S05.E13: Chapter 65

[Athena]

Quote

In the wake of a surprising announcement, everything at the White House is shaken up. A decision must be made about whether to go to war.

 

[Michichick]

Wow, what a mind fuck! Frank was the leak? Frank planned all this? Daaaaaang. Claire sure took advantage of it by backing out of pardoning Frank at the end.

I think even Frank was a little taken aback when Claire said she killed Tom. He didn't see that coming.

Jane offering to have Frank murdered was just damn. I want to know her real game, since she's also working in cahoots with Frank.

I feel sad about Leann.

Overall I enjoyed this season and hope there will be a season six. I like the roller coaster ride.

[Azgard12]

Are we certain Leann is eliminated?

There will be a season 6 for sure, but man it's starting to wear thin...

[Michichick]

1 minute ago, Azgard12 said:

Are we certain Leann is eliminated?

There will be a season 6 for sure, but man it's starting to wear thin...

I guess we didn't see Leann's body, so you never know.

it hasn't worn thin for me. I like this season more than season 4 and look forward to Frank trying to outsmart Claire.

Oh, meant to mention that Claire is pretty sloppy for killing Yates in Usher's house and leaving the mess for him to clean up. Way to put yourself in a position to be blackmailed into giving Usher the VP slot.

[peridot]

3 hours ago, Azgard12 said:

There will be a season 6 for sure, but man it's starting to wear thin...

I agree.  I was expecting for someone to take the Underwood's down, but it's still the same old song with Frank maneuvering everything.
I guess this show is a soap opera at this point:

• The overly ambitious lead investigator was involved in a vicious gang-rape
• Catherine actually turns her back on Frank and ends up pushed down the stairs
• Clair actually has the balls to murder someone in the house of a untrustworthy new employee
• Frank sees everything coming and engineered his own exit

That's just for starters!

Why does the Underwood's inner circle have such loyalty to them?  I don't understand why Leann stuck with them.

If there is a 6th season, I hope it's the last.

[NorthstarATL]

12 hours ago, Michichick said:

Oh, meant to mention that Claire is pretty sloppy for killing Yates in Usher's house and leaving the mess for him to clean up. Way to put yourself in a position to be blackmailed into giving Usher the VP slot.

The Fall in the House of Usher? I thought the ending was pretty predictable. Claire/Hillary finally getting power for herself and cutting off Frank/Bill was inevitable. Unfortunately, just as in real life, the wife is the least charismatic of the pair, and next season should be a real chore to get through. I do think Davis and Usher, though, will be the new power pair that the Underwoods have to contend with, either separately or together. Frank made clear to the audience that Claire is dead (to him only?) if she did not pardon him, but whether he can accomplish that is the question. OTOH, Davis seemed to be offering Claire a way to off Frank in their kitchen scene, or was she just verifying that she knew what Claire had done to Tom?

12 hours ago, Azgard12 said:

Are we certain Leann is eliminated?

There will be a season 6 for sure, but man it's starting to wear thin...

In television no body usually means no death. Frank assumed her end, but he is unreliable.

[Mattipoo]

I agree that season 6, if it happens, should be the last season as well. The plot is starting to become ridiculous (like Claire killing Tom during sex. lol who does she think she is? Sharon Stone?) and so I hope in season 6, we finally get to see the downfall of the Underwoods, with Hammerschmidt exposing all their secrets along with Cathy Durant, Remy Denton, Jackie Sharp etc.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Mattipoo

[Michichick]

Claire didn't really kill Tom during sex. She killed him with the herbal remedy overdose in his drink, during sex is just when it overwhelmed his system. Although that doesn't make it less ridiculous so I dunno why I'm writing this.

[Athena]

I've found Frank tiresome for a few seasons now. I like Kevin Spacey and he does good work on this show, but I think Robin Wright and Michael Kelly are more interesting on this show. I still find Claire compelling even though she has poor taste in partners.

I loved the addition of Patricia Clarkson's Davis. She's so forthright and easy going about things yet so murky at the same time. I like how she handles Claire and Frank. I find Frank's threats so boring to me now. I was highly amused when Davis casually suggested that Frank's liver could fail.

RIP Leann and Aidan.

[hincandenza]

Well. That all happened.

