What I’m Watching: House of Cards

House of Cards: Season 3, Episode 8 “Chapter 34” (B+)

The framing of this episode was great, with two completely different stories about the same thing being written by Tom and Kate, each describing Frank Underwood and his marvelous ascent to power. Having the two of them get together and then sleep together underlined how differently the president can be perceived, and it’s fascinating to see them talk to each other about it. Frank’s presidency has not gone terribly smoothly, but a lot of that is due to the fact that Frank has being trying to bulldoze anyone who might get in his way as he always tends to do. An impending hurricane meant very bad news considering he reappropriated all the FEMA funds, and the fact that it didn’t make landfall was inconsequential since Frank had already signed the legislation to get the funding needed for it, effectively killing America Works. If anything, it was worse than the hurricane actually hitting since Frank’s behind-the-scenes machinations are becoming clearer to the general public. It’s hard to tell what Doug is up to, trying to feed information to Frank through an uncooperative Seth by suggesting that Dunbar get Jackie to agree to suspend both their campaigns to help with the disaster relief effort. It was intriguing to see Freddy again and to learn from him that, after his grandson got to sit in Frank’s chair in the oval office, all he wanted was the chance to work somewhere other than a kitchen. Inconsequential though it may have been, it was great to see Claire raise her hand to encourage others to defy Frank in a meeting. Frank’s reelection campaign begins now, and it’s going to be a beast of a thing.