Because the entire show is readily available, we can't really discuss specific plot points the in the general thread. This thread will suffice for that, so don't read any further unless you've either finished this season or never plan to.












So VP, huh? So that was Underwood's angle the whole time. Russo was a pawn from the get go. They had no intention of him ever winning Pennsylvania, and Matthews involvement was always predicated on him eventually becoming governor, thus opening up his seat in the White House. One could go back and probably find little clues to indicate this throughout, but I'll admit I never really caught on to what was happening until Frank took Peter into that garage. Great drama, on par with anything HBO or AMC offers, in my opinion.

As far as individual performances, Spacey killed it, but that was pretty much expected. Other standouts for me were Michael Kelly, Robin Wright, and Corey Stoll (who would make a perfect brother to Andre from "The League", btw). Kate Mara is pretty to look at, but her acting pales in comparison to her sister. Dana Gordon got really old since Entourage.

I'm curious to see where they go from here. Three things converging at once...the VP nod, the lawsuit against CWI, and the story about Underwood's dealings. I just hope we don't have to wait 11 months to find out what happens next.

2/6/2013 9:11:14 AM

^I'm sure we will. Netflix can't just drop hundreds of millions of dollars on this every few months, and I am sure Spacey and some of the actors have a busy schedule already.

That said, it is an underhanded way for Frank to eventually become President. As Majority Whip, his role while powerful, is not one that gets in front of the camera. He's been driving things behind the scenes, so commandering the Education Bill got him in the good graces of the President and got him publicity. Moving up to VP would obviously elevate his importance quite a bit, and also get him more exposure in the press so that by the time the Presidents term is over, he could run with his blessing and full support, and be a household name.

Like you said, my question now is, where do they go from here? Obviously Frank becomes VP, unless the expose tanks that. But the President is in a spot where he is not going to have time to find another, even if the story hit the presses that night. Don't know how the lawsuit side is going to go with Claire. Either way, things have gotten insane and I love it.

2/6/2013 10:23:30 AM

I was really digging up to the garage scene - I don't know, being a murderer kind of took away from Frank's character, for me. Unethically ruthless in politics would have been the way to go all the way through, and I think Frank could've pushed Peter over the edge without having to do it himself. That would've been more interesting.

I think he's going to go after Linda once he gets the vice presidency.

2/6/2013 6:08:11 PM

I think next season will be pretty light as far as the main political plot goes. I think that will take a back door and we will have subplots of him dealing with stuff as the VP, but the main plot will be Zoe investigating him.

I just hope next season doesn't hinge on a moment where he murders Zoe or anything. I'd be fine with Stamper doing the deed but as ^ said, I think Frank needs to be more politically ruthless then straight up murdering people.

All the same I did like the fact that he killed Russo (well, liked how it was set up, I enjoyed Russo as a character and was bummed he got offed). He offered suicide to Russo once and in Russo's eyes essentially was his only friend and the one fueling his redemption. I think it was important to show that was all just bullshit and Frank was the one putting the nails in his coffin.

2/7/2013 10:41:05 AM

My hope is that Zoe is pursuing all of this investigation stuff with her "pals", but is ultimately setting them up for disaster and to take the fall for snooping around.

I want to see more about the Remi/Frank relationship as Remi is the only one who seems to consistently get the better of Frank.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Frank-the-murderer angle either. I am more intrigued by more of the political dealings and vote wrangling, but that's because I'm a political wonk. Haha.

2/9/2013 10:33:15 AM

he's not a murderer, he just has no patience for the useless kind of pain, it's right there in the first scene in the pilot

2/9/2013 9:42:44 PM

Just got done watching it. That was awesome. If Netflix has the resources to put out an HBO/AMC quality drama then I hope we don't have to wait a full year to see something else from them.

