This conversation will cover the first four episodes of the new season. Obviously, there will be spoilers.
Nikki: So far this season is all about CLAIRE. I’ve always found her fascinating, but just felt so frustrated on her behalf for most of season 3, because she clearly didn’t have enough to do or an obvious path to the kind of influence she wanted — she was stuck, at the mercy of that weird uneven plot with Russia (who CAAARES), constrained rather than freed by the power of the White House. It didn’t feel like her and Frank against the world anymore. When she left him at the end of last season that felt inevitable, and I was eager to watch them duke it out in season 4 because the show, for better or worse, has set up each Underwood as the only rival worthy of the other. In past seasons, Frank so easily outflanked and outmaneuvered the hapless adversaries whose loyalty or jobs or power he wanted — yes, he had to scheme and kill and cover things up, but often the people he was up against never fully realized what he was doing until it was too late — which is honestly one of the show’s weaknesses! But it also means the only person who could possibly fight Frank and beat him is, and always has been, Claire.
As hard as I root for Claire, I have to admit I was pleased that her plot of pushing Doris Jones (THE FLAWLESS CICELY TYSON)’s daughter Celia aside didn’t work out for her, even if it meant Frank temporarily seized the upper hand with that back-stabbing drop-in at the State of the Union. (I appreciated how fast Celia and Doris froze Frank out, too, when that KKK photo of his dad turned up.) I’m still waiting to see if the show lets any nonwhite characters really drive the plot, but it’s hard when so much of the power and agency and ruthless machinations are reserved for the Underwoods. A part of me was really glad that Claire didn’t succeed in leap-frogging over Celia for that House seat she wanted. (But did she ever really want it, or was it mostly to gain Frank’s attention and angle for the veep spot?)
I have always thought of Claire as kind of a closed book, and she’s such a glorious and compelling one I don’t mind, but the scenes with her mother in Texas have me rethinking her a little bit! It’s not particularly subtle, having her walk into that huge bereft house and pluck dust-cloths off the furniture of a bitter, dying woman still in residence. Ellen Burstyn is a marvelous icy terror of a mother, and it wasn’t exactly a shock to discover that Claire’s mom is like that, but I found their scenes together surprisingly…affecting? The hesitant hug! Elizabeth ripping off her wig and shouting “I AM THE MOTHER” when Claire threatens her! I don’t think she could possibly hate Frank so much, either, if she didn’t also love her daughter in some terrible, consuming but largely unexpressed way. And the show has given us so little in terms of Claire’s interior life and history that anything at all feels like a lot.
Nicole: Absolutely. I think that one of the things I’ve always loved about Claire’s treatment by the show is their lack of interest in “humanizing” her: she never eats, we’ve seen her take off her heels…once, Frank is the one who gets emo over his old college boyfriend and military reenactor nonsense and briefly loses momentum. Claire is always moving forward, like a shark. So I found it VERY unsettling to see her hesitate in her family home, wondering if she should open her mother’s door, etc.
The way Claire fights Frank is also unique in the history of their externally-facing skirmishes. She leaves her fingerprints all over it, purposefully. Claire doesn’t want to defeat Frank, Claire wants Frank to know she CAN defeat him, and drops those earrings on top of his history like “this is the tiniest, tiniest crumb of what we know about each other, don’t think I can’t or won’t take you right to the edge.”
Can we talk about Meechum, for a minute? I loved that sweet, lonely, handsome goober so much, and there are so FEW moments of genuine emotion that escape the Underwoods in this series. Frank tracing the outline of his hand on the wall? I knew in that moment that Meechum wasn’t making it through the season. Also, my heart BROKE for him when Frank asked if he was the leak, because how DARE you sir!?
RIP, Meechum. You were too precious for this sinful earth.
Nikki: Poor Meechum, we hardly knew ye. He was so unquestioningly loyal, which really makes you wonder what the hell happened in his poor puppy-dog life that the Underwoods would look like salvation. Like you, I get and actually appreciate the show not attempting to “humanize” Claire, but I sometimes wish we got more back story on the Underwoods’ pawns, since they are the closest thing this show has to real humans. I would have liked to know more about Meechum before he snuffed it. When Frank traced Meechum’s hand on the wall I actually said, out loud, “Sorry you’re about to be killed.” There was nothing left for Meechum to do but die, unfortunately, kind of like Lucas once he realized no one was ever going to believe him.
In Lucas’s case, we knew he was doomed the moment he was released from prison; it was just a question of when and how. But I still don’t know if I buy the idea that Lucas of all people would turn homicidal after one failed meeting with Frank’s Democratic opposition. And are we supposed to believe that he wouldn’t even try pitching his expose on the Underwoods somewhere first? What happened to “Slugline”??
