What I’m Watching: House of Cards

House of Cards: Season 5, Episode 11 “Chapter 63” (B+)

There’s a point at which the characters on this show become almost comically omniscient, but that’s part of what makes it appealing. In fact, this episode included a direct address to the camera by Claire, pointing out that she’s always known about the existence of the audience but just doesn’t care about them. We’re learning more and more that Claire is conspiring against Frank to make sure that, when he goes down, she doesn’t go down with him, and Jane is there to help her on that path. You’d think that if Claire was aware that literally everyone is under surveillance within the White House and outside of it that she would realize that Frank would connect the dots and see that she was out of sight for a few key minutes. At least both Underwoods are on the same page about getting rid of their lovers at the same time. Cathy’s betrayal was subtle and swiftly uncovered, but ultimately that means that she’s going to come out clean while Frank ends up being censured or, much likelier, impeached. Doug is, more than ever, showing his fierce loyalty to the president, following Tom, chastising Leanne, and confessing to anyone who will listen that he moved Frank up the chain and skipped over a now dead man for him to get the transplant. Tom is perfectly happy to go head-to-head with Seth on Rachel Maddow, and it looks like he’s about to catch another big break thanks to the mysterious birthday card that just got mailed to the newspaper office.