2/12/2013 2:02:25 AM

I'm hoping for Frank to continue to have marriage issues, so Zoe will continue to get sexy

But also I expect him to continue to outsmart the President's aide (whatever that chick's name is)

He's just good at playing people, and I expect more of the same in season 2

2/12/2013 3:10:48 AM

Been discussing with some people at work - what do you guys think of the idea that Frank's end game is to have himself assassinated? He makes many mentions to dying young, and his legacy, and the legacy of others who were assassinated. What if the series ends with him finally becoming President then immediately getting taken out?

2/12/2013 8:23:20 AM

It would work in the sense that you're nobody until somebody kills you, but I can't see that as his endgame. He seems to be having far too much fun playing puppet master.

2/12/2013 10:10:20 AM

But he enjoys being the puppet master when he has something to gain. Once he is president he cant go anywhere from there. At that point it is all about cementing his legacy.

2/12/2013 11:01:13 AM

Perhaps. But he already played the assisted suicide card in David Gale. I like to think Fincher and Co. have something else up their sleeve.

2/12/2013 11:48:33 AM

Just finished it. Opinions on Frank? I hate his guts. Absolutely despise him. Kevin Spacey does a brilliant job portraying him though and I love the fact that I despise him so much. The acting is phenomenal. Netflix is setting themselves apart here. I haven't seen a series so sinister and elegant aside from Breaking Bad.

2/17/2013 1:25:49 PM

I also just finished. I liked Frank up until he purposely sabotaged Russo with the prostitute and then killed him.

I'm just curious though, at what point did Frank determine he could make a run at the VP spot?

It didn't seem that he didn't think about getting Russo into the governor slot until he came up randomly at that DNC meeting that sprung up in his building. Why did the governor position come up anyway?

My guess is that before then, he just wanted to do well for the President/party to get good positioning, or otherwise try to angle his way into the State slot, and then the possibility of politicking into the VP spot came to him during the DNC.

[Edited on February 17, 2013 at 3:01 PM. Reason : adsf]

2/17/2013 2:59:36 PM

I think he hatched his plot the minute he found out he was passed over for SoS. He's going to have to kill again to cover up the murder - he's going to have to take care of the person who actually wrote that article in the college newspaper.

Also, how deviant will he get before his right hand man (don't remember the name) is like "I don't want this no 'mo"

2/17/2013 4:27:08 PM

"right-hand-man" is my favorite character

2/17/2013 8:33:04 PM

Stamper is his name

fairly apt name, to boot

Quote :

"I think he hatched his plot the minute he found out he was passed over for SoS."

Ditto. I think you're underestimating him if you think he just came up with these little plots on the fly.

2/18/2013 8:38:49 AM

question, is frank like kevin spacey bisexual?

The citadel seen made me go whatttt?

2/18/2013 9:39:54 PM

I think so

but maybe is only with people sexually because he admires them or their power

I don't actually know how much I think of him having very romantic feelings, although he definitely has something special with Claire

[Edited on February 18, 2013 at 9:47 PM. Reason : ,.]

2/18/2013 9:44:35 PM

I'm fairly confident that it's all about the power with Frank. Having romantical feelings for anyone would actually make him beholden to them in a certain way.

While I don't mind seeing him go after the VP spot, he seemed to indicate at the beginning that he was just out to get anyone and everyone now, especially the president. Hopefully he'll be able to do this as VP, but constitutionally, he has little actual power.

And Frank most certainly murdered Russo. It would have been far more compelling, and closer in line with his character, to have simply manipulated Russo into actually killing himself. Now he just has a trail of breadcrumbs for people to follow.

2/19/2013 3:02:51 PM

That trail of bread crumbs is going to be the basis for future seasons, I think. Hence the name "House of Cards." I think he'll get whatever position he wants fairly quickly in the series, and the rest is going to be him keeping it up, you know, since card houses are knocked over so easily.

2/19/2013 8:53:17 PM

So, if we had to label him, would Frank be a narcissist, a sociopath, or both?