What did you think of the assassination attempt? The show telegraphed that shooting for a while before Lucas actually pulled the trigger. All I could think was HOW HAS NO ONE EVER SHOT FRANK BEFORE. What did you think of Claire’s reaction? Do you think it was just too neat of a way to end or at least delay the standoff between them, and sink Heather Dunbar’s chances in the bargain?
Nicole: Oh, let me go back to your point about Lucas! I definitely think he would have dumped everything via Tumblr and started tweeting accusations before going homicidal. He was a NEWSPAPERMAN. Obviously he was circling the drain in terms of his ability to go on in the face of constant defeat, but it didn’t ring true to me, no.
Every show about the Presidency breaks out an assassination attempt in the first few seasons. Can I say that before I saw Lucas’ face, I thought Claire might have paid someone off to do it? It WAS pat and convenient and allowed the show to back down from Underwood v Underwood, but, well, I guess it worked!
To chime in about people of color on the show, something I was saying on Twitter the other day was that I DO so prefer how their storylines are handled on House of Cards over The West Wing. Cicely Tyson and her daughter don’t admire Frank Underwood, they want to know what they can get from him. Remy too! On TWW, black characters in particular were there to make the white characters seem progressive and anti-racist, whereas in HoC, they’ve got their own agendas. They’re playing the game.
I do wish we had a better grasp of Remy and Jackie as a couple. We get the occasional hotel room clinch, but not whatever drives that relationship. Why do they never team up? But I think this goes back to your theory that the Underwoods suck all the oxygen out of the room.
See you on Wednesday to talk episodes 5-8! Toasties, tell us your 1-4 observations!
Overall what I’ve noticed about episodes 1-4 is that Robin Wright directed episodes 3 & 4 and it’s so much easier to see what’s going on than episodes 1 & 2. I know the show likes its dark and moody lighting, but when you can’t actually see the emoting or even identify the actors as they wander around practically pitch-black rooms, it gets a bit ridiculous.
I’m happy to see Claire come in to her own and also already not here for people whining about how mean she is to Frank, who’s a goddamned wrecking ball of a human being.
+1 on Robin Wright’s directing. I just finished the season and found her episodes the most enjoyable.
One thing I kept thinking while watching the new season is that our current political horror show has taken some of the edge off House of Cards. I recently read about how Trump has been plotting his run for years — it’s not just a horrible whim of the moment! — and, I don’t know, fictional TV villains running for president seem just a little tame compared to actual TV villains running for president.
YES. I agree completely.
we’ll just add “MAKES HOUSE OF CARDS SLIGHTLY LESS FUN FOR NIKKI” to the long list of things Trump has to answer for.
Every plot line involving Russia makes me cringe at the idea of Trump in the oval office. I have faith that our government could shut him out for the most part when it comes to legislation, but if he really has a direct line to other world leaders/ command of the military, the damage could be horrifying.
Also, my husband and I thought the idea of Claire as VP was out of left field for about ten seconds and then we were like … wait, we have a (former) first lady running for president right now.
So, yes. It’s been especially interesting to watch this year. Also makes me wonder which presidential hopefuls are secret murderers, since even that doesn’t seem so impossible anymore.
What I’ve appreciated most in Season 4 is that the writers and/or showrunner aren’t cleaving quite so closely to current events with the political backdrop. Yes, it’s also an election year in HOCland, but it’s sooo much easier for me to suspend disbelief than the last couple seasons, where the HOC political environment just seemed so familiar that these two larger-than-life characters started to seem laughable. I’m not even an actual politico, and I straight up spilled a hot beverage when Frank decided to do a pilot jobs program in DC. So the oil crisis storyline seemed very smart to me. We all know about the crisis in the 70s, but IRL we’re in the opposite position, for the moment. I can just relax and not worry about whether this crazyass show is actually getting its political analysis right.
I couldn’t buy the America Works program either, given he was gutting the entire safety net to do it, but some of the foreign policy stuff seems…almost as implausible to me. (Which doesn’t bother me at ALL. I don’t think we watch political dramas to get ideas about how to run the real world.)
Yeah, you’re right, some of the foreign policy stuff is a stretch. I think what saves some of that for me is the totally committed Petrov (aka MAGNUSSEN) performance.
Oh my god he is sooooo good. I want him in a putin biopic.
Commenting 12 weeks late to say that HoC and Hannibal seem to have programmed me to feel deep, overwhelming horror at the sight of the Mikkelsen cheekbones.
