HOUSE OF CARDS S5 E6 CHAPTER 58 - Plot summary and comments

PLOT SUMMARY: First Lady and Vice Presidential candidate Claire Underwood is sworn in as Acting President while the House continues to vote on whether  President Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) or Republican Presidential candidate Governor Will Conway (Joel Kinnaman) should be President.  Claire hesitates over giving Frank security clearance. She frankly asks her campaign manager Leann Harvey (Neve Campbell) about Frank's chances in a revote in all 50 states vs in the House. She replies that a revote in just Tennessee and Ohio is his best shot but it wouldn't be what was best for Claire. Nonetheless, Claire proposes the two state vote but is clearly concerned.

An apparently Russian force has occupied a US base in Antartica.  The Russians deny the troops belong to them.  Secretary of State Catherine Durant lobbies Congress to pass sanctions on oligarchs stating that a vote for the measure is not a vote for the Underwoods who may not be around in a week.  The Russian President then reveals that he has custody of IT specialist Aidan McAllan (Damian Young).

We discover that Frank's new personal trainer is his creepy fanboy Eric. 

Meanwhile, Conway's campaign manager Mark Usher (Campbell Scott) is trying to woo the Congressional Black Caucus. If they can win their support, Conway will be President.  However, he comes across as arrogant and out of touch.  A frustrated Conway tries to bully the pilot of his private jet to allow him to fly the plane.  When he fails he loses his temper. Mark is able to talk him down. Mark then brokers a deal for a new Supreme Court justice and also agrees to the new two state election so long as its for both President and Veep. In other words, Claire needs to formally step down.  Frank is livid. 

Elsewhere, journalist Tom Hammerschmidt (Boris McGiver) continues to block the investigation of the woman who claims she can pin Rachel Posner's murder on Doug Stamper.  However, his sidekick follows up the lead and Hammerschmidt reopens his investigation.

The bored and frustrated speechwriter Tom Yates (Paul Sparks) has sex with a White House tour guide in the press briefing room.

The episode ends of Will Conway's wife looking at him clearly disturbed by playing the virtual reality first person shooter game and Frank on the floor stretching out his back. Claire bluntly tells Frank that he would have lost the House vote. He insults Claire as merely an Acting President. 

COMMENTS:  Another basically dull episode showing Claire in the ascendant. The only hope is that the writers really push the fragility of Conway for some dramatic excitement. Words cannot describe how bored I am by the Rachel murder investigation though.

HOUSE OF CARDS - S4E13 - Chapter Fifty Three

Thoughts:  Notably this is the only chapter of this season written by series creator Beau Willimon. So I guess this sets us up for the House of Cards tumbling in season 5? Is that the last season?  Altogether it feels like this season didn't really have a coherent story arc to itself. It started off as Frank vs Claire. It then became Frank and Claire vs Conway and Tom Hammerschmidt.  I felt we suffered from not having enough of the top drawer writers and directors from the first two seasons involved. You could absolutely tell Beau Willimon's hands weren't on the typewriter. We learn that it's three weeks to the election and the Underwoods are going to "make time" to fight.  The final exchange is chilling and the delicious irony of Frank echoing Obama is the kind of high level dark wit we'd come to expect from this series but all too rarely got this season.

"I'm done trying to win over people's hearts," says Claire.

"Let's attack their hearts," replies Frank.

"We can work with fear."

"Yes we can." 

Similarly, the final line of the season is operating on a level of darkness and Machiavellian genius that we should've been operating on for the entire season.

"That's right. We don't submit to terror. We make the terror."

Running time: 55 minutes. Written by Beau Willimon. Directed by Jakon Verbruggen.