I finished the last three episodes tonight, starting with this one, and it's all just so awful.  I hate this show now; it's full on Dexter shittiness, and doesn't deserve to be rewarded with any additional viewership.  The bounds of plausibility were shot past ages ago; now we find out somehow Francis had some 57-dimensional chess game going on, which could break apart at any minute simply if even one person were to not play along with their games.  There is simply ZERO plausible reason that LeAnn would fall for that trap- or for that matter, Tom Yates, or Cathy Durant, or anyone else.  Would real life DC people be that dumb?  Well, I mean, Devin Nunes is Exhibit A in recent memory, but in-show these people are much savvier and more cunning.  Tom can maybe be explained as suicide-by-Claire, but someone like LeAnn, who knows Aidan was a pawn that was eventually killed, knows she was under surveillance (illegally!) by the WH, knows they want the damning info, and... she just gives it up.  Doesn't make a copy (that we know), doesn't let the WH know it's in safe-keeping with multiple people, nothing.

I vaguely recall the first couple of seasons being pretty good because the logrolling and backroom politics felt real: lived in, plausible, earned.  Then the dogshit third season, a hopeful return to form in season 4, and now.... this turd in the punchbowl.  It's the epitome of bad writing these days: when no one behaves like a person, no one talks like an actual human being, and character's decisions make zero sense... unless you look at it through the lens of "What would a coked up hack screen writer at a deadline come up with?".

I hate this show like Laura Moretti hates Doug, except unlike every brunette this show has ever cast, I won't be sleeping with House of Cards.  Rather, I'm going to abandon it: there is too much good TV out there to waste one more hour on badly written dreck.  Everyone involved with season 5's overall plot and screenwriting should be professionally ashamed of themselves.  

[Joimiaroxeu]

So did Doug deliberately plant a seed of doubt with Hammerschmidt so he'd keep pursuing whether Doug really did kill Zoe? It's hard to imagine that he'd so quietly take the fall for the Underwoods after everything he's already done for them. He literally knows where so many of the bodies are buried.

"No one will ever love you as much as I do." Yikes. Some might consider that a curse.

Why did they kill off LeAnn? They'd already completely played her so what other threat did she pose? If only she hadn't been so desperate to get back into the inner circle. Meanwhile, Doug has to be wondering when they'll send someone after him.

Guess next season will be about which Underwood will succeed in destroying the other first. Unless Claire straight up kills him my money's on Frank.

[fivestone]

I didn't see Frank being the leak coming. I thought it was Claire and that she was doing it to either get him to resign or for someone to try to assassinate him. I like Claire (lord help me, I do) so I'm looking forward to her running things.

[Jade Foxx]

23 hours ago, hincandenza said:

Well. That all happened.

I finished the last three episodes tonight, starting with this one, and it's all just so awful.  I hate this show now; it's full on Dexter shittiness, and doesn't deserve to be rewarded with any additional viewership.  The bounds of plausibility were shot past ages ago; now we find out somehow Francis had some 57-dimensional chess game going on, which could break apart at any minute simply if even one person were to not play along with their games.  There is simply ZERO plausible reason that LeAnn would fall for that trap- or for that matter, Tom Yates, or Cathy Durant, or anyone else.  Would real life DC people be that dumb?  Well, I mean, Devin Nunes is Exhibit A in recent memory, but in-show these people are much savvier and more cunning.  Tom can maybe be explained as suicide-by-Claire, but someone like LeAnn, who knows Aidan was a pawn that was eventually killed, knows she was under surveillance (illegally!) by the WH, knows they want the damning info, and... she just gives it up.  Doesn't make a copy (that we know), doesn't let the WH know it's in safe-keeping with multiple people, nothing.

I vaguely recall the first couple of seasons being pretty good because the logrolling and backroom politics felt real: lived in, plausible, earned.  Then the dogshit third season, a hopeful return to form in season 4, and now.... this turd in the punchbowl.  It's the epitome of bad writing these days: when no one behaves like a person, no one talks like an actual human being, and character's decisions make zero sense... unless you look at it through the lens of "What would a coked up hack screen writer at a deadline come up with?".

I hate this show like Laura Moretti hates Doug, except unlike every brunette this show has ever cast, I won't be sleeping with House of Cards.  Rather, I'm going to abandon it: there is too much good TV out there to waste one more hour on badly written dreck.  Everyone involved with season 5's overall plot and screenwriting should be professionally ashamed of themselves.  

I'm with you. Hated it. 

