What I’m Watching: House of Cards (Series Finale)

House of Cards: Season 6, Episode 8 “Chapter 73”

This episode did not me make happy at all, and my opinion of the series as a whole is now permanently soured. Teasing voice recordings from Frank was disappointing since, as we know, there was no way that we were going to hear Kevin Spacey’s Southern drawl again. Everything in this final episode was as over-the-top as this show has ever been, with some lines proving particularly irritating. Claire saying “Oh, you guys” to the audience before she invoked her terrorist threat to distract from what she was doing felt entirely out of character for her, and the belly-grabbing scene between Claire and Annette about children was also hard to take seriously. Claire talking to her younger self about eating people felt like it came from out of nowhere, and there’s already been too much of a spotlight on Claire’s flashbacks introduced as a device this season. Invoking Freddy’s legacy when Seth got hungry and ate the ribs that he had brought for Seth felt like the only real throwback to this show’s enduring elements, aside from Petrov describing his lunch in detail to Claire over the phone. Doug’s direct address at the start of the episode got me very annoyed, and I’m oh so glad that we got helpful parting tips from him like “Never button the bottom.” Doug confessing that he killed Frank is hardly satisfying, and political assassination would have been more than enough than Claire actually stabbing Doug in the Oval Office. But, of course, she had to suffocate him slowly, putting this show out of its miserable existence after a true downturn it experienced in the latter half of this season. This show was truly interesting and exciting when it premiered as Netflix’s first original series just six years ago, and it’s a shame that it had to end this way. Based on the results, I’d say letting go after season five would probably have been the better option.

Series finale: D-
Series grade: B
Season MVP: No one
Season grade: C+
Series MVP: Kevin Spacey
Best Season: Season 2
Best Episode: Chapter 49