The Netflix original series “House of Cards” returned this year for its fourth season, providing binge-watching drama addicts everywhere with more sustenance to enjoy another weekend well-wasted.

“It’s an incredibly inaccurate but incredibly intriguing portrayal of politics. It takes one of the most boring things and makes it interesting, which is one of the best forms of storytelling,” said senior Aidan Beals.

The story of power, pride, and ruthlessness continues with the now President Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, pursuing his re-election in a campaign cycle only slightly less terrifying than ours. As is traditional with the series, the plot borrows heavily from paralleling events in the real world such as national surveillance, corruption in campaign finance, the rising threat of terrorist groups in the Middle East, and above all the intense shadiness of American politics.

The show is made interesting by creating an ominously realistic setting of typical American politics and then placing the equivalent of a James Bond villain right in the middle of it, allowing us to watch as this despicable, sociopathic murderer pursues and maintains power all under the nose of the ordinary people around him. The goal of the show seems to be to do this while relying as little on suspension-of-disbelief as possible as to keep its audience frightened, rather than skeptical. This is a difficult task given how almost comically evil some of its characters are, but as always the writers just barely manage to keep things balanced so as to fool us into accepting the show’s series of outlandish events.

One especially unique element of the show is its penchant for frequent fourth wall-breaking asides directed toward the audience by President Underwood himself. These brief monologues create a direct relationship between the audience and the diabolical politician, almost as if we are meant to learn from him and his relentless scheming. In a sick sense, the audience finds pleasure in watching him achieve more and more power, since these asides are directed to us as if we are on President Underwood’s team.

Overall, “House of Cards” is an excellent show and will appeal to political junkies and drama addicts alike looking for an engaging political thriller for their weekly ten hour binge-watching session.