[Michichick]

@hincandenza, I admire your strongly-worded opinion. Even though I will continue to watch this trash-heap until whenever they finally end it, I like what you have to say and that you're willing to walk away from a show that has turned into something you hate.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

 I didn't see Frank being the leak coming

I didn't either until the previous episode when it was tipped rather transparently. When the leaker called Hammerschmidt and was using a masked voice, they said something like, "But you knew that all along." That's a textbook Frank expression.

What surprised me more was how Frank almost off-handedly admitted it in this episode. It makes no sense to me that he would deliberately sow the seeds of his own political destruction unless his plan all along was to have to resign and hand the office over to Claire. Like he said, maybe he really wanted to be the power behind the throne, or perhaps, the puppeteer pulling the strings. However, it looks like Claire's not going to be a willing puppet.

[ciprus]

This season has been confusing and difficult to follow. How many people can die or disappear around the Underwoods before people actually start sniffing around properly? These last few episodes were ridiculous. Durant takes a tumble, LeAnn crashes her car and Tom disappears within a few days of each other. I hope they don't let this go next season. 

Claire killing Tom worked for me, but why in Usher's house? Now she has to make him her veep and that won't end well.

I never really understood why Frank trusts Claire, she's been untrustworthy since season one and I have always gotten the vibe that she might turn on him one way or another (she has a few times IIRC). I hope next season is the last and that we get to see them destroy each other.

[hincandenza]

4 hours ago, Michichick said:

@hincandenza, I admire your strongly-worded opinion. Even though I will continue to watch this trash-heap until whenever they finally end it, I like what you have to say and that you're willing to walk away from a show that has turned into something you hate.

Thank you for your comment! I'm reminded again how this place is worlds better than some of the pitiless snark of a similar but now departed TV website. And even if I don't watch, I hope the "trash-heap" fully redeems itself next season- for your sake! :)

I've been noticing this in myself a lot more lately, recognizing the signs of shows that will eventually exhaust me if I let them. After decades of tired tropes and mindless fare- and being burned by so many shows like Weeds, Dexter, Silicon Valley, et al- if I feel a show isn't working, best to cut the cord quickly and use my increasingly limited time on earth for something else.

[LIFLA]

I thought this season was really terrible. I binged the first three seasons before the fourth premiered, and after finishing the fourth I kept thinking they really needed to wrap up the series. Now after finishing season 5 they really, really need to end it. It's getting kinda ridiculous the amount of stuff the Underwoods can get away with without bringing up a whole lot of suspicion. Last season there was the article that was seemingly going to bring down Frank, but that fizzled out. Now Frank was going to get impeached, possibly all his crimes exposed if everyone testifies, but he resigned so it all just goes away. Just the sheer number of people who have dirt on the Underwoods makes it seem implausible that nothing damning would be exposed. 

LeAnne was so dumb to turn over whatever she had from Aiden, but I don't think she is actually dead because we never saw her body. I don't understand why everyone has such an unwavering loyalty to the Underwoods. Are they dumb or seduced by the power? 

Frank planning to resign this whole time seemed odd. Earlier in the season he wanted to be president through 2020, 2024, 2028 etc. It just seemed odd that he would give up the presidency that easily. I know he supposedly planned this by leaking everything himself but you think he would at least tell Claire especially if his entire plan going forward was banking on her pardoning him. 

Also, how was no one suspicious of Tom and Claire's relationship? He was always with them. Or was it just the worst kept secret at the white house?

[vesperholly]

A really remarkable people have dropped dead around the Underwoods without someone figuring it out. Peter Russo, Zoe Barnes, Rachel Posner, Tom Yates, Aidan Macallen, Leann Harvey, not to mention Cathy Durant conveniently falling down the stairs while with Frank the day before she was testifying ... even if some were plausible accidents, it's stretching the suspense of reality way too thin.

I missed Heather Dunbar, Jackie Sharp and Remy Danton this season. It's odd for three nearly main characters to disappear from this season.

[Anela]

On 6/2/2017 at 5:06 AM, NorthstarATL said:

The Fall in the House of Usher? I thought the ending was pretty predictable. Claire/Hillary finally getting power for herself and cutting off Frank/Bill was inevitable. Unfortunately, just as in real life, the wife is the least charismatic of the pair, and next season should be a real chore to get through. I do think Davis and Usher, though, will be the new power pair that the Underwoods have to contend with, either separately or together. Frank made clear to the audience that Claire is dead (to him only?) if she did not pardon him, but whether he can accomplish that is the question. OTOH, Davis seemed to be offering Claire a way to off Frank in their kitchen scene, or was she just verifying that she knew what Claire had done to Tom?

