“House of Cards” is one of The First 48‘s most infamous episodes—for the most surprising reason. It’s not a particularly shocking or suspenseful hour of the A&E show; there are plenty of others that have kept true crime fans up at night. What’s led this episode to go down in First 48 history is the fact that it’s completely different from any other, not just in the series but in the entire true crime genre. And like many other aspects of the series, it provokes conversation.
True crime is a very specific genre. As it’s risen in popularity over the last decade, the amount of content has expanded, but most of it remains very much the same. Certain conventions are almost always adhered to. Chief among those is the idea “House of Cards” shattered when it aired in 2016: true crime is never allowed to be funny. This episode of The First 48 was as close as the TV series has ever gotten to comedy.
Read the rest of this article on Fangirlish. The First 48 airs Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. on A&E and streams on the A&E app, Discovery+, Hulu, Philo and Peacock.
Article content is (c)2020-2024 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram.
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