MoL spends lonely-guy nights with Netflix. Two episodes of Breaking Bad a session, two bottles of Asahi beer (product placement). Watched BB show finale the night before last. MoL’s lips are sealed. Mmm. Moving on, House of Cards, a UK show years ago — ok; not that great — given a Washington revamp. Political machinations and the gimmick of manipulative protagonist talking direct to camera. Now it’s Kevin Spacey’s turn, directed by David Fincher, giving it a movie look. Kevin seems to have it written in his contract that he has to have a scene with a dog. In Margin Call he buried one. In HoC he strangles one pre-credits. MoL can’t decide if he wears a wig or whether he is any good as an actor, which is unusual because MoL usually has an opinion. MoL quite enjoyed the opening episode because it didn’t involve sitting there trying to decide whether this was the best TV show ever (with everyone shouting TV is the new cinema). The characters were predictable. Nobody dropped the ball. Everyone was sexed up on politics, making what sex there was look weird and old-fashioned (do people really do that anymore?) On the question of Asahi beer, why does it goes missing for months at a time from supermarket shelves when other brands stay constant? MoL says TV doesn’t have to be great, which is why it enjoys Revenge, a super-trashy Jacobean-style drama set on Long Island featuring rich people with dubious taste and so many plot twists we are constantly entertained at the sight of them jumping through hoops backwards. It features an MoL favourite, Gabriel Mann as Nolan, who would liven up HoC where the men all do grey and the women do pastel acting.