In television no body usually means no death. Frank assumed her end, but he is unreliable.

I know women who are more charismatic than their husbands. My mother was one of them, although my dad is loved, too. 

8 hours ago, hincandenza said:

Thank you for your comment! I'm reminded again how this place is worlds better than some of the pitiless snark of a similar but now departed TV website. And even if I don't watch, I hope the "trash-heap" fully redeems itself next season- for your sake! :)

I've been noticing this in myself a lot more lately, recognizing the signs of shows that will eventually exhaust me if I let them. After decades of tired tropes and mindless fare- and being burned by so many shows like Weeds, Dexter, Silicon Valley, et al- if I feel a show isn't working, best to cut the cord quickly and use my increasingly limited time on earth for something else.

I have left shows behind, too, although not many. The last one was the Vampire Diaries. It was so convoluted, and annoying, that I couldn't take it anymore. 

[Primetimer]

As Season 5 comes to a close, it becomes apparent who was running the show all along.

View the full article

[teddysmom]

What was that contraption Jane was in? I really hope we get a 6th season because I want this to end like the BBC version did SO BAD.

[Ellaria]

Frank just realized that the private sector can wield as much or more power than the President? Meh. Glad to see that Usher understands the problems with Frank living in the WH while Claire is President.

No one seems to hesitate about trusting Jane Davis. Why? She has the word "duplicitous" stamped on her forehead. She is another implausible player that has influence everywhere and can manipulate everyone. At least she is interesting. Sean Jeffries certainly had a meteoric rise: from reporter to the new Sean Spicer in a matter of months. Usher has the goods on Claire and seems ready to use it.

Overall, this season was silly. New characters appear and enter the circle of trust in a matter of minutes. Characters that have compelling story lines - like Will Conway - are dropped. Motivations are poorly explained and actions are inexplicable. Dead bodies pile up everywhere. Frank and Claire are mustache-twirling villains at this point; no nuance whatsoever. Regardless, I enjoyed this season because it was so ridiculous. I don't take any of it seriously. 

On 6/5/2017 at 0:04 PM, ciprus said:

This season has been confusing and difficult to follow. How many people can die or disappear around the Underwoods before people actually start sniffing around properly? These last few episodes were ridiculous. Durant takes a tumble, LeAnn crashes her car and Tom disappears within a few days of each other. I hope they don't let this go next season. 

Claire killing Tom worked for me, but why in Usher's house? Now she has to make him her veep and that won't end well.

I never really understood why Frank trusts Claire, she's been untrustworthy since season one and I have always gotten the vibe that she might turn on him one way or another (she has a few times IIRC). I hope next season is the last and that we get to see them destroy each other.

Well said. Are we supposed to believe that everyone around them is so ambitious that they don't notice the sociopathic tendencies of the First Couple? At least Remy and Jackie escaped with their lives.

I have left many shows behind lately. However, I will be around for S6 just to see which Underwood kills the other. As long as my expectations remain low, I will be fine.

PS: The man that climbed the WH and was shot was Eric, Frank's trainer and lover? Wow, I totally missed that! Didn't recognize him. Add another to the body count.

Edited June 7, 2017 by Ellaria Sand

[hincandenza]

9 hours ago, teddysmom said:

What was that contraption Jane was in? I really hope we get a 6th season because I want this to end like the BBC version did SO BAD.

Do you mean at the end, when she was in the room with the little nook?  That was just a meditation room in some fancy spa- although honestly, I thought she was about to do the Muslim Sujūd bow, revealing her deeper ties to the middle east than expected, but it turned out to just be the standard lotus posture of meditation.

In any case, she is so sneaky and has duplicitous practically tattooed on her forehead (TM Ellaria Sand), it beggars belief that she has so quickly been given power and secrets with which to try to manipulate the Underwoods.

[Brooke0707]

So much this season didn't make sense to me.

Like when Cathy was pushed down the stairs. I thought it had to be a dream sequence because surely Frank wouldn't be so sloppy as to push her down the stairs in public the day before she testifies. Guess not. And now Tom and Leann. At what point is the body count enough for something to happen to the Underwoods???

Why would Claire kill Tom in the house of a man who she barely knows and could blackmail her??

If Jane is such an indispensable, powerful, important person, where has she been for the past four years? Again, a new person who is trusted with way too much.