How many other people has he killed? And how has he, thus far, never acted out in a manner that's ended in prison? The murder was definitely strange because, from what we've seen, he's seemed so calm/cool/collected; it's weird that he's just straight up resorting to murder. He's apparently been able to toe the line for quite a while...why would he make this move now? Or is it really the "useless pain" thing? Was Russo such a useless (to Frank) and pathetic creature that he felt it was reasonably within his power to put him out of his misery?

[Edited on February 19, 2013 at 11:06 PM. Reason : Other questions.]

2/19/2013 10:49:30 PM

I'm not reading the thread bc I'm only in episode 3, but I would like some assistance if anyone has found it. I always enjoy a good review article, and even in marathon watching former seasons if there's an ep I enjoyed, I'd find reviews that were done during airing. If anyone knows of any for this hit me up via PM. So far my google search has shown most are reviewing full season. Thanks.

2/22/2013 8:05:02 AM

Yep, enjoyed the show, but thought the murder could have been easily changed to him manipulating russo to doing it himself. Also, there was absolutely no reason he needed to let stamper in on it immediately after he did it. I guess it could be to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for future seasons as someone already mentioned, but it seemed pretty out of character IMO. It made him cross the line from ruthlessly self-interested and ambitious (but still respectable in a twisted way) to a straight up scumbag.

^ the whole season was released at once, so I doubt you are going to find a traditional "on airing" type of review schedule.

[Edited on February 22, 2013 at 9:24 AM. Reason : d]

2/22/2013 9:23:40 AM

I kinda hope they release next season 1 episode per week, or at least a few episodes per week, and not all at once.

If not for this show, I hope that at some point they start doing that for their original programming. I enjoy marathon sessions too, but I do kinda miss the week-to-week suspense wondering whats going to happen and talking about it with other people.

2/22/2013 9:29:54 AM

learn how to turn that shit off after one episode.

I can stop anytime I want to.

2/22/2013 4:51:27 PM

wonder if he'll have the president killed next season

2/22/2013 5:00:26 PM

Is netflix down for anyone else? Cant connect on ps3 or my laptop. Only got 2 episodes to go

2/22/2013 6:47:32 PM

im on.

2/22/2013 8:14:32 PM

F U kills Zoey
F U kills Stamper once he threatens to leak his knowledge of him killing her
Stamper wants to leak this information because he feels he is not properly rewarded for everything hes done for F U.
with Stamper dead, the driver/bodyguard becomes F U's right hand man for sinister activity
F U and the president have a public feud of sorts
F U manipulates the presidency/ becomes president
F U is about to be re-lected suddenly everything immoral he has done is about to surface so claire and his bodyguard arrange for him to be assassinated at the inauguration to preserve HER legacy.
/the end

2/23/2013 2:10:39 AM

interesting theory...i could see the writers doing something like that...unless of course they get the green light for a 3rd season

2/23/2013 3:10:13 AM

Well considering the second season has already been shot, I doubt he gets assassinated. They said they have a storyline for season 3 if netflix decides to renew, which I assume they will.

2/23/2013 7:40:45 AM

thats what will happen in the series not the season.

2/23/2013 12:24:14 PM

Just finished last night, so I'm back So I never saw the response to my first question since I said I wasn't coming back in here, but no matter any more.

I really enjoyed it. At first I was turned off by Frank talking to the camera, but since that decreased in occurrance after the first few episodes plus it being Kevin Spacey (phenomenal in this role) I got over it pretty quickly. Robin Wright was wonderful as well. I really don't have characters that stick out as bad, but their performances stuck out as particularly wonderful.

I was wondering what his end game was bc just playing puppet master to everyone didn't seem like a consolation prize to losing Secretary of State. I started to think about the VP slot when the VP joined Russo on the governor trail, but once the cards started falling for setting Russo up to self destruct and recuse himself from the campaign I realized he definitely wanted the VP seat. I was pretty shocked with the garage. That was obviously not part of the plan, but...considering he placed the razor blade on the edge of the tub for Russo to use I guess he would just seize the opportunity to just get it done and over with. Russo's final call to his kids though tragic. Blah to that whole thing. I really enjoyed his character.

