S05.E09: Chapter 61

[Athena]

Quote

Petrov tries to influence affairs in the U.S. Jane discusses her agenda with Claire. With her job at stake, Leann reaches out to a reporter for help.

 

[Michichick]

"Tom, don't cheat on my wife." Bwahaha. There's the soapy stuff I like.

I'm surprised it took this long for Frank to hook up with the trainer/reenactor. They've had a vibe all season.

Kind of confused by the Leann situation. Did she think that getting pushed out was fake, but then realized at the end it was real? Not really clear on what was happening there. Did she set up McAllen to get taken by the Americans in hopes of keeping her job? He wasn't with the Russians voluntarily, was he? I thought he'd been kidnapped after he fled the U. S. and sold off to the highest bidder and that's why the Russians had him.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

19 hours ago, Michichick said:

I'm surprised it took this long for Frank to hook up with the trainer/reenactor. They've had a vibe all season.

Of course Frank is so in love with himself that he hooks up with his great great great grandfather.

I think setting up McAllen was just part of the plan including the fake getting pushed out. She worked for the Underwoods and knew McAllen was a loose cannon so she went along with the set up. She didn't know that she was being set up as well to really get pushed out.

I had thought McAllen voluntarily went to Russia but I could be wrong. I thought Petrov was kind of teasing the Underwoods with whether McAllen had told him anything during the whole Chinese/boat crisis.

[Joimiaroxeu]

So was Conway nuts all along or did the lack of sleep (exacerbated by his 24 -hour interact-with-voters marathon) trigger some kind of temporary psychosis? Now I'm wondering if he was set up too and that the plan all along was for him just to be a figurehead president while others actually ran the show. Seems like his wife picked up on that plan but by then it was too late to do anything about it. The Conways got played while Usher simply moves on to work with the Underwoods. It's hard for me to understand why anyone would trust him.

[hincandenza]

3 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

So was Conway nuts all along or did the lack of sleep (exacerbated by his 24 -hour interact-with-voters marathon) trigger some kind of temporary psychosis? Now I'm wondering if he was set up too and that the plan all along was for him just to be a figurehead president while others actually ran the show. Seems like his wife picked up on that plan but by then it was too late to do anything about it. The Conways got played while Usher simply moves on to work with the Underwoods. It's hard for me to understand why anyone would trust him.

I'm through episode 10 myself as I type this, but I think this whole season has had some subtexts I simply am not picking up on.  The questions you ask are an example: was there a reason Will went from perfect candidate (but probably as cutthroat as Frank) back in season 4 to trauma-plagued hothead in season 5, or was it just a convenient plot armor for the Underwoods to push back into the WH?  The entire extended election seems absurd; even the 2000 election was ended (badly, IMO) before the electoral college date was reached, and the 12th amendment literally covers this situation exactly, as they described in the first episode.

The show has gotten SO sloppy this year, it's like season 3 all over again.  The machinations and scheming seem overly complex or flat out impossible... until somehow an opponent makes a foolish mistake.  I stand by my characterization that this show has jumped the "Dexter" shark of taking the "anti" out of antiheroes and straight up glorifying them with plots designed to always see them win.

[Jade Foxx]

7 hours ago, hincandenza said:

I'm through episode 10 myself as I type this, but I think this whole season has had some subtexts I simply am not picking up on.  The questions you ask are an example: was there a reason Will went from perfect candidate (but probably as cutthroat as Frank) back in season 4 to trauma-plagued hothead in season 5, or was it just a convenient plot armor for the Underwoods to push back into the WH?  The entire extended election seems absurd; even the 2000 election was ended (badly, IMO) before the electoral college date was reached, and the 12th amendment literally covers this situation exactly, as they described in the first episode.

The show has gotten SO sloppy this year, it's like season 3 all over again.  The machinations and scheming seem overly complex or flat out impossible... until somehow an opponent makes a foolish mistake.  I stand by my characterization that this show has jumped the "Dexter" shark of taking the "anti" out of antiheroes and straight up glorifying them with plots designed to always see them win.

