I feel like it doesn’t get talked about enough, but the women on House of Cards kinda kick ass, don’t they? Claire Underwood, Jackie Sharp, Heather Dunbar, Cathy Durant, Ayla Sayyed, even women we don’t see anymore like Zoe Barnes (RIP), Janine Skorsky, and Rachel Posner – they all get fucked with by men in positions of power to do so, but they all fight back. “Chapter 30” was a good showcase for the show’s feminist side, and while it might not have reached the heights of the deliriously good “Chapter 29,” it was still a damn good episode with the most narrative momentum we’ve seen all season.
I think we can dispel any notion of Frank not running in 2016. As soon as Jackie mentions that the leadership likes Dunbar, Frank offers her a seat on the Supreme Court to nip that right in the bud. She says yes, but like most of Frank’s schemes this season, this one backfires too, as she holds a press conference to announce her candidacy for 2016.
Claire is finally hitting her stride as an Ambassador, even if her Russian counterpart dismissively tells her “Unlike you, I’m not married to my boss.” (The death stare she gives him following that remark is priceless.) She and Frank are 100% done with the Russians’ shit, and she’s willing to circumvent the entire UN Security Council to prove her point; the fact that the Russians just arrested an American gay rights activist doesn’t improve their standing in Claire’s eyes
Doug and Gavin are still looking for Rachel, and it’s like the two of them are in a totally different but equally awesome show. Some political thriller where Gavin will go undercover as “Max” to meet Lisa (“It’s social engineering,” he tells Doug. “I’ll hack her that way”). Doug reaches out to to Dunbar and wants to join her team; in the episode’s most chilling shot, Doug, shrouded in shadow, lurches toward Dunbar while rattling off his qualifications. He doesn’t even break stride while walking to the elevator. Director Tucker Gates is much more suited to House of Cards than to Tyrant. Ugh, Tyrant sucked.
Anyway.
The most time we spend with a man all episode is in the frankly excellent closing scene, a conversation between Frank and a Bishop played by The Wire‘s John Doman. The Bishop preaches the politics of love, and you can imagine how well that goes over with Francis Underwood. Frank asks for privacy to pray, and ends up spitting on Jesus, because House of Cards is nothing if not gleefully blasphemous (remember Frank pissing on his father’s grave). Then as if on cue the crucifix falls and shatters, because House of Cards is also, at times, groaningly obvious (remember Claire literally breaking a few eggs to make an omelet).
Four episodes in, and House of Cards seems to be putting its pieces into place (I maintain that “Chapter 29” was more or less a bottle episode). The wars are with Russia and Dunbar (and also the DNC as a whole, I suppose). More importantly, and I’ve said this before, but Frank has nothing really to strive for at the moment. He’s already the President, so the majority of his conflicts seem to really be with himself – notice how he took himself to task for showing Justice Jacobs any mercy. One suspects a House of Cards prequel might have looked at Frank struggling to hold onto his soul; now we have to look at him trying his damnedest to keep it at bay.
A Few Thoughts
- Seth revokes Ayla Sayyed’s press credential. Kind of a dick move, but to be fair, she was disrespectful
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Speaking of obvious: Frank taking part of the statue and saying “I’ve got God’s ear now, don’t I?” Come on, HoC, you’re better than that
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