What I’m Watching: House of Cards

House of Cards: Season 5, Episode 9 “Chapter 61” (B+)

Sometimes when I turn on this show, I feel like I’ve missed something. But I do applaud this show for the effectiveness of its news clips, with a quick discussion of the fact that Frank managed to win Ohio and that, conspiracy theories aside, he’s now officially the president. Will did not take the news well, calling Frank to concede and then cursing at him when he got offered a transportation secretary position. I’m not sure if Hannah is more disappointed with the fact that Will lost or with the person he’s become in the process. It’s interesting to see Usher take on a new role as a very close adviser to Frank, at odds with Seth and even seemingly with Frank, particularly when it comes to Romero, who Frank decided to position for some great news only to shoot him down explicitly. Leann setting Kate up to go to Russia so that she could lure Aidan out into open wasn’t a terribly noble thing to do, and it seems that her fake firing is more real than she had initially thought. As one reporter is now going to be gunning for the administration, Tom seems to be way too close to finding out what really happened to Zoe. The other Tom’s request to stop writing speeches isn’t likely to go too far, and I love that Frank, who enjoyed an indiscretion of his own, was bold enough to tell him not to cheat on his wife. The two secret Underwood partners standing next to each other and chatting briefly was a particular twisted highlight of the hour.