It’s hard to judge a “holy shit” episode on its own merits. Oftentimes you’ll get blinded by the fact that the show went there, and not pay attention to whether there is somewhere the show earned the right to go. Myself, I usually applaud audacious storytelling, even if its not completely successful. That being the case, “Chapter 43” was an underhanded pitch right to me. My own personal biases aside, though, this is an episode where House of Cards chilly reality dovetails nicely with its explosive storytelling. So far, season four hasn’t been better.
Frank gets shot. Other stuff happens in this episode, but let’s face, “Chapter 43” is the “Frank gets shot” episode of Hoc just like “The Rains of Castamere” is the “Red Wedding” episode of Game of Thrones. I admire House of Cards for not building up to the shooting, like most any other shows would. Most shows would wait until the very end, then gunshot, then credits. But House of Cards pretty much invented binge-watching, so it’s free to park the shooting right around the thirty-minute mark, and it wisely ends the episode on a cliffhanger, in that we don’t know if Frank is totally out of the woods yet.
Here’s the biggest problem with that, both for the reality in the show and outside it: Donald Blythe is sworn in as acting President until Frank either dies or recovers. Obviously, Frank’s support staff – with the exception of Doug, Meechum, Seth, and Secretary of State Cathy Durant – is comprised of nonentities, including Donald Blythe, notwithstanding that excellent bottle episode he and Frank shared some time ago. Frank selected Blythe because he’s spineless, meek, and not opinionated, and now that might bite him and the entire country in the ass. Blythe is almost too meek to be believable, and it works against the show. Obviously Frank Underwood wouldn’t make his VP another Frank Underwood, but there’s a spectrum of competence on this show, and Blythe is firmly on one end of it. (I thought it would be a great touch to have Blythe turn and suddenly start talking to the camera, but alas this didn’t come to pass.)
Well, Blythe is incompetent until Claire gets involved. That’s one of my main qualms with this season so far, its insistence that Claire is this shrewd political manipulator who dresses like a fancy Sith. Frank getting shot is a great boon for her, as her input on the Russian matter could show potential voters that she has some experience in politics – literally hours of experience! Naturally, her suggestion to Blythe – which, again naturally, he takes – is to ignore Frank’s plan altogether and land Igor Milkin’s plane in China. Great VP pick, Frank. Maybe in 2020 we can go back to the original system, where the President and Vice President were from different fucking parties.
That’s right, House of Cards is still pursuing this dopey Underwood/Underwood ticket, in spite of the fact that it would be a bad idea in the real world, let alone this cynical woodcut version of it that the Underwoods occupy. But the most unbelievable part of this plot to me is that Claire polls higher than Frank. I have a hard time believing anyone could look at Claire – smug, arrogant, inexperienced, and emotionless – and say she’s better than Frank. Frank isn’t much better, don’t get me wrong, but the show keeps insisting that the American public has Claire Fever, and I just don’t buy it.
All that notwithstanding, “Chapter 43” was House of Cards at its best. Tensions are rising with Russia, Blythe is bound to screw things up, Doug will get edged out by Leanna if Frank doesn’t pull through, and Lucas has officially gone off the deep end. Audacious storytelling, sure, but also a damn fine episode.
A Few Thoughts
- RIP Edward Meechum. I’ve always been a fan of Nathan Darrow’s work on House of Cards (not so much on Gotham), so it’s a shame to see him go, even though this episode telegraphed his death almost from frame one.
- Claire’s mom, after the shooting: “I hope he dies.” Elizabeth Hale is almost a parody of a House of Cards character, but damned if Ellen Burstyn isn’t killing this role.
- Doug, telling Claire why they were unaware that Lucas was out of prison: “As far as threats go we’ve been far more occupied with you lately.”
- Sorry I didn’t get this up sooner. I said I probably wouldn’t be able to stick to the “review a day” format, and I was right. It’s a Pyrrhic victory, to be sure.
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