After watching House of Cards S02E01, here are my thoughts (spoilers):
I've never been more conflicted about whether I liked a show or not. The biggest flaw is that they did not make the jump from realistic to unrealistic well at all. I'm fine with a political show being unrealistic, but they did the first 8 episodes in a manner that the viewer could really believe that this is house DC worked. The relationships and mentality seemed so spot on in that sense. But then they started killing people, and that didn't sit well with me. If they would have started out doing crap like that it would have been fine, but from starting up a car with a congressman in it to pushing a writer in front of a train, give me a break.
I do still think the relationships that the politicians have with each other are interesting, and I love watching manipulation used in this show, and the desire for power in all forms. Not to mention Kevin Spacey is one of the best actors in Hollywood today. Seriously, he's got to be top 5 when you look at his entire career. Oh man, and when Frank finally addressed the audience again at the end of the first episode, how great was that?
I'll keep watching because of the good things, and I will more than likely enjoy it. But this show will never be more than an afterthought because of the jump from believability to outright ridiculousness.