"House of Cards": points to pay attention to

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Spoiler alert! In anticipation of the new season of political drama, which will be released in May, Lifehacker decided to recall the unexpected plot twists that were most remembered in previous seasons.

What happened in the first season?

Congressman Frank Underwood helps Garrett Walker win the presidential election in exchange for a promise to make him Secretary of State. When this does not happen, Frank, along with his wife Claire, decide to take revenge on Walker and remove him from his post. The search for allies and intrigue against the current cabinet begins.

Main storylines

• President Walker commissioned Frank to work with Donald Blythe to draft an education bill. Frank turns things around in such a way that the draft version of the project becomes known to the public. So he gets rid of his colleague, gets full control over the work, and when the president signs the finished project, he increases his political authority.
• Zoe Barnes, a young journalist for The Washington Herald, agrees to publish information from Underwood without asking any questions. Everyone wins: Zoe's career goes up, and Underwood gets the opportunity to leak incriminating evidence on his rivals.
• Claire runs a non-profit conservation organization. Due to the failed appointment of Frank, she has to lay off half of the employees. She realizes that the relationship between her husband and the journalist Barnes goes beyond business, so she resumes meetings with her former lover Adam Galloway.
• Underwood helps Peter Russo build a career and indicates what decisions he should make in the House of Representatives. Everything is going well until Peter's fault resulted in the firing of 12,000 people in his hometown. Russo plunges into depression, abuses alcohol and drugs. He then decides to go to the competent authorities to repent and report the abuse of power.
• At the end of the season, Frank meets businessman Task, an associate and friend of President Walker. He learns that it is because of Tusk that he did not get the secretary of state's chair. The congressman and the businessman manage to agree on cooperation, and Underwood holds the post of vice president.

What was especially memorable for this season

Frank commits the first murder: together with his assistant Doug Stemer, he gets rid of Peter Russo, setting everything up as suicide. It came as a shock to the audience. Yes, we understood that Underwood was ready to go to great lengths to realize himself in politics, but we did not expect that it would come to a real crime.

Zoe Barnes begins her own investigation and realizes that Underwood is involved in this case. This becomes the main intrigue until the second season.

What happened in the second season?

It would seem that Frank Underwood can calm down after receiving the prestigious position of vice president. But the ambitious politician aims further and seeks to take the presidency. At the same time, he acts with the usual methods: manipulations and intrigues.

Main storylines

• Journalist Zoe Barnes continues to investigate the strange circumstances of Russo's death. Underwood invites her to start the relationship with a clean slate. They meet at a metro station, where a politician pushes her under a train.
• Journalist Lucas Goodwin, in love with Barnes, continues her work and tries to get to the bottom of the truth. To do this, he finds a hacker to read Underwood's correspondence. But the FBI interferes with the investigation: Lucas is accused of cyber terrorism and imprisoned for 10 years.
• Loyal assistant Doug Stamper hides Rachel Posner in the neighboring state - the girl who got Russo drunk before her death and is the only witness to the connection between Peter's murder and the vice president. She is forbidden to maintain contact with the outside world, but gradually Doug becomes attached to Rachel.
• Claire has an abortion for the sake of continuing her political career, the public learns about it. But the Underwood couple decided to replay this circumstance in their favor: Claire tells everyone about the rape and, together with the first lady, begins a campaign against violence in the army.
• Raymond Task is partnering with Chinese businessman Xander Feng and Indian casinos to raise a large sum for the GOP midterm elections. The Democrats do not have such funds, so Frank takes action. He forces Feng to confess in exchange for diplomatic immunity. It becomes known about Tusk's criminal money laundering scheme, he is arrested. President's confidence ratings plummet, Walker resigns.

What was especially memorable for this season

The writers began to amaze viewers with the first episode: Underwood commits the second murder, and one of the most important characters in history. Zoe's death was considered an accident. It was hoped that Lucas would be able to get justice, but he was also getting rid of pretty quickly.

Political games become more sophisticated: Frank is president, and Walker does not even realize that his career came to an end due to the fault of Underwood.

