What I’m Watching: House of Cards (Season Premiere)

House of Cards: Season 3, Episode 1 “Chapter 27” (B)

I wasn’t salivating over the return of this show like many were, and I’m also planning on watching it over the course of three months at the rate of one episode per week as I usually do for Netflix and Amazon shows. That said, I may watch the next chapter right after reading this review simply because I don’t have something else on tap to watch at this very moment. This is a welcome return in many ways to this show’s universe, but it’s also so incredibly emblematic of how over-the-top it tends to be. Frank literally pissing on his father’s grave was a bit much, and we didn’t actually see the new president for the majority of the episode. Instead, we focused on a man I really thought was dead, Doug, who has been resurrected to suffer a miserable fate after losing some of his cognitive abilities and his position of power within Frank’s operation. It was easy to hate Frank after he manipulated his Vice-President into convincing a judge who was losing his memory to stay on the bench longer for political reasons, encouraging him not to stay at home where he might have nothing to focus on but his disease, and then he went and told Doug exactly the opposite when having a purpose is just what Doug needed. It’s interesting to see Frank facing new challenges as president, mainly low approval ratings, which get in the way of his goal of world domination. Claire asserting herself and making sure that her aspirations didn’t get swept under the rug was impressive, but there’s nothing like being brought to a live bombing to make you feel like your problems aren’t as important.