Recap of Season 3

I watched almost all of season 3 in the few days of spring break. And by that I mean that I watched 12 of the 13 episodes of House of Cards Season 3 in a two-day period over break. Can you say

yes you can

(yes you can)

?

Indeed, I did binge-watch this TV show very very badly. I mean how can you not when Netflix gives you a introduction (which I sadly can’t find) that is as sweet as the one they use to introduce season 3 to the viewer. Anyways I will now begin the rather enjoyable process of recapping this season in a few words, and I plan on using the next passion blog post to predict stuff for Season 4 (which yes there DEFINITELY will be). So.

Therefore,

Spoilers ahead.

UN Ambassadors. Treaties. AmWorks. Horndog Russian president. Pussy Riot (humor me I couldn’t resist). Heather Dunbar (who was not memorable last season so I was really confused at first). Sex. Money. The usual jazz. A somewhat pseudo-homoerotic author. Marriage probs.

Whoo felt good to get those out. Anyways. Claire wants to be UN ambassador, Senate denies her, Frank uses recess appointment, Horny Russian pres doesn’t like her, forces Frank to remove her for a treaty to go through. Frank really want treaty. Russia like being a-hole. Frank trade lot for treaty. Me talking like caveman. Anyways that basically sums up the international part of last season (oh yeah, Pussy Riot makes an appearance too and dumps their wine on the floor, jerks), so I will move onto the home front.

Frank wants to run, but the Democratic leaders don’t want him to. He pulls Jackie in to be his VP if she hurts Heather Dunbar, the solicitor-general from last season who brought down Walker and nearly Frank, who turns out to be his main competitor. Frank uses illegal hurricane money to support his program AmWorks to gain public support. It works, but a hurricane almost hits, so Frank has to sign a bill which removes his money and loses his program. Frank then announces he’s running (he had already announced he wasn’t running earlier, see here) again and uses the initial success of AmWorks for support. To gain support, Frank hires an author Tom to write about his program, and the author somehow ends up writing about his marriage to Claire, who after many things, including being used as a popularity tool for Frank’s campaign and being forced to resign from the UN Ambassadorship, begins to reeeeeally hate Frank. The season ends on a truly surprising turn. Claire comes to talk to Frank about how she is really dissatisfied with doing nothing while he holds all the power and she put just as much work into their (really his) rise. This has been a recurring theme throughout the whole series. Claire is power-hungry too. So, with her hatred of him and dissatisfaction with where she’s at, Claire leaves Frank after helping him win the Iowa Caucus. Whoo. That was long. Can’t wait to conjecture about next season.

3 responses to “Recap of Season 3

  1. It’s fascinating how, in many ways, Frank’s life got a lot more complicated after he achieved (at least somewhat) his goal of the previous seasons. Though the international side of things and Frank’s scheming over getting reelected sound pretty great, his marital issues — while not unexpected — are very different. Of course Claire is unhappy in her role. But there’s also a feeling that two such power-hungry people wouldn’t be able to last just because there’s such a slim chance of both of them simultaneously reaching the power they had been striving. The result, of course, being this jealousy and unhappiness, which I’m sure will have quite the effect on Frank, both personally and in his campaign.

  2. I want to comment on the relationship between Frank and Claire: an issue that is present throughout the entire season and ends with Claire leaving Frank (I saw it coming). I understand that Claire wanted to be something more than just First Lady and craved to have a bigger impact on US politics. So, she went for the position of US Ambassador by having Frank nominate her. However, when Congress voted against her, she told Frank to override it through a recess appointment. I understand Claire’s desire for more, but she was clearly not qualified for the job. The issue here is the relationship between Frank and Claire. If Frank had said no to Claire, it could have brought up a rift in their relationship. However, by saying yes, Frank let that fear override an objective view on who is the best candidate for the ambassadorship. Even when Claire got the position, she was constantly referred to as “Frank’s wife” and “First Lady” rather than “Claire”, or “ambassador”. This contributed even further to her insecurity about being in the shadow of her husband and led to a greater divide between her and Frank. However, this also was because many people did not see her as right for the position; her skills for the most part indicated she would not be best for the position. Thus, in the cutthroat political world, her position was not respected by others. Combined with other issues like Petrov’s creepy attraction to Claire and him making her resignation contingent on a diplomatic deal with Russia, Claire ends up leaving Frank. She had always expected a more joint relationship when making Oval decisions. However, in one heated argument, Frank tells her that she should be thankful for her position and that the Oval has one seat and that is for the president, himself. After abandoning a few caucuses and emotionally separating herself from Frank, she finally tells him she is leaving him – and that is how the season ends. I kind of saw it coming after their heated argument and didn’t think it was the best way to end the season. Not to diminish what happened, (it’s a big deal that she leaves him, especially since he is planning to run for president) but the producers could have perhaps ended on a more intense scene. Regardless, season 3 was good and I think an improvement from season 2. Unlike season 2, season 3 focuses on Frank dealing with many issues that come his way as president, rather than him constantly plotting to become the most powerful man in the world while everything is working in his favor. However, both seasons were not as strong as season 1, which is still my favorite.

  3. I really like the way that you started the last two posts with a list of a whole lot of buzz words. I think starting the post this way is very in keeping with the style of the show to keep you on the edge of your seat. This seems like an action packed season, although compared to some of the other ones it seems like not too much happened. (Probably my misinterpretation). I always sort of wonder how much a show like this affects perception of the current government. Which came first, a perception of deep government corruption or media and shows like these that play up mistrust in the government? Should we be doing anything about it if we really think the government is run like this? I am also really interested in the whole marriage issue. Often celebrities and politicians have marital problems. Is this just an inevitable consequence of power or is it something more? Maybe it’s the fact that power changes people. I definitely think Claire leaving will have huge impacts because I think Frank cares a lot more for her than he lets on. Then there’s the issue of how important personal life is during a presidential campaign, and having your wife leave you never looks good.

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