I watched it 3-5 a day for a little under a week, I think it was. That's how I watch almost everything I have total access to. I have to really be nuts for something to take in more than a few a day, and even then it's usually half-hour comedies or something.
So, thoughts. Spoilers below...
I liked it a lot. Great opening scene. I think the first two episodes are far and away the best, though. It meanders a little in the middle. There's some character background which is definitely interesting, but doesn't feel particularly woven into the other story, which feels far more urgent and engrossing. I don't have any problem with what Underwood ended up doing: pretty much everything the show had shown us up to that point pointed to it, and it's obvious early on that the series is asking for just a little bit of license in terms of reality.
Still, it's hard to suspend disbelief when a show only wants you to do it a little. When it wants to be 75% real, like this one does. I kept getting hung up on little things, like the implausibility of a President using an Inaugural address to push a specific piece of legislation.
But hey, Spacey's fantastic, the character's a lot of fun, and I was genuinely engrossed in trying to figure out what his plan was, which was both a blessing (for obvious reasons) and a curse (it made every side story feel like a pointless diversion). I feel it's very clearly in the second-tier of television programs: not the absolute best, but just below that. A notch below the
Breaking Bads and
Game of Thrones' of the world, but a clear step above most of the other dramas. A very-good-but-not-great first season.
I think it'll be tough to improve on the first season, because a lot happens and they've only left themselves so many places to go. I think it's very likely we've seen the best of it already. But I'll definitely be waiting eagerly for season 2.
-ish.