his way through an FPS experience. The scene begins real goofy, showing only the governor’s head flipping around left and right with the headset on, Gear VR logo in full view.
As the camera pans, his tactical weapon-holding arm position comes into view revealing some sort of motion detecting power glove to simulate trigger action and the position of his weapon. (I am peering through my fingers at this point attempting to yank my eyelids down like a pair of busted window blinds). The scene continues as Conway’s VP nominee and running mate General Ted Brockhart watches the governor’s view from a laptop screen, marveling at the game’s realism.
Hollywood product placement buffoonery at it again?, one might say.
But hold on, this short scene is another hint at what Governor Conway has been hiding about his military history up to this point in the season. Something about his past experiences in combat continue to haunt him. He and Brockhart are exploring VR as a means of therapy to alleviate his apparent post-traumatic stress disorder. Without commenting on the effectiveness of hypothetically using VR for this purpose of treatment, I will say that this implementation of video games did serve the scene, and hinted at another wrinkle in Conway’s character. Making him appear fragile, with a goofy headset on, and appearing weak amidst an outward appearance of brawn, youth and fearlessness that he has displayed throughout his campaign. The distraction of the clunky use of a Gear VR + power glove setup didn’t overstay its welcome either. Although fearful in anticipation, and the sound of Jesse’s light gun ringing in my ears, i was still enthralled in the episode.
Yes. I'll give it to you. House of Cards’ inclusion of video game references is weird, and certainly goofy in spots, but I freakin love it. Why the hell not? House of Cards used these little winks and nods to video games to reveal new layers to their characters. I’m sure most viewers who aren’t familiar with these games and consoles, and who don’t follow the industry on a weekly basis, merely gloss over these scenes. However, as an avid gamer I appreciate the care this show takes in doing this well. I’d love to see more popular series add little wrinkles of video game weirdness to their dramas because for a select few viewers it can provide memorable moments of discovery. I only wonder what prompted this out of the producers and writers. Below is a link to an interview where the executive producer of House of Cards shows a keen interest in VR.
I may not know exactly why they continue to do it, but I can’t wait to perhaps see Frank Underwood blast his way through Destiny 2 in season 6, and then complain offhand to his press secretary that “it feels like DLC”.
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