I kind of wondered if they hadn’t committed to the oil price storyline before the bottom fell out of the RL oil market, and the divergence is just a twist of fate rather than a plan.
I am never going to be over poor Meechum and his strange life. I really sort of identify with throwing your loyalty and love in behind a monster because you’re coming from nothing. It makes a certain doomed sense. Also all the scenes with Elizabeth, Claire’s mother, are brutal and I love them. They take that Southern Gothic horror up for me, maybe because it is my homeland and I know people like this. But I completely agree that Lucas would have put this shit all over tumblr instead of just leaving a sad handwritten note. Though between being in prison, the sexual assault and coercion, being disbelieved by a person in power – I get it. Sometimes everything just becomes a perfect storm. Well. I think the real brilliance of this season is the coming together of a lot of cold threads.
I’m still not convinced that Claire didn’t pay someone to do it and/or wasn’t somehow involved.
Also, I’m a little confused about what she’s up to. I just don’t buy that she wants to put one over on Frank badly enough to ruin his career — if he sinks, so does she. Unless he dies.
The earrings – baller move. What about her mother stealing them??? And the scene where she tells Claire she hopes he dies – god love the honesty there!
I also LOVE the LeAnn character. Has Stamper met his match?
No way has Stamper met his match.
I am devastated by the loss of Meechum, the (HoC) world’s only true spirit, and was definitely WITH YOU in righteous fury when Frank accused him about the leak.
Also, I’m hoping there’s more Spy vs. Spy stuff coming up that is just too secret for us to know about yet. We get Frank’s inner monologue, but not Claire’s, so who knows what her long game really is.
That was so upsetting! Meechum clearly didn’t even know what Frank was getting at. HEARTBREAKING.
Not sure of Claire’s end game, either, but I will say she doesn’t seem like she’d be content with the frustrating, easily sidelined office of VP.
I almost feel like…Meechum’s sweet ignorance of what Frank was talking about was that moment’s only saving grace? “What’s that, boss? Should I do something? Did I do something? Do you need a coffee? THERE’S SUBTEXT HERE BUT WHAT IS IT? I LOVE YOU?”
I am so sad they didn’t make out.
I kept shouting “make out!” at my television, but nothing happened.
It was worth a try.
I know it would never happen, and in actuality would be pretty stupid, but I can’t help but wish that the season/series ends with Claire delivering a monologue to the camera. Maybe while standing over Frank’s dead body.
THAT WAS MY WISH TOO!
I am HEARTBROKEN. Meechum was my fave, my one and only. Ironically, after episode 3, my roommate and I decided that the clear way to get Frank and Claire back together was for Meechum to take a bullet for one of them. HOWEVER, our version ended with Frank and Claire reconciling over Meechum in the hospital room, where he makes a swift recovery and they all live Happily Threechum Ever After.
Somehow in this scenario it absolutely did not occur to us that Meechum would die??? We are and continue to be heartbroken.
THREECHUM
ahhhhh
THREECHUM
I wasn’t totally convinced that Frank REALLY thought Meechum might have done it. I think that scene was just Frank re-assessing Meechum and searching his eyes (deeply) for confirmation of what he already knew.
(now kiss now kiss)
I agree. I think he was asking because he had to… but then I also said out loud, “Is Frank going to seduce Meechum?”
I loved Meechum as the best person around in the show. So it didn’t feel surprising that he died…
I just finished episode 4 and I’m so glad you all share my distress over Meechum. I thought if one thing remained a constant in 4 seasons of this show it was going to be the constant low-level sexual tension between Francis and Meechum, and now it’s just GONE.
MEECHUM.
That poor boy.
I will never be okay about meechum.
I’ve been loving this season, especially the episodes Robin Wright directed. It feels more Shakespearean than ever, especially with the treatment of the secondary characters. There is also something wonderfully operatic about using handwritten letters to drive the plot.
I’d also like to bring up the fact that the SUITS have been INCREDIBLE this season. Jackie’s suits, LeAnn’s suits, Frank’s suits, Claire’s suits (her episode 4 maroon suit is what Queen Elizabeth I would wear today, I am sure of it).
Yes, suit game is on point! Though my husband has gotten confused about why all the women wear only knee-length dresses, and now that’s all he sees when a woman comes on screen. “Oh look, another knee-length dress. Nice knee-length dress, woman person.” Then he turns to me. “IT’S ONLY KNEE-LENGTH DRESSES.” There, there, sweetie.
That’s amazing. I never even noticed it – I guess I just look at Washington like a courtroom, where all the women generally wear conservative suits and pantyhose because That’s What You Do. Claire Underwood would never be caught DEAD in a maxi skirt!
