Even with a slight finding its feet feel (understandable), the first season's quality ranged from very good to brilliant. This quality was present all the way to Season 4, before it (as has been said more than once by me and many others) became a completely different show in a bad way, with the pointless Season 6 being especially bad.
After a still decent but fairly disappointing previous episode ("Chapter 8"), "Chapter 9" felt like a return to form and perhaps the best episode since "Chapter 5". Up to this point of the season, it is also my personal favourite, with there being more tension than before, the political aspect being at its most interesting and the character writing being meatier. Also consider "Chapter 9", which signals the return of James Foley in his third of twelve episodes as director, one of Season 1's best for all the reasons that have been mentioned already. Foley does a great job as director, he keeps things constantly engaging visually and dramatically and he is at ease and in control of the material throughout. It may lack the strikingly cinematic quality of David Fincher's direction in the first two episodes, but that is just in comparison and in no way a knock.
Visually, "Chapter 9" has again really quite wonderful photography and locations, the stylishness and atmosphere really shining (if perhaps not quite as much as in the previous episode). Foley's direction is controlled and taut. The music knew when to have presence and when to tone things down to let the dialogue and characters properly speak, with again some very clever sound quality.
Writing bites, thought-provokes and engages even more than it already did, the structure tight and the dialogue sharply biting and brutally frank without forgetting the substance. The quote in the review summary is a great line and classic Frank but another gem is the Oscar Wilde quotation "a great man once said...". As aforementioned, the political elements intrigued and were intelligently handled, all without any heavy-handedness. Despite not being a political animal really, it didn't go over my head. The story is compelling from start to finish, with a lot of nail-biting tension.
Character writing is also a strength, especially notable for Peter growing more interesting with each episode and even more impressively Claire having her meatiest material yet to the extent that she almost dominates the episode. Frank as always is fascinating, with some writing gems. Can't fault the acting, with pitch perfect performances from Kevin Spacey and Corey Stoll and Robin Wright managing to bring enough nuance to Claire's meaty material to balance out the intensity.
Overall, a great episode and one of the first season's best. 9/10
After a still decent but fairly disappointing previous episode ("Chapter 8"), "Chapter 9" felt like a return to form and perhaps the best episode since "Chapter 5". Up to this point of the season, it is also my personal favourite, with there being more tension than before, the political aspect being at its most interesting and the character writing being meatier. Also consider "Chapter 9", which signals the return of James Foley in his third of twelve episodes as director, one of Season 1's best for all the reasons that have been mentioned already. Foley does a great job as director, he keeps things constantly engaging visually and dramatically and he is at ease and in control of the material throughout. It may lack the strikingly cinematic quality of David Fincher's direction in the first two episodes, but that is just in comparison and in no way a knock.
Visually, "Chapter 9" has again really quite wonderful photography and locations, the stylishness and atmosphere really shining (if perhaps not quite as much as in the previous episode). Foley's direction is controlled and taut. The music knew when to have presence and when to tone things down to let the dialogue and characters properly speak, with again some very clever sound quality.
Writing bites, thought-provokes and engages even more than it already did, the structure tight and the dialogue sharply biting and brutally frank without forgetting the substance. The quote in the review summary is a great line and classic Frank but another gem is the Oscar Wilde quotation "a great man once said...". As aforementioned, the political elements intrigued and were intelligently handled, all without any heavy-handedness. Despite not being a political animal really, it didn't go over my head. The story is compelling from start to finish, with a lot of nail-biting tension.
Character writing is also a strength, especially notable for Peter growing more interesting with each episode and even more impressively Claire having her meatiest material yet to the extent that she almost dominates the episode. Frank as always is fascinating, with some writing gems. Can't fault the acting, with pitch perfect performances from Kevin Spacey and Corey Stoll and Robin Wright managing to bring enough nuance to Claire's meaty material to balance out the intensity.
Overall, a great episode and one of the first season's best. 9/10
