House of Cards
As Frank Underwood gears up to face Heather Dunbar in a close race for the 2016 Democratic bid, it seems he will undertake the challenge almost entirely alone.
The man is simply losing reinforcements left and right. His reckless attitude about the work from earlier this season has carried over into his campaign and that pitbull attitude won’t fly with everyone. First it was Jackie Sharp, who dropped out of the presidential race soon after the first debate as she and Frank had planned. But she was tired of being controlled by Frank, her demonic puppeteer. So she bucks his promise of a spot on the ticket and publicly supports Dunbar instead. It’s one of the biggest moments of real altruistic intentions on this show — a decision made by Sharp only because she wants to keep the Underwood evil out of D.C. in 2016.
Without Sharp, Underwood can still hang around with Dunbar and maybe even pull out a win. But losing his chief of staff poses a much bigger problem. Remy had been growing distant from the cause for some time. He was constantly disrespected and ignored by Frank and often let his mind wander to more personal issues. But when Remy tries to warn Frank about Sharp’s unhappiness and gets barked at, it’s the last straw. As his ex announces her support for Dunbar, Remy turns in his government pin. Frank is down to Seth and Claire (maybe). And Yates, I guess.
I say Claire’s a maybe because it’s clear that the Underwood marriage is nowhere near normal at this point. Claire confides in Yates (a common development tool for the Underwoods this season) about her and Frank’s co-dependence on each other. She says she told Frank when they got married that they’ll check in every seven years. That’s how they move forward with their arrangement. Every seven years, like terms.
This season has been a trying one on their marriage and not in terms of infidelity (we tackled that last year) or any outside forces. It’s been all about respect for one another between Claire and Frank and the value of prioritizing. They have both gotten so caught up in their own work that there’s too much under the surface between them right now. It’s built up too far. It needs to come out. But whether the couple can save that eventual fight or discussion or whatever it may turn into until after the campaign is over will be something to watch.
The bulk of this episode is the first debate between Sharp, Underwood and Dunbar. The script in this part of the episode really shines as it is a biting, taut showcase for all three actors. What begins as a tag-team attack on Dunbar by Sharp and Underwood ends with Underwood throwing Sharp under the bus to make himself look better than both of them. He tells her afterward he did it so that Dunbar would not and that sometimes things get messy. But Sharp is smart enough to realize how committed Frank is to getting re-elected — committed enough to throw her under the bus again when it matters.
Without Remy and Jackie on board, Frank’s master plan needs some help. An obvious fix is Doug Stamper. But Stamper has some other issues to deal with, namely, a Rachel who is very alive. Gavin says that he lied about her death to get the passport he coveted quicker. Now that he is safely hidden far away from the FBI, he tells Stamper the truth. In return for all the information, he wants Doug to help out a friend of his and protect him from prosecution. It’s undoubtedly a selfish move by Gavin, one that would make anyone upset. But, with the help of his brother, Stamper avoids falling back into the clutches of alcoholism. We end the episode unsure where Stamper stands on the Rachel issue but positive that he has gotten his family life in order.
As a fan of his work in seasons one and two, I would love to see Stamper get back into political action here. He seems to be the obvious savior of this Underwood mess and there’s been no indication this year that his savvy has slipped. Can the dream team reunite and make some heads roll once again?
Sidenotes:
– There’s some really nice directing in this episode with the zoom on Claire’s face right before she faints standing as a clear highlight.
– The final scene was also quite beautiful, with Claire’s reading to the kids becoming a comment on her relationship with Frank.
– I’m hopeful that Remy will stay in the picture for these last two episodes and finish what has been a quietly exceptional season for Mahershala Ali.
– Overall, this episode had some nice twists and good character development — a balance that I said early on would make this season stack up well to the success of its two predecessors.