I'm just flat out confused, except the fact that I find Tom a gruesome looking man. 

[hincandenza]

1 hour ago, Jade Foxx said:

I'm just flat out confused, except the fact that I find Tom a gruesome looking man. 

While I wouldn't call him gruesome, that might be the one true thing about this show. Excepting Remy Danton and Will Conway, nearly every politician in this show is kind of homely... and if you've seen on C-SPAN some of the decrepit walking corpses our country sends to Congress, it's pretty clear that rich, powerful, hideous men are basically all a girl has to choose from in DC.

An actually handsome, talented, non-politician would be the "House of Cards" version of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

[Jade Foxx]

REMI IS FOINE. 

[HavartiHead42]

Am I the only person concerned about Claire's hair this season?  WTH was going on with it at the inaugural ball?  If they're going to hit the fast forward button to yada yada the storyline, why don't they do the same with growing out her hair?

[Anela]

I hope that the reporter is going to get somewhere this time, and figure out what happened to Zoe. He already has, but I mean, I hope he starts that house of cards tumbling down... maybe with Leann's help, too. 

[Ellaria]

On 6/3/2017 at 2:15 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

So was Conway nuts all along or did the lack of sleep (exacerbated by his 24 -hour interact-with-voters marathon) trigger some kind of temporary psychosis? Now I'm wondering if he was set up too and that the plan all along was for him just to be a figurehead president while others actually ran the show. Seems like his wife picked up on that plan but by then it was too late to do anything about it. The Conways got played while Usher simply moves on to work with the Underwoods. It's hard for me to understand why anyone would trust him.

I wonder about this, too. Right now, it appears that Will was just another temporary impediment to the Underwood's progress and that's disappointing. I was hoping that he would stick around for awhile because I like Joel Kinnaman.

Usher seemed to move from one camp into the other before the election was over. 

On 6/3/2017 at 5:38 PM, hincandenza said:

The machinations and scheming seem overly complex or flat out impossible... until somehow an opponent makes a foolish mistake.  I stand by my characterization that this show has jumped the "Dexter" shark of taking the "anti" out of antiheroes and straight up glorifying them with plots designed to always see them win.

Definitely overly complex and its unnecessary. All of the plots move along the same way: Frank has a few histrionic outbursts and threatens everyone, Claire gives her icy stares and Doug continues to be an absolute creep.

[Primetimer]

And other questions sparked by 'Chapter 61.'

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[teddysmom]

Quote

 

I'm through episode 10 myself as I type this, but I think this whole season has had some subtexts I simply am not picking up on.  The questions you ask are an example: was there a reason Will went from perfect candidate (but probably as cutthroat as Frank) back in season 4 to trauma-plagued hothead in season 5, or was it just a convenient plot armor for the Underwoods to push back into the WH?  The entire extended election seems absurd; even the 2000 election was ended (badly, IMO) before the electoral college date was reached, and the 12th amendment literally covers this situation exactly, as they described in the first episode.

The show has gotten SO sloppy this year, it's like season 3 all over again.  The machinations and scheming seem overly complex or flat out impossible... until somehow an opponent makes a foolish mistake.  I stand by my characterization that this show has jumped the "Dexter" shark of taking the "anti" out of antiheroes and straight up glorifying them with plots designed to always see them win.

 

I was watching this weekend and I kept dozing off and waking up and then I'd be thinking "did I miss something" "how long was I asleep", but it was just the show jumped around so much. The editing is really off.  One scene ended and the next one starts with two of the characters from the previous scene running into the Oval, but you have no idea if it's right after, or two days later, or what. 

[Kbilly]

I have never bought Clair would be into Tom---she has loads more chemistry with Usher. And I also don't buy Frank being into Eric, he's such a rube.

Aww, bye Joel Kinnaman, you wear the hell out of a suit.