For sure, I think it makes total sense! They can’t wear minis, and maxis would look weird and boho. Pants would work, but I think a sea of knee-length skirts makes more sense, both for the aesthetic of the show & the political world generally.
Absolutely – these women would NOT be wearing miniskirts – so one thing bugs me – Claire never seems to wear stockings and I find it very unlikely that she would wear those chic clothes and high heels with bare legs. My two cents…
DC member of the dark contracting/political cadre here. No one wears pantyhose here, ever. It’s considered retro and gross. Fun tights are allowed; I can’t think of a business meeting I went to in my knee length skirt that I wore hose to.
I will never tire of seeing Robin Wright shot in silhouette in an exquisitely tailored suit and heels. I didn’t know she directed, but I’m wondering if the shots that defined her for me this season were from her own episodes. Somehow they showcase specifically feminine power, not shying away from sexuality, but bucking the male gaze at the same time.
Also, I don’t agree with all of it, but this article is fun: “The shoes, which at once elevate Claire and constrain her, function as both a defense mechanism and a power play.”
I just made a facebook status about how Goodwin is totally Banquo’s ghost
I had to stop watching this show somewhere during season two, so I really love being able to catch up a little bit with this post!
I finished the season over the weekend, so don’t want to comment since I can’t remember what exactly happened in what episode but I am very pleased with this series and look forward to the rest!
Oh – I guess it’s safe to say that I liked Robin Wright’s directing as well, and the costuming has been incredible! It makes me wish I were the type (and had the means) to wear impeccably tailored suits…as I sit here in my jeans and mostly-clean hoodie.
I wear tailored clothes to work, but I change into sweats as soon as the apartment door closes behind me. I am baffled by Claire lounging around the house in a tucked in silk blouse, pencil skirt, and heels. (This is also why she remains my hero. She is better than I ever will be.)
I am still in mourning over Meechum even though I KNEW someone as sweet and good-hearted as him could never survive a HoC universe. I may always be in mourning, forever and ever. I yelled “MEECHUM NOOOOOOOOO!” (when they walked away from him on the ground) so loudly that I assumed someone on the street below would yell “NO SPOILERS!!” back at me.
RIP Meechum, you sweet summer child.
I did the very same thing. My cats were startled.
Am I the only one who finds House of Cards really hard to follow? Frank and Claire is easy enough, but there’s all these side characters that pop up randomly and I’m supposed to know all of this history about them and I just can’t be bothered.
Like I had no idea who the guy in the prison cell was, and he definitely wasn’t included in the pre S4 re-cap (which I watched intently because of the whole I can’t remember who the F anyone is) and I only really remembered him somewhere in Ep 3 or 4 and then he shot the pres out of no where? Like where did that come from?
And I spent most of ep5 trying to remember who it was that Remmy is sleeping with, cause I knew it wasn’t Dunbar, but they seemed to be implying that, and maybe I just mixed them up?
Claire continues to be my everything though. Her at the State of the Union was just everything I wish I could be.
Lucas Goodwin, the guy who shot Frank, was the editor & sometime BF of the late Zoey Barnes. He was investigating her death and got locked up for cyber terrorism. He looks really different this season, I had to put it together with context
The woman Remy is sleeping with is Jaquie Sharp, the democratic Whip. She used to be Frank’s lapdog but rebelled in S3. It’s pretty scandalous for her to be sleeping with a former lobbyist considering her position.
The whole Doris Jones plot was amazing and she’s such a good character that I hope we see more of later. Claire has always been my runaway favorite but now I’m torn!
I will never tire of seeing Robin Wright shot in silhouette in an exquisitely tailored suit and heels. I didn't know she directed, but I'm wondering if the shots that defined her for me this season were from her own episodes. Somehow they showcase specifically feminine power, not shying away from sexuality, but bucking the male gaze at the same time.
Also, I don't agree with all of it, but this article is fun: "The shoes, which at once elevate Claire and constrain her, function as both a defense mechanism and a power play."
“I AM THE MOTHER” is my new mantra
My favorite HoC fact will always be that Michael Kelly (who plays Doug Stamper) is, in real life, an EXCEPTIONALLY JOLLY MAN
knowing this will definitely help me sleep at night after watching HOC so thank you for sharing!
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII’m commenting 12 weeks late because I’ve finally gotten to s4e4, and I need to yell into the void about it.
MEECHUM NO
This kind of part addresses in-patient clinic services, competent nursing attention, home and also hospice attention. If you needed paid Medicare health insurance taxes in your employment, you’ll not need to cover the quality. But you will end up required to cover co-insurance and also deductible fees