House of Cards
The Underwood 2016 campaign has begun.
Frank’s already in Iowa trying to drum up support. He’s fully committed to the cause — even wearing the presidential leather jacket that’s supposed to look casual. He’s quite the speaker when he wants to be, so the Iowa crowd is hanging on his every word. They want to get back to work and Frank is the guy to help them do that. How could Congress pull the plug on America Works? Those egotistical suits.
But then something Frank once said comes back to bite him. He said earlier in his presidency that he wasn’t going to focus on re-election over the work. So, when he starts focusing on re-election, the work gets in the way. Soon after Russia agrees to help in the Jordan Valley, eight of its soldiers are killed in an attack. The international landscape is a mess and the president is needed back in Washington. So, sorry Iowa, but the speech must end a little early. The work calls.
“Chapter 35” really starts to get the wheels turning on what is shaping up to be an unpredictable home stretch in season three. Petrov, a problem that had laid dormant for a little while, is back to his wily ways. The attack in the Jordan Valley could have serious implications, especially considering how long it took to get Russia to join the fight. But things aren’t that simple. It turns out there’s evidence pointing to the fact that Russia may have engineered the attack on itself, possibly as an event it could use as justification for a much bigger act of retaliation. What that act may be and who it may directed at remains to be seen, but by the end of this episode the US-Russia relations are rocky to say the least.
Despite all the storylines this show orchestrates in political offices and D.C. board rooms, it is war that will always be most powerful. Even the threat of it looms over everything happening like one big dark cloud. Will House of Cards ever actually engage the storyline? I doubt it — too complex and a bit unbelievable. But the show is getting awfully close.
Meanwhile, Doug Stamper is an absolute mess. Gavin’s investigation into Rachel is over and the results are not good. Rachel is dead. The news hits Stamper like a brick (I’m so sorry) and he turns back to alcohol to combat his devastation.
As Frank’s ex-chief of staff deals with his own demons, his current one deals with Johnny Law. Remy gets pulled over in the district for speeding, and after getting things cleared up he is quite shaken. He needs somewhere to turn in his time of need and the only option is his ex, Jackie Sharp. She consoles him and he returns her kindness with a kiss. She shakes it off — she’s a married woman now — but assures him she’ll be there for him when he needs it.
The Stamper and Remy storylines are so similar because both of them have no one besides Frank. They have committed themselves so much to the evil machinations of this man that it has consumed their lives. So when something real happens, like real loss or real fright, there’s nothing for them to turn to. Just a crooked politician who has other concerns.
This has always been a show devoid of real human connection but the brilliant acting in this episode by Michael Kelly and Mahershala Ali as Stamper and Remy respectively really amplified how alone these people are. You feel bad for them in the same way you felt bad for Frank when him and Claire hit a rough patch a few episodes back. I’m fairly certain that House of Cards could elicit some inkling of sympathy out of us for the devil if he became part of the storyline — they’re that good at slipping in the smallest bits of humanity.
But the most human moment here doesn’t come from either of those men; it comes from Frank. Stamper comes to him in a drunken state of sadness and shows him the envelope on Rachel’s death. He tells Frank that he had been working for Dunbar just because he wanted to become useful to the president once again. And, at least this once, Stamper is not alone. Frank holds his old friend and tells him that he will work everything out. He gets Stamper home safe and then gives Heather Dunbar a call. He berates her for trying to put Stamper back to work at a time that he was still so fragile. How could she possibly put politics ahead of humanity (a move that you could call ‘the Underwood’)? There’s real anger in Frank’s voice but for once we can believe that it’s for something he believes in and not just something political. He believes in Doug Stamper.
“If you do anything that injures his health again,” Frank tells his new 2016 opponent, “I swear to God, I will put you in your f—ing grave.”
That’s friendship.
Sidenotes:
– This episode was directed quite beautifully by Robin Wright. The opening shots of some Iowa cornfields partnered with the sound of Yates and Baldwin having sex was a bold choice, but proved to be only the first of many in this episode. They almost all paid off and helped create what I think was one of the strongest hours of the season so far.
– I still firmly believe that Remy and Jackie will get back together. Sure, it would be a predictable turn in a show that tends to avoid them, especially with its character development, but I just want Remy to be happy.
– Baldwin starts inquiring about a possible FEC violation after she sees a big Iowa fundraiser on Air Force One. But I hope this storyline goes nowhere because to create something big out of a plot device as flimsy as someone looking for the bathroom and walking into the pressroom instead would be cheap.
– The Jordan Valley is officially a mess, and Frank’s efforts to send American forces in to investigate Russia backfires. One American dies in the failed attempt — a sign that if Frank pushes forward with his pressure on Russia there may be more American lives to be lost. Tricky territory to enter.
– Does Rachel’s death mean that Gavin goes away? I hope so.