Even with the show title being what it is, up until now I didn't want the cards to fall because I wanted to see the Underwoods get out of it/I enjoyed the plot. I'm over that now. Too many deaths and implausible scenarios for me to want this to continue. The cards need to fall.

I thought Conway would be much more important this season. They just dropped him. I thought something in his past would come out.

Claire is being stupid. If Frank goes down, he'll take her with him. She may be a one term president with the pardon (she may be that regardless),  but she'll be dead or in prison with Frank without it.

Edited June 7, 2017 by Brooke0707

[NeenerNeener]

I got an email from Netflix on Monday with a survey on what I thought of this season and what I would like to see next season. I told them I want perp walks and orange jumpsuits for Claire, Frank and Doug next season, because it's just an extended nightmare now.

[Ellaria]

My concern with S6 - if there is one - is that it will be more of the same rather than the necessary downfall of the Underwoods. We have spent five seasons watching Frank's rise to power and the abuse of it. I suspect that Claire is going to get one full season of being Madam President with Frank working thorough the private sector to bring her down. The show will open a few months into Claire's presidency and tons of plot lines will be dropped. We will get to watch more implausible events as these two sociopaths try to outmaneuver each other. And, of course, more people will die.

But that's not how I think it should it go. S6 needs to be the final season. There are too many characters out of their circle that can incriminate them now: Doug, Cathy, Seth. Tom is getting close to the truth. Local police departments should start noticing the body count of highly placed government employees. I will stick around to see the fall of House Underwood but I'm only giving it one more season.

[dmc]

I liked this season...I never thought this show was plausible...so to me this season is like every other season. 

That being said, Claire and Frank are so unlikable...it's at the point where if you route for them...I would wonder about you...at this point I just want them both to get what they have coming...

also I don't think Leanne is dead

[pawsodoom]

9 hours ago, Brooke0707 said:

I thought Conway would be much more important this season. They just dropped him. I thought something in his past would come out.

Is it just me or does anyone else think the downfall of Conway was so anti-climatic? It was played up as such a rough and tumble campaign, then the long process of the Ohio re-vote and it just ended so abruptly, and Conway was nowhere to be seen. Strange writing.

[MollyB]

On 6/5/2017 at 2:15 PM, LIFLA said:

Also, how was no one suspicious of Tom and Claire's relationship? He was always with them. Or was it just the worst kept secret at the white house?

I'm not even sure why this relationship bothered me so much, but it did.  When they had sex right after her mother died, I was grossed out, but since Claire is non-human anyhow, I bought it.  Then.  Then! they began to live together with Frank.  In the White House! The sliceofappleondinnerplates scene done in silence made me uncomfortable, but it seemed as if it was only being shown once to establish 'the relationship', so again I was ok.  Then along comes Season Five that just made me toss my cookies, over and over again.  I didn't like the depressing way Tom followed her around and her perceptible dislike of him.  But the fact that he was living in the white house made me question the Underwoods' Agenda.  How is it legal/ethical/in the interest of the America they want to win over to have Claire's sextoy in-house?  There are eyes everywhere in the WH and how did the Secret Service deal with this?  (Would you take a bullet for Tom?)  Others must have seen him and known he was more than just a speech writer. (Example:  Leann shuts the bedroom door, where we see Tom proprietorially on the bed, when she has to give important info to Claire.)  The let down for me was that she kills him.  After all the damage that relationship must have caused, she kills him, and the only reason she does is so that Frank can't say she's not serious about their Plan.

[ptuscadero]

I knew that Chekov's Car thing was going to make a final appearance.

[Marley]

I think I'm done with this show. This season was so boring and stupid I kept zoning out and didn't know what was going on at times..mainly because I didn't care.

I ff thru most of the Tom and Claire scenes. Their relationship was so stupid and Tom just seemed like a sadsack whenever I saw his stupid face. I'm glad he's dead because the character wore out his welcome.

I kept expecting to see Conway again but he basically just disappeared. I hated that.

I don't understand when everyone starting liking Claire so much and when she became so competent at everything with other countries. Wasn't she a complete joke when she had that position with the UN? And am I making it up or did the public not care for her? Anyways it's all stupid.

When Frank pushed Kathy I thought it was one of his fantasy things, but then when it turned out to have actually happened I couldn't believe it. Like really? That doesn't seem suspicious at all to anyone? And what happens when Kathy wakes up and she tells everyone Frank pushed her?

