I gotta hand it to House of Cards. It juggles a lot of balls with “Chapter 42,” and while it can’t quite keep all of them in the air, it makes a convincing transition into the slow-burn political thriller it so clearly wants to be. Everyone is suspicious of everyone, no one knows the truth, et cetera – it’s all nicely represented here. Granted, this was an at-times uneven episode, but it provided more of a nasty thrill than the last two installments, for a major reason: it ditched politics almost altogether and focused on profoundly unlikable people asking each other to do some real underhanded shit. As one character flat-out says, politics isn’t interesting, but “the anger, the seduction: those are interesting.”
Frank is campaigning in his hometown of Gaffney, giving a well-rehearsed speech to an audience of black churchgoers. It’s a well-done sequence, cleverly staged by director Robin Wright to show Frank rehearsing his speech beforehand. It’s a good tactic to show that while Frank might be a gifted orator, there’s almost nothing sincere about him. All of his warmth is calculated. It’s all well and good until Claire sends Leann on a secret mission that ends with a banner hung with a photo of Frank’s father Calvin shaking hands with a KKK member. So long, Doris and Celia Jones; so long, South Carolina primary. It’s a ballsy move on Claire’s part, but I have a few problems with it.
One, Leann contracts Oren Chase to get the banner printed and hung; Claire assumes, correctly, that Frank will be able to pin everything on him, and – what’s that? You don’t remember who Oren Chase is? Well, neither did I, because he hasn’t been on House of Cards since season freakin’ one. This show has a long memory – look how often Peter Russo’s DUI is mentioned – but Chase is a bridge too far, especially since in his time off screen he grew a mustache, so he doesn’t even look the way he did when we first met him in…let me check…”Chapter 3″?? Are you shitting me, HoC? (Here‘s his House of Cards Wiki page, if you’re interested.)
Two, I don’t like the way “Chapter 42” presents Claire as this icy, serene puppet master. Look at her, no matter what anyone else is doing: sitting in a smart skirt-and-blazer ensemble, eyes narrowed to slits, hands folded in her lap. I think it’s supposed to make her look ruthless, but she just comes off as smug. And not particularly smart, as it turns out! Her stunt costs Frank the South Carolina primary, and I don’t know how many presidents won the nomination after losing their home state’s primary, but I could probably count them on one hand. “I can join your campaign or I can end it,” she declares, after telling Frank she should be his running mate, which is another disastrously bad idea. Not only has she hitched herself to what is now a losing campaign, but she’s going to put the final nail in its coffin, because an Underwood/Underwood ticket is doomed to failure. People complained of nepotism when she was appointed ambassador, and she thinks they’ll react any differently to her being named Vice President? This bugs me because it’s a dumb decision by a supposedly smart woman, and it threatens to plunge the show into Scandal territory.
Okay, I got kinda worked up there. Let’s talk about what worked in “Chapter 42,” because it worked well. Frank is rightfully wondering where all the leaks are coming from, and it’s causing suspicion to abound. Doug suspects Seth, Seth suspects Meechum, and it boils down to a bunch of white guys in sharp suits casting suspicious glances at each other. Frankly, I’m for it. Claire’s confession to Frank might put the brakes on this development, but I think it’s an avenue that the show would benefit from exploring. It’s already laid the groundwork, after Cynthia Driscoll met with Seth back in “Chapter 40.”
And Cynthia brings us to Lucas. At this point you could play a “degradation of Lucas” drinking game. Look, he’s exchanging sexual favors for a car, take a shot! All kidding aside, Lucas’s plot is HoC‘s most human, and makes the best case for the show’s long memory. I thought he was gone after going to prison in season three, but his continued involvement – which here brings him face-to-face with Heather Dunbar – shows that House of Cards has a longer story in mind. It’s encouraging, and Sebastian Arcelus does routinely good work with the character. Now that Dunbar is reconsidering her stance on Lucas, the makings of a potentially disastrous alliance are in the works.
Disastrous for Frank, that is. “Chapter 42” was HoC at its most Shakespearean, and while it didn’t always work, it was still reliably thrilling to watch. The four-star grade should have an asterisk next to it, for all the short-sighted Claire stuff, but I’m willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt if it keeps up with the dark corridors and smoky rooms it seems destined for.
A Few Thoughts
- Sorry these reviews are light on pictures. I like to put a picture at about the halfway mark, because no one likes big blocks of text, but for some reason pictures are hard to find for this season.
- Props to whatever prankster they have as prop master on this show. “We need a phone for Celia and Doris to use.” “How about this cartoonishly huge cell phone?” “No, gimme something practical.” “This is all I brought, for this exact reason.”
- I like Doug’s reaction to Seth’s accusation of Meechum. The fact that Doug is suspicious of Seth but aghast at Seth’s distrust of Meechum speaks volumes about which one of them he values more.
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