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Showtime's satirical drama House of Lies Season 5, which is based on Martin Kihn's book House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time, debuted on April 10, 2016. The 10-episode show narrated the story of its lead character Marty Kaan, portrayed by Don Cheadle, and his firm Kaan & Associates. From raw consulting tactics to personal reckonings, House of Lies Season 5 was introspective in tone.
House of Lies Season 5 moved away from navel-gazing, and was more about being emotionally engaged. There was less corporate back-stabbing and more development of character on the show. The season engaged with identity, transformation, and discovery. Since the usual craziness of dealing with Fortune 500 companies took a backseat, the bigger-than-life narrative was about characters of a morality-pushing company.
Marty Kaan's journey in House of Lies Season 5
Marty Kaan faces his biggest challenges in House of Lies Season 5. Years of scamming clients, ruthlessly laying off workers, and pushing morality to the backburner return to haunt Marty, as he begins to reap the harvest of what he has sown.
The season also explores his partnership with his son Roscoe, who is a pro at adapting to his new mindset. Given such factors, Marty begins questioning what legacy he is going to leave behind and whether or not winning at any cost is really worth it.
His own transformation is gradual. Each week, House of Lies Season 5 strips away the trappings of how years of burnout and pathological relationships force him to remove his foot from the gas and introspect. Although he continues to run Kaan & Associates, Marty no longer wants merely to close deals. He is trying to find out who he is in life outside of the boardroom.
Jeannie's divided worldview
Kristen Bell's Jeannie Van Der Hooven is under the microscope a lot in House of Lies Season 5. Not just Marty's old flame, Jeannie is his current co-parent as well, and she is juggling her high-stress consulting job and parenthood. Their daughter brings an additional new level of complexity to their already messy dynamic, causing Jeannie to wonder what she really wants, both from Marty and her job.
Jeannie's personality is a series of contradictions. She is in one moment a no-excuses, no-nonsense counselor and in the next a woman destroyed by unresolved emotions. Marty and Jeannie's tension simmers throughout House of Lies Season 5, underpinning an under-the-radar but real emotional journey.
Clyde and Doug: Once more lawless, slightly more mellowed
Clyde Oberholt (Ben Schwartz) and Doug Guggenheim (Josh Lawson) inject necessary comic relief in Season 5 of House of Lies. Their storylines are by no means filler, though. Clyde tries to be taken seriously at the firm and fights to be anything but the blowhard sidekick. Doug continues to wrestle with clueless ego and his own inner insecurities.
While both these characters were also frequently utilized as the goofy men of the early years, House of Lies Season 5 does provide some emotional depth to them. Both of them try, in their own dysfunctional way, to mature and make their own mark at the firm. Whether or not they are successful is yet to be determined, but their efforts at altering the circumstances further highlight the theme of change and its consequences throughout the last season.
The Cuba finale: A break from the status quo
Indisputably the most shocking moment of Season 5, and the show overall, the House of Lies finale, titled No Es Fácil, is magnificent. It is shot on location in Havana, Cuba, and is a departure from the show. It is not about political maneuvering and business strategy, but has more to do with Marty's personal discovery in a foreign land away from corporate America.
It divides most of the audience, for viewers were looking forward to a climactic crash of the company. The series, however, decided to conclude in silence, ambiguity, and self-questioning. Marty spends his days walking Havana streets by himself, struggling with his choices and unsettled future. House of Lies Season 5 does not end in a burning deal or crash, but in question marks — a risk befitting last season's tone.
Themes and tone of House of Lies Season 5
Unlike the snarky seasons earlier that were filled with nutty sequences, white-knuckle boardroom meetings, and unvarnished criticism, House of Lies Season 5 changes the tone. It substitutes turbulence with command, and ambition with self-consciousness. The tone may not exactly be what hardcore fans wanted, but this is where the characters behave professionally and emotionally.
The larger brush of House of Lies Season 5 is one of transformation, not the merging of companies or the acquiring of clients. It is highlighted by the transformation of personality of its lead characters — Marty, Jeannie, Clyde, and Doug. The personal cost at the expense of business triumph is what makes Season 5 stand out.
Critical reception and audience reaction
House of Lies Season 5 received mixed to positive reactions from the audience and critics. The conclusion was appreciated by some, while others were critical of the season for being slow in comparison to seasons one through four. The Cuba-set season finale was polarizing since it completely deviated from the tone of the series.
Despite all of it, however, House of Lies Season 5 wrapped up without melodrama or additional justification. Its low-key approach defined a season that was content to exit on its terms.
House of Lies Season 5 was not meant to be sensational but to vater a closure to the story. In choosing to go the less frenzied route and spend more time building the characters, the show intentionally went off its previous frenzied trajectory. The makers knew the characters had grown up, and adapted the storyline accordingly.
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House of Lies Season comes across as an emotionally astute conclusion to the overall show. The concluding season left space for consideration, for both viewers and the characters, and ended in a space where personal truth took precedence over success at any cost.
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