The series is about a dictator who lives in a palace without a dome (literally without a head).
If you are close to TV series about politics of different genres, and dramas, and comedies (for example, you liked “Tyrant” and “Vice President” / “Veep”), then this series you will probably like. With "House of Cards" I will not compare, too different fields of berries. The peculiarity here is that it is a demonstrative satire, sometimes a black comedy.
The authors were inspired by real stories from recent (and not quite) history. Some reviewers rightly find references to Putin (from long negotiating tables so as not to get infected, to the fact that there is its own “return of Crimea to its native harbor”). But there are, for example, references to Ceausescu, Pinochet, and probably some other authoritarian rulers, although they all co-play each other in many ways. There are also references to Orwell’s 1984 (or our reality), in the sense that in the Chancellor’s speeches yesterday’s white becomes black, and vice versa, depending on the situation.
One might think that this is about which dictatorships are bad, while democratic regimes are good. But here the Americans are shown as cynical followers of the realpolitiks (recall that the United States, for example, supported the dictatorship of Pinochet in order to keep the “red contagion” from growing).
An interesting role in Kate Winslet (for a long time she has not seen anywhere), her mentally unhealthy grimaces the whole series is a separate pleasure. The main character is not just paranoid and hypochondriac, she has a whole bouquet there. Sometimes she is a tough and calculating ruler, and as if she even understands her weaknesses. And sometimes she falls into complete madness or infantilization, and then she is ruled by the one who first in this room will have time to put on a robe.
Such a "psychiatrist" is the hero of Matthias Shonarts, a previously unknown actor to me. And he seems to have an even more impressive role. His character is not much healthier: he has a kind of PTSD, and at night he beats himself with a whip or a belt, punishing for the bloody suppression of rebel workers. Unplanned, he has gained the confidence of the chancellor and begins to play a cross between (!) Rasputin, Strelkov-Girkin and young Fidel Castro. I can’t find an exact analogy because it is so controversial. From that moment on, his guilt was realized in a mission: power to the workers and peasants. In general, the right-wing dictatorship is rapidly turning to the left (or rather, it begins to sausage from corner to corner). And, as befits in such cases, along with dirty water from the trough, the child begins to splash out.
Part of the humor is built on how a previously Westernized female chancellor transforms into a rustic woman in a lush suit, with potato festivals (or whatever).
I also find it interesting to play Agnes, the manager of the palace. This beautiful poker face is impenetrable, which is supposed to be a facepalm, but she can't afford it on the job.
It's not like it's a spoiler, because it's just the beginning of the story. As you can guess, the “left turn” did not fit into the worldview and interests of many people and even states. In general, an interesting and funny story, sometimes quite absurd and grotesque, but if you understand that this is satire, then everything is quite organic.