As far as Claire, obviously her going to the fertility specialist is going to become part of her testimony. "Why would I fire you for being pregnant when I want children of my own? I just started later in life."

Anyway...great show. I look forward to s2.

2/28/2013 8:53:26 AM

I'm pretty sure he wasn't going to kill Russo until he said he needed to hide or whatever in the car. Frank said a couple times the plan was to break him down but put him back together. Maybe he was just playing stamper though. Once he realized Russo was down to completely worthless he put him out of his misery. I was expecting Russo to do it himself though

3/2/2013 3:22:52 AM

just finished. quite good! ready for season 2. looks like they're going to beginning shooting soon.

4/13/2013 10:10:28 AM

I believe we can all agree the murder was the biggest thing this season. The murder was so out of the character we created for Frank, a man willing to manipulate but ultimately left people to their own choices, and startled us all. I think we all saw Frank manipulating Russo into death but Frank actually killing Russo showed us what all Frank is willing to do. While I get it as a plot device, it definitely bothered me for the same reasons as everyone else. It also bothered me because 1) Russo was in the passenger seat and 2) that garage definitely has cameras and would see someone leaving Russo's garage.

As for Underwood's plot all along. I think from the moment he said "I'm feeling hungry" he wanted to be VP. We could tell Russo was a pawn all along. Underwood never said "you'll make a great governor" he always referred to Russo as a great candidate.

I really like his relationship with Claire. It's definitely a business arrangement, in part, on both ends, but at the same time I think they build each other up and support them in becoming stronger/more successful/more powerful than they could on their own. In that way, they better each other and I think that is why they are so happy together.

One thing that got me is that when Claire went to go visit pregnant asian girl that Claire had not recorded the conversation. I figured we were going to wrap up that law suit right there with the admissions from the victim.

All and all a really good show but one thing that I never saw them wrap up was the spy camera installed in Zoe's apartment.

5/29/2013 10:58:34 AM

The only reason he killed Russo wasn't because it was going to derail his plans of being VP, it was because Russ was going to blow everything up. He was going to come clean and it wasn't just going to kill Frank's VP chance, it was going to kill everything. It was more or less a survival tactic than a "part of my plot to be VP" tactic.

5/29/2013 11:05:19 AM

The big problem everyone has though isn't the actual murder....it's that Frank is so good at being manipulative, he could've pushed Russo over the edge enough to take himself out.

6/4/2013 7:37:59 AM

Just watched this in 2 days.

I love Frank. He is my absolute favorite character by far but I think the Zoe relationship will come back to haunt him. Just like every chick as soon as you screw them they get feelings and she got hurt.

LUCKILY for him he did get those naked pics of her and I think that will be to his benefit. She seems to trust him and want his friendship as well as business partnership...hell he made her.

Stamper is the shit...he knows he wouldn't be where he is without Frank so there is no way he turns his back on him.

Claire needs to decide what she wants in life...she obviously has problems in making decisions and is easily walked over.

Zoe needs to get naked more often...other than that she's my 2nd fav character. She needs to back off this Peter story although I think the escort girl will become the biggest threat to Frank in the long run.

I really want to see Catherine on Frank's staff for VP and him make a solid run for President.

The thing to remember here is that he has always said its about the Power and not about the money...the tusk thing will come back to haunt him. Tusk has power over him now because if it wasnt for him he wouldnt be VP in the first place...IF he gets that position.

Season 2 should be exciting. Hopefully Zoe gets her head back in the game..she was a much more interesting character when she wasnt trying to screw Frank over.

7/25/2013 9:03:52 PM

Season two starts in three hours and one minute

2/14/2014 12:00:38 AM

hoping to stay awake to watch three episodes or so tonight. I'll finish the rest tomorrow as I have no Valentine's day plans

2/14/2014 1:54:45 AM

I'm definitely up for Episode 1. Maybe 2.

It's gonna be soooo good.

2/14/2014 2:44:11 AM