Dominic Piacentini
Editor-In-Chief
Hopefully by now you’ve watched Season 3 of House of Cards. If not, beware, for the rambling that follows contains spoilers from all three seasons.
This third season certainly distinguished itself from the first two. Whereas in the previous two seasons, characters and plot moved together harmoniously toward a conclusion, Season 3 is marked by a considerably looser story and a less pretty ending. Initially it seemed the writers and directors struggled to create balance between AmWorks, the crisis in the Jordan Valley and Frank’s candidacy in the 2016 election. Each plot thread impacted the others, but at times it all felt like too much — especially the negotiations between the ambassadors during the middle of the season. Nonetheless, the show managed to captivate me for another 13 chapters.
Heather Dunbar (Elizabeth Marvel), the prosecutor general who first appeared last season, returns to run against Frank for the Democratic ticket in the 2016 elections. Dunbar is a formidable and worthy competitor, not tolerating Frank Underwood’s trickery and intimidation tactics. Throughout the season, I found myself rooting for Dunbar in her endeavors against the incumbent Underwood. Frankly, I could have used more Dunbar this year though. In future seasons I hope the show will capitalize on the strong character Marvel and the writers/directors have created.
Frank’s right and left hand men felt out of focus this season. Remy, whose identity in the past two seasons has been shrouded in ambiguity, moved between Jackie and Frank during their doomed-from-the beginning alliance, leading to an underwhelming indecision this season. Seth, on the other hand, had nothing to do at all. He simply helped the plot move forward more believably by acting on all of Frank’s more bureaucratic orders. He had some brief and intriguing interactions early on in the season, but alas was outshined by characters more interesting than him such as Mozhan Marnò’s Alya Sayyad and Kim Dickens’ Kate Baldwin.
Baldwin assumes the investigative journalist character type, which is beginning to resemble Hogwart’s professor of defense against the dark arts. We’ve now lost numerous journalists to murder (Zoe), imprisonment (Lukas), intimidation (Janine)and sacking (Alya). It’s unclear how Baldwin will fare next season (hopefully well, as Dickens is becoming one of my favorite television actresses). We are led to believe she is the most formidable of her kind that we’ve met thus far, but as is evidenced by her predecessors, the cards are stacked against her.
Also new this season is Paul Spark’s Thomas Yates. His presence threw a wrench in two of the show’s greatest relationships, between Frank and Claire and between Frank and Meechum — although I did enjoy watching Meechum awkwardly sulking around whenever Yates was near Frank. Yates, who was contracted to write a book about AmWorks, really stirred things up when he shifted the focus of his narrative to Claire and Frank’s relationship, which caused the real drama of the season to erupt.
It was Yates’ book that convinced me the less-focused plot threading was entirely intentional, as the subject of the book meandered from AmWorks in the beginning to Frank and Claire’s relationship in the end.
Particularly impressive this year was Jeff Beal’s soundtrack and Robin Wright. Certain themes and songs from this season are still instilled in my mind, which is a testament to Beal’s accomplishment — whether it be the spooky low strings strumming while Doug crept out of the shadows toward Heather Dunbar or the light, excited piece playing over shots of Iowa’s cornfields and Yates and Baldwin’s motel room. This latter scene is the opening sequence from “Chapter 35” one of my favorite episodes of the season, which also happens to be directed by Wright.
Wright made her directorial debut last season, and returned with two very strong episodes. Besides her behind-the-camera feats, she continues to add nuance to Claire Underwood, and mold her into an incredibly believable and intricate character. I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing this character with as much tenacity as the Princess Bride star.
Kevin Spacey once again owns the role of President Francis Underwood, but was noticeably less contained this season, threatening people in power such as his competitor, Heather Dunbar, and the Russian president. Will he continue to unravel? Most likely.
I also wanted to write about Doug’s season-long trajectory, Rachel Brosnan’s absence, and many more things, but I think I have rambled long enough. Overall, this season was once again spectacular, and in my opinion, an improvement from the last. It made me incredibly tense (more than once, I was sitting on the edge of my seat screaming “Get out of Russia!”), but it was enjoyable all the while.