House of Cards (American TV series)
House of Cards is an American political thriller television series created by Beau Willimon for the streaming service Netflix. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same title by Michael Dobbs and an adaptation of the 1990 British series of the same name by Andrew Davies, also from the novel. The first 13-episode season was released on February 1, 2013. House of Cards is the first TV series to have been produced by a studio for Netflix.
House of Cards is set in Washington, D.C., and is the story of Frank Underwood, an immoral politician and Democrat from South Carolina's 5th congressional district and his equally ambitious wife Claire Underwood. Frank is passed over for appointment as Secretary of State but remains House Majority Whip so he initiates an elaborate plan to attain power, aided by Claire. The series deals with themes of ruthless pragmatism, manipulation, betrayal, and power.
House of Cards received highly positive reviews and numerous award nominations, including 33 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, among them Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor for Spacey, and Outstanding Lead Actress for Wright. It is the first original online-only streaming television series to receive major Emmy nominations. The show also earned eight Golden Globe Award nominations, with Wright winning for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 2014 and Spacey winning for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 2015.
In 2017, following allegations of sexual misconduct against Spacey, Netflix terminated its relationship with him. The sixth and final season was produced and released in 2018 without his involvement.
Plot
, a South Carolina congressman who is also one of the top Democrats in congress, is incensed when the newly elected president Garrett Walker reneges on his promise to make Frank the secretary of state in the new administration. With the help of his wife Claire and devoted chief of staff Doug Stamper, Frank attempts to influence all affairs surrounding the Walker administration. He also initiates a sexual relationship with reporter Zoe Barnes, who Frank uses to manipulate the headlines and Zoe uses to obtain breaking stories. Frank shepherds an education bill through congress in an attempt to appear indispensable in the eyes of Walker. After the bill is passed, he masterminds a gubernatorial campaign in Pennsylvania with embattled congressman Peter Russo as the candidate. The campaign implodes when Russo, an alcoholic, relapses and delivers a drunken interview. When Russo decides to come clean about his role in Underwood's schemes, Frank kills Russo and stages his death as a suicide. Firmly ingrained in Walker's inner-circle, Frank suggests that dissatisfied Vice President Jim Matthews, the former governor, return to his role in Pennsylvania. Although ultimately hesitant, Walker and Matthews agree. Frank is hopeful that Walker will select him as vice president, but Walker wants Underwood to vet billionaire Raymond Tusk. In actuality, Tusk is enlisted to vet Frank and will only offer his recommendation to Walker if Frank agrees to influence affairs as vice president. Frank agrees to consider his proposals but makes no promises; Underwood is subsequently selected to become vice president.Meanwhile, Zoe becomes suspicious regarding Frank's involvement in Russo's failed campaign. After confiding that Russo's death may have been a murder, Frank pushes Zoe in front of a subway train and she is killed instantly. The news devastates her colleagues, including Lucas Goodwin and Tom Hammerschmidt. Meanwhile, Underwood becomes vice president and sets out to diminish Tusk's influence over the president. In the midst of an energy crisis, Underwood proposes an aggressive trade policy with China. Tusk, who has significant business connections with the Chinese, is unwilling to cooperate with Walker and Underwood's policies and is shunned from the White House. Meanwhile, Republican candidates see a surge in campaign donations before the 2014 midterms. In actuality, this is the result of a money laundering operation out of a Missouri casino, with Tusk funneling Chinese money to Republican candidates. Frank is able to get the Chinese to stop the flow of money by having Walker agree to the building of a bridge in the U.S. He also seeks to neutralize Tusk by leaking the existence of the money laundering operation. The proximity to the White House creates an avalanche of controversy and solicitor general Heather Dunbar is assigned to investigate the administration's involvement. Walker finally realizes that Frank has implicated him in these dealings and alienates him from the White House. Tusk is issued a subpoena and ultimately lies that Walker had full knowledge of the money laundering operation, sensing that it would be more advantageous to him to align himself with Frank rather than Walker. With the House set to vote on Articles of Impeachment, Walker resigns and Underwood is sworn in as president.
Several months into his presidency, Frank appoints congressman Donald Blythe to be his vice president and jumpstarts an ambitious jobs program called America Works. Claire, dissatisfied with the position of first lady, wants a more substantive role and sets her eyes on the United Nations ambassador. Although her confirmation is rejected, Frank appoints her during a congressional recess session. The administration develops a Middle East peace plan that faces substantial opposition from Russian president Viktor Petrov. The Underwoods visit Moscow and tensions flare when Claire publicly shames Petrov for his dictatorial stance on LGBT rights. When the Jordan Valley is thrust into chaos, Petrov insists that he will only remove his troops from the region if Claire resigns as ambassador. This further deepens the divide between the Underwoods, who have been estranged since the Moscow summit. Frank jumpstarts his campaign for the 2016 presidential election and must fight for the nomination against Heather Dunbar. Claire proves to be popular on the campaign trail but begins exhibiting unusual behavior as a result of her growing dissatisfaction. After confiding in Frank that she doesn't feel as if they are equals, Frank chastises her for not doing her job as first lady. The following morning, Claire tells Frank that she's leaving him.
Frank narrowly wins the Iowa caucus and departs to New Hampshire to campaign. Claire, meanwhile, heads to Texas and devises a plan with her new adviser LeAnn Harvey to run for a congressional seat. At the State of the Union, Frank endorses Claire's opponent and kills any chances she may have in the race. In retaliation, Claire sabotages Frank's South Carolina campaign and he loses the primary to Dunbar. Claire proposes that she and Frank become a united front and he select her as his running mate; Frank is aghast at the proposal. While Claire threatens to go public with her intention for a divorce, Frank is shot at a campaign event by Lucas Goodwin. He is admitted to the hospital in critical condition and requires a liver transplant to survive. Vice President Blythe becomes acting president and relies heavily on Claire regarding an energy crisis with Russia. After Doug manipulates the organ donor list to put the president at the top, Frank recovers from surgery and whole-heartedly endorses Claire's plan to make her his running mate. Heather Dunbar drops out shortly after due to her connections to Goodwin. Tom Hammerschmidt, the former Washington Herald editor in chief, begins writing an article regarding Underwood's corruption and interviews several of Frank's former colleagues, including former president Walker. At the Democratic National Convention, Frank and Claire are nominated as the party's nominees for president and vice president respectively. They face off in the general election against charismatic Republican candidate Will Conway.
With weeks until the election, followers of the terror group ICO abduct a family in the U.S. and hold them hostage. Although Frank negotiates the release of two of the hostages, one of them is killed. Hammerschmidt uses the hostage situation to publish his article slamming Underwood as a corrupt president. With their chances at re-election almost totally diminished, the Underwoods pivot to using fear to influence voters. Frank demands that congress declare war on ICO and the Underwoods begin using questionable intelligence to justify enacting martial law in key areas before the election. On election day, it appears that Conway will most likely win. After an incident at a polling station in Tennessee, the Underwoods are able to get several states to suspend polling due to terror threats. Neither Conway nor Underwood receive a majority of electoral votes due to states abstaining from certifying their votes, giving the election to congress to decide. As January 20 approaches, the congressional election is inconclusive and vice president-elect Claire Underwood becomes