I hated the new beard guy too. Can't remember his stupid name.

I missed Jackie and Remi they were my faves. But maybe it's a good thing they weren't there.

[DrSpaceman73]

I enjoyed about half the season.

I thought the part about the election and Frank managing to put the electoral college in chaos was pretty good.  Plus its basically what happened in the 1876 election. 

After that is just became confusing and continued its ridiculous nature of it all.  No way there would ever be basically a single state election after the fact to determine the president. 

really by last season Claire and Frank should have gone down in some fashion.  Five seasons of this and still they squirm away?  Hard to buy

At least they killed Tom though.  GOd I hated him. 

[PsychoDrone]

After watching this, why trust anyone?  These people don't keep their promises, thinking they're untouchable.  Claire is now beholden to Mark Usher.  Who doesn't believe that Mark has that body stashed somewhere for later use?  He kept the Romero gang-rape info back from Underwoods until he needed it.

In the digital age, can anyone ever be sure that there aren't copies of anything lying around?  This isn't the past where destroying photo negatives ensured the pictures were destroyed.  Leann isn't dead AND she may have taken a lesson from Aidan by keeping some insurance.  Not hard to make copies, store it to a usb drive, and send to the press or hammerschmidt.

Now Frank will be gunning for Claire.  I think season 6 will be the last one and both Claire and Frank will fall.  Claire will screw up, just like she did when she was an ambassador.  She ended this season by saying, "My turn!!"  Well, if you think back over previous seasons, she's not that great.  She's always had Francis.  Without him, circumstances will be too much and the House of Cards will finally come crashing down.

[OtterMommy]

The hubs and I finished this season last night and I have to say that it was ultimately a let-down for me.  Part of it is because we're just in a different world now, part of it is because the end of season 4 was so chilling to me that I don't know how they could improve on it, or even keep the show at that level.  And part of it is because this season just felt a bit half-assed to me.  There are many reason for this, but here is the one that is probably the easiest for me to explain:

When Frank murdered Zoe Barnes, it was unexpected, horrifying, and telling.  When he murdered Russo, it was sad and telling.  When Leann, Macallan, and Yates were murdered (and, when Catherine was seriously injured), it felt like the show didn't know what to do with the characters and just had to get rid of them.  None of it was shocking or telling or anything like that...it was all just...oh well.  Is it that the writers have reached the bottom of their creative well?

[MollyB]

1 hour ago, OtterMommy said:

it was ultimately a let-down for me

Me, too.  I think it should have been renamed "House of Wax".  Rather than a connected plot that moved to a satisfying conclusion, it was a series of tableau vivant that showed Bad Things You Can Do To Others.

[roughing it]

I see Mark Usher and Jane Davis as the new, up and coming Underwoods.  I think theirs is a scheme to eventually take over the White House as husband-and-wife (I think they are secretly married) president and vice president, like the Underwoods did.  And I'm guessing that Jane was in a relationship or married to Mark and had a miscarriage or death of a child.  Didn't that happen to Claire and Frank too?

[Armchair Critic]

WTF was that Frank's boytoy he dumped that jumped the White House fence and got shot?

[PsychoDrone]

Introducing Mark and Jane is a ploy to keep the series going longer than necessary.  Both appeared out of nowhere.  Ready for the House of Cards to fall and I think it will be epic.  At least, it better be.  Underwoods deserve to go out in a blaze of glory.

[OtterMommy]

9 minutes ago, PsychoDrone said:

Ready for the House of Cards to fall and I think it will be epic.  At least, it better be.  Underwoods deserve to go out in a blaze of glory.

This sentiment is what will get me to tune into season 6.  I want to see the shit hit the fan and I want it to be worth the wait.  And, if I have my druthers, I would like it to be delivered by Tom Hammerschmidt.  I would love to see journalism get the win.

[jnymph]

3 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

This sentiment is what will get me to tune into season 6.  I want to see the shit hit the fan and I want it to be worth the wait.  And, if I have my druthers, I would like it to be delivered by Tom Hammerschmidt.  I would love to see journalism get the win.

This just HAS to happen!  Season 5 was very disappointing:(

[Searchqueen]

I wonder if Tom is actually dead. We only have Davis's word that the drops were lethal. What if they just caused a death-like coma that a person wakes up from after a little while? If Davis and Usher are working together, and it seems they are, maybe they wanted to test Claire to see how far she would go. Now they know. But perhaps they spared Tom. There were so many convoluted storylines with implausible events this season, it wouldn't surprise me.