[roughing it]

Frank's monologue to the audience at the end of the episode seemed like it could have been filmed after our current election (I'm assuming the season was filmed prior??), with his "this is what the American people voted for, and will be regretting...be careful what you wish for" (paraphrasing)

[peggy06]

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Usher seemed to move from one camp into the other before the election was over. 

He seemed to see the writing on the wall with Conway's meltdowns and had decided the VP would be the real president. Then the Underwoods showed him they had the tape of the VP's comments about how the president should be killed if he deployed troops, and it seemed like he threw in the towel and changed sides.

[quarks]

Things I do not understand:

1. Why a Democratic president didn't already have some sort of "more Medicare!" line in his speech to begin with.

2. Why anyone is still loyal to/listening to Frank, given the way he shouts at everyone/breaks promises to everyone on this show. And specifically, why Mark is going along with it. He's been there for all of two, three days and already Frank has promised him something - that Medicare line - only to break it.

3. Why this show chose to put Robin Wright into a dress she was struggling to walk in. This is Robin Wright. She can wear virtually anything, and you picked that?

4. Why Tom is still on this show.

Things I do understand:

1. Why it's ok for Frank to cheat on his wife but not for Tom to cheat on her. Because, it's Tom.

[Dobian]

I've grown tired of how this show conveniently disposes of any and all threats to Frank and Claire while they smugly look on.  The writers seem to follow three basic tropes.  Either the Underwoods find some weakness in the threat or some kind of dirt on them and exploit it (like they just did with Conway), remove people from positions where they can cause trouble (like they just did with Leann), or when there are no other options, just eliminate them (Frank killing Zoe, Doug killing Rachel Posner).  Whenever someone is close to exposing what the Underwoods are up to, they always get compromised, and any moral high ground they have over Frank and Claire gets stripped from them so the Underwoods don't look as bad by comparison.  Like HINCANDENZA said, plots are set up so the Underwoods always win.  It would be a lot more interesting to see how they deal with losing after five years of winning.

Edited July 4, 2017 by Dobian

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I think that Mark Usher switching from Conway to Underwood happened for several reasons. As mentioned above, he saw the writing on the wall with Conway. But on top of that, he flat out said that he just works for people. He isn't personally invested in Conway. He was being paid to do a job but that didn't create a sense of loyalty. If Underwood wants to pay him, then he'll go to the White House. It's like sports - there are some people who live and die for their team, while there are other people who work for the team and are good at their jobs, but if another team offered them a job they wouldn't hesitate to take it. Mark is not ride or die the way Doug is.

Add to that the fact that Conway wasn't just getting out of control but he was personally being a dick to Mark, so what's Mark's motivation to stay with someone who is rude to him and about to lose? After Conway snapped at him on the plane, Mark told him that if he ever did it again, he would take him down. Conway's attitude plus his imminent loss meant that Mark could either trying bailing water out of a sinking ship or get the hell out.

Usually I love Claire's clothes, but I really disliked the dress she wore to the ball. I thought LeAnn's was much more elegant and classic.

[Deskisamess]

On 6/22/2017 at 10:32 PM, quarks said:

Things I do not understand:

 

 

3. Why this show chose to put Robin Wright into a dress she was struggling to walk in. This is Robin Wright. She can wear virtually anything, and you picked that?

 

 

 

I read this comment back in June, and something made me think of yesterday. The constraining dress is symbolic of Frank. As long as she is beside him, he is in control and keeping her penned in. Little mincing steps, unable to do more than just barely keep up with him. 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Deskisamess

[Hanahope]

I lol'd at Frank telling Tom not to cheat on Claire.  Those two do look out for each other.  And now Frank has a side piece as well (though that has to be kept much more 'in the stairwell').

Frank's monologue during the swearing in did seem awfully prescient.  I too don't understand why he didn't want to throw a bone to Medicare, other than that was what Romero specifically wanted in the speech and Frank was no way going to give in to him.

I'm not sure how Aiden got kidnapped in the first place.  Who would know who he was?  And how would anyone know his connection to Leann, that somehow required her to be pushed out.