Detailed and spoiler filled plot summary:

HOUSE OF CARDS - S4E12 - Chapter Fifty One

Thoughts:  Perhaps my favourite moment of this entire series is when Hannah Conway asks Claire Underwood if she regrets not having children, and Claire asks if she regrets having them in return.  It's amazing how many mothers feel it's fine to ask that question because it's assumed to be the default setting. I must remember to use that rebuttal in future!  Other than that, I'm suspending judgment on this episode until I've seen the next one because it's evidently meant to be viewed as a tense two-parter.

Running time: 46 minutes.  Written by Laura Eason & Bill Kennedy. Directed by Jakob Verbruggen.

Detailed and spoiler filled plot summary:

HOUSE OF CARDS - S4E11 - Chapter Fifty

Thoughts: Badass Freddy Hays - what a hero - the only man willing to tell the President he's a motherfucker but also to beat up the journalist who would bring him down! But beyond that we get to what is so strangely open and confident in the marriage of Claire and Frank with his offer to keep Tom on. They are a strong enough partnership that it can admit of a menage a trois. But isn't this fascinating ground that we already covered in seasons 1 and 2?  It feels like this series has taken Claire's storyline - that was all about her personal empowerment in season 3 and the first few episode of season 4 - and put her back exactly where she was. She works with and for Frank and he just throws her a live-in plaything to tend to her needs. Is this really the definition of a strong woman in the new millennium?  Even Doug Stamper's growing obsession with Laura Moretti feels rather stale.  With only two episodes left, one wonders where the surprise will be? Is it that Claire will break her partnership if Frank is impeached? All feels rather lacklustre. 

Running time: 51 minutes.Written by Tian Jun Gu. Directed by Kari Skogland.

Detailed and spoiler-filled plot summary:

HOUSE OF CARDS - S4E10 - Chapter Forty Nine

Thoughts: Hugely disappointed with this episode and the direction the writers chose to take the relationship between Claire and her mother. Just as the wall graffiti moment between Meechum and Frank felt forced, this scene felt utterly unearned and out of keeping with the tone of the rest of the show. Cue the swell of violins. Just cheap writing.

Running time: 56 minutes. Written by Melissa James Gibson & Kenneth Lin.  Directed by Robin Wright.

Detailed and spoiler-filled plot summary:

HOUSE OF CARDS - S4E9 - Chapter Forty Eight

Thoughts: Ok so this episode improves with a predictable but still fun plot twist keeping the machinations going. But more importantly we see an interesting psycho-emotional dynamic playing out between Claire Underwood and Tom Yates - and it's the emotional side that was so good in season 3. I'm back on board after a very weak episode 8. 

Running time: 45 minutes. Written by Frank Pugliese.  Directed by Robin Wright.

Detailed and spoiler-filled plot summary:

HOUSE OF CARDS - S4E8 - Chapter Forty-Six

Thoughts: This is the first episode I've been genuinely bored of. Where's the scabrous dark Francis Underwood of season 3, swearing in a Church, and the nuanced and even darker emotional breakdown between husband and wife. Instead we now have the scooby gang solving the crisis of the week as if they're in an episode of Scandal.  Literally the only interesting thing that happened - narratively or stylistically - was when the actor playing Aidan Macallan did the most gonzo TV dance scene since Ricky Gervais in The Office!

Running time: 42 minutes.  Written by John Makiewisz. Directed by Alex Graves.

Detailed and spoiler-filled plot summary:

HOUSE OF CARDS - S4E7 - Chapter Forty Six

Thoughts: I am really upset that so much hard emotional and difficult and brilliant narrative work in season 3 that focussed on the breakdown of the Underwood marriage seems to have been undone by a deus ex machina plot-line so that we are now basically back to contra mundum Underwoods. This is far more dull and basically series 1 stuff.  I am also incredulous that Democratic nominee Heather Dunbar would judge that she couldn't come back from the mistakes made in the previous week and it feels rather quick and shoddy and done to allow room for us to focus on President Frank Underwood's GOP opponent, Governor Conroy. Clumsy and dull.

Running time: 51 minutes. Written by Bill Kennedy. Directed by Tom Shankland.