[OtterMommy]

7 minutes ago, Searchqueen said:

I wonder if Tom is actually dead. We only have Davis's word that the drops were lethal. What if they just caused a death-like coma that a person wakes up from after a little while? If Davis and Usher are working together, and it seems they are, maybe they wanted to test Claire to see how far she would go. Now they know. But perhaps they spared Tom. There were so many convoluted storylines with implausible events this season, it wouldn't surprise me.

I'm sure he's dead.  Usher returned some time later and found him and then "took care of things." I'm okay with that...I found Tom unbelievably boring.

[knaankos]

I really don't understand how Frank and Claire continued to get things done this season. Both of them have dropped all pretext and are complete jerks to everyone directly to their faces, they openly threaten people regularly. I don't see how they expect to win or keep any allies doing that. And yet somehow that still run roughshod over D.C. Without allies. And Claire has just made a whole new slew of potential enemies with Stamper, Seth and of course now Frank.

[Armchair Critic]

1 hour ago, knaankos said:

And Claire has just made a whole new slew of potential enemies with Stamper, Seth and of course now Frank.

Seth has always rubbed me the wrong way so him getting fired was kind of fun. But I agree, Claire and Frank have made so many enemies it is amazing they haven't been run out of town with torches.

[NutMeg]

I think I've actually enjoyed the last three episodes, after being bored senseless by what preceded this season, which is a first for me with House of Cards. The new important characters added and those dropped is not something I would expect from a season that is released in full, it looks more like one that would self correct as it goes, so that part was weird for me. I think if there is a season 6 the house of cards should fall as a result of a Claire vs. Francis fight that would destroy them both, with maybe journalist Tom as a collateral casualty. I'll have more about the episode later, but how ironic was Claire's speech about a head of state who puts his own interest ahead of his citizens' (very much paraphrasing, I cannot remember what she said, but everything she stood against in her speech is something Francis and/or her had done).

I think Claire is even more ruthless than Francis, while appearing not to be. Just the different ways they killed their respective lovers and acted afterwards makes one much more cold-blooded than the other. At least in my opinion.

On a superficial note, I don't think Claire's new haircut is doing her any favour, but maybe it's meant to suggest apparent softness. All that I can think is that she looks like a cross between Joanna Cassidy as Brenda's mother on Six Feet Under and Suze Orman. 

[candle96]

Like many, I was not a fan of this season, mostly because it spent so long on the election that we knew would ultimately have the Underwoods winning. And it was boring. They did a complete retcon on Conway from the previous season. He went from being able to competently negotiate the release of terrorists to a PTSD mess who was simply the front man for the likes of Usher and the VP candidate. Huh? It made no sense.

So many open questions - what about Cathy Durant?? Surely she will wake up at some point, or are we to assume she's suffered some type of brain damage? And NO one was suspicious about her being with the president when this "fall" happened?

There was also a scene I didn't entirely understand. Usher shows Frank a folder and says something like, "two operatives." And Frank asks "And the body?" Usher says, "it's on ice." Was this referring to Tom Yates? And possibly that Usher has kept his body around to bring down Claire if necessary? I didn't get it.

I thought for sure Doug was going to kill himself, maybe even with the letter opener he took from the Oval Office. As despicable as he's been, he really could be the one to bring down the Underwoods, and I'm hoping he does.

[roughing it]

On 6/14/2017 at 11:48 AM, candle96 said:

There was also a scene I didn't entirely understand. Usher shows Frank a folder and says something like, "two operatives." And Frank asks "And the body?" Usher says, "it's on ice." Was this referring to Tom Yates? And possibly that Usher has kept his body around to bring down Claire if necessary? I didn't get it.

That was how I took the scene.  But I miss a lot, so I could be wrong too.

[candle96]

3 hours ago, roughing it said:

That was how I took the scene.  But I miss a lot, so I could be wrong too.

Thanks. I know I miss a lot. I usually consider myself a pretty astute tv viewer, but I find myself missing a step with this show all the time. I don't have that problem with other shows I watch, so I blame the writers and acting decisions on this one. They seem to be unnecessarily opaque at times. 

[panthergirl13]

agree with what so many have said above... the soapy quality of the last few episodes was really disappointing. There were a few good INTENTIONALLY funny parts in the season overall, but in the end it left me laughing unintentionally. The fact that I honestly don't care if there's an S6 or not says a lot.