Netflix UK TV binge review: House of Cards Season 4, Episodes 2 to 4
Review Overview
Tension
9Plot
9Shock
9Chris Bryant | On 05, Mar 2016
“It’s as though she never left, and that’s what I’m afraid of.”
House of Cards’ fourth season continues with a trio of episodes that show the writer’s ability to build tension is second to none.
Episode 2 centres around Claire’s forward-facing campaign for power. Her mother rallies her friends – and their bank accounts – around Heather Dunbar, as Frank and Claire themselves deal with their own battles, keeping each other quietly on the peripheries. These episodes don’t so much depict the two titans trading blows as testing each other, sizing each other up. It gives a poetic impression that even while they face individual struggles, they are both aware where the real challenge lies.
The President proves time and again that his ability to kill two (three, four, five…) birds with one stone has only increased over the course of Netflix’s juggernaut series. A bird he has yet to knock from its perch, however, is the petulant and crude President Petrov. Lars Mikkelsen’s stint as the Russian leader has been a roaring success, the Danish actor’s delivery and immortal smirk making him uniquely dislikable in a show overflowing with repugnant characters. Resurfacing to puff out his chest some more – by executing businessmen and seizing their money – Petrov’s paranoia and might are as unpredictable as his tongue in this season.
Frank goes on the campaign trail himself, meanwhile, utilising Congresswoman Doris Jones’ popularity to pad his own, while systematically crippling those who withhold their loyalty. The writing team’s handling of Underwood’s road to election is a masterclass in subtlety. Playing off current affairs, they push real issues to the forefront of the story arc and turn the characterisation up to 11 behind the scenes. With friends, enemies and thorns-in-his-side returning to make a play, the team’s awareness of his past manipulations puts their forward-thinking and cunning on a par with the anti-hero himself.
Lucas Goodwin’s plight/rise (who can tell anymore?) endures some truly unsettling circumstances, as it becomes clear that he will do whatever it takes to bring down the President. Now cleaning cars in witness protection and disgustedly surveying headlines, he proves over and over that there are no limits when it comes to reaching his goal. (Remind you of anyone?) Sebastian Arcelus is as controlled as ever as the even-more-dishevelled ex-reporter; the actor truly brings to life a man who we first met making quips in The Herald’s break room. He’s unstable, he’s broken, he’s totally believable – and worst of all, he’s totally right.
After a crafty play is met with a huge ultimatum, though, Frank winds up in Episode 4 with more problems than answers. Claire’s demands prove that she is truly out for herself now, and, in case you ever doubted it, has no limit to her ambition. It’s a serious statement – for character and show – and if the audience hadn’t worked it out yet, it’s becoming very clear that Claire has been at least Frank’s equal for some time now.
Moments of whimsy exist throughout these three episodes – in particular, Frank’s decision to trace Agent Meechum’s hand onto a wall in the White House. Though these moments are powerful, the tension and the newfound taste for visual metaphors smother the light-hearted in a truly Underwood manner. Frank begins having fantasies and nightmares about physically fighting Claire to the death – these bold, uncompromising scenes could be described as on-the-nose, but if you consider the people involved, it’s a little closer to between-the-eyes.
Then, almost exactly halfway through Episode 4, House of Cards decides to deal a hand that’ll change the game forever. It’s loud, it’s bright and it’s as thrilling and shocking as anything Willimon and his team have done before. How much the viewer trusts the event should tell everyone all they need to know about the power of the Underwoods.
House of Cards: Season 4 is now on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.
Spoilers and further consideration
– President Underwood has made a lot of friends and enemies over these few episodes. Congresswoman Jones plays the game well and ends up benefitting from the Underwood’s fractured relationship. Jackie Sharp and Remy Danton once again manage to do the exact opposite. Though their relationship is a brilliant addition, by this point viewer’s expect to see such strong feelings used against them sooner rather than later.
– Even with all the conniving, the twists and the turns, it seems there’s one major headline here that you’re probably still reeling from. Having failed to convince the entire world, now including Heather Dunbar, that The President is a murdering, money-laundering, perjuring sociopath, Lucas Goodwin decides to make his final move. Taking matters into his own hands, he shoots The President and kills beloved Secret Service Agent Edward Meechum in the process. The move is incredibly bold from a writing perspective; Meechum was the last person in Frank’s life that brought out some humanity in him. As mentioned above, the hand tracing scene was soft and pleasant and still showed Frank’s rebellious nature whilst also making him seem somewhat human.
– It raises a never-ending barrage of questions. Frank is seen calling Meechum into his office to help solve a problem, and was trying to engage with Dunbar’s supporters at the time. Frank’s problems are pretty well solved by such a powerful amount of sympathy, too. Did Frank know what was about to happen? Did Claire? Did Meechum? Or is it just that Frank’s talents are easily taken for omnipotence in the eyes of stunned Netflix viewers? It’s a fantastic move by the show, the chronic tension paying off totally out of the blue.
– With notoriously controllable Donald Blythe taking the reigns, and Claire ensuring she has his ear, it’s a fascinating time for the series. Within four episodes, Claire has gone from walking away from her partnership with Francis to becoming the most powerful person in the world.
Photos: David Giesbrecht/Netflix