The story of Stamper and Posner's relationship ends with an unexpected twist. Doug again transports the girl to another city. But Rachel is sure that they want to get rid of her, so during a stop in the forest she hits Stamper on the head with a brick and escapes.

What happened in Season 3?

This season, all Underwood's actions are aimed at not remaining in history as a president, simply resting in a chair after the impeachment of his predecessor. Therefore, he begins to actively engage in foreign policy and promote the AmWorks bill, designed to solve the problem of unemployment. In the meantime, Frank prepares for the upcoming elections, Claire is aiming for the post of UN ambassador.

Main storylines

• A new hero appears in the series - Russian President Viktor Petrov (it immediately becomes clear who the creators were inspired by). Underwood is trying to persuade him to participate in a joint peacekeeping operation, and Petrov demands to remove the air defense system in Eastern Europe.
• To come to an agreement with Petrov, the president travels to Moscow with the first lady. There Claire persuades the imprisoned American activist to agree to Petrov's terms and be released, but when Claire falls asleep, he hangs himself on her scarf in the prison cell. After this incident, Claire publicly criticizes the Russian president. An agreement is not reached, and a conflict flares up between Frank and Claire.
• Doug Stamper is found by passers-by. A long process of recovery from injury begins. For several months he drops out of political life. But on his return, he takes up unfinished business and searches for Rachel, who lives with forged documents in a small town. Doug has a difficult choice: prove his loyalty to Underwood and get rid of her forever, or leave the girl alone.
• Frank is looking for money for his AmWorks program and is campaigning against Heather Dunbar. He manages to win the primaries by a narrow margin in Iowa, but Claire does not come to support him. The conflict between the spouses flares up more and more, as a result, Claire announces her departure.

What was especially memorable for this season

Already in the first episode, the president of Russia appears (which caused a heated discussion among the Russian-speaking audience of the series) and a member of the scandalous group Pussy Riot. The confrontation between leaders who want to show the world their strength and discernment adds interest to what is happening.

Doug's difficult story ended: at first he decided not to touch Rachel, but then he kills the girl and buries her corpse in the desert.

But, of course, the main conflict begins to unfold not in the political arena, but in the relationship between Frank and Claire, who until this moment have always acted as a united front.

What happened in Season 4?

The conflict between Frank and Claire only flares up, although Underwood needs to focus on the election. He will have to meet with a new political opponent, solve problems with terrorists and even be on the verge of death.

Main storylines

• Relations with Claire are tense to the limit, but unexpectedly the couple find a compromise: Frank is elected to the presidency, and Claire became vice president in the new cabinet. And there is common sense in that: Claire is successfully pushing for an agreement with Russia.
• Frank's new opponent is Will Conway. The young governor of New York, Republican, former military man, a favorite of the public and an exemplary family man. But he has a lot in common with Underwood: in order to achieve his goals and a career in politics, he is ready to do anything.
• For the first time in the "House of Cards" they touch upon the problem of terrorism and extremist organizations. But for Underwood, it's another opportunity to show off to voters and shirk responsibility for past mistakes. Extremists take an American family hostage. Frank refuses to negotiate with the terrorists, then the father of the family is executed. When the video of the execution hits all TV channels, Underwood declares war on the extremists.
• Suddenly, journalist Lucas Goodwin reappears in the series. He is released early under the witness protection program. He takes this opportunity to show the world Underwood's true face. But even Frank's political opponents don't take the former prisoner seriously. Then Goodwin decides to take a desperate step: he comes to the meeting of Underwood with the voters and shoots him. And he is killed by the shot of the guard Mitchum.

What was especially memorable for this season

The most unexpected event of the entire season was the assassination attempt on Underwood, as a result of which he received two bullet wounds. The politician barely waited for a donor liver. And then he immediately joined the election race.

There are three weeks before the elections. Therefore, the president needs decisive measures. He declares war on terrorism and hopes to gain the approval of the population by overtaking fear.

What's next?

In January 2016, Netflix announced its fifth season, which will air on May 30, 2017. It is noteworthy that the teaser for the new season of House of Cards was released on the day of Donald Trump's inauguration. Apparently, in the new season we will see more references to the real political situation in the United States.