Hi, and welcome to a Slate spoiler special about season three of Netflix's House of Cards in which a fast-paced, more than slightly nonsensical political thriller, transforms itself into a much more plotting relationship drama right before our very eyes.

I'm Willa Paskin, Slate's TV critic, and I am joined today by devoted binge watchers Brian Louder.

Hi, Brian.

Hello.

Katie Waldman.

Hi, Katie.

Hey. And Miriam Cruel. Hi, Brian. Hello. Katie Waldman. Hi, Katie. Hey. And Miriam cruel. Hi, Miriam. Hi. Um, so guys, I just wanted to start by getting

your general impressions and feelings about this season vis-a-vis the two that have come before.

I'll start. I liked it.

I had fun.

I'm so disappointed.

I think all you guys are more negative than me.

You haven't even heard from us yet.

Well, I've sensed it in the air coming in here.

I think it is, you're right, well, that it is a different tone this season than the two previous

seasons for sure. It's a lot, a lot more moody and sort of interested in smaller issues,

I think, rather than sort of grand political craziness. But I found myself enjoying it on the

level of camp, which is how I've always enjoyed it. And for that, it didn't

really change for me. And I sort of was happy to sit with it all the way through to the end.

For me, it was more about the pacing. Like, the pacing of the first two seasons just felt

really binge-inducing and really, like, addicting. And this one just had no pacing for me.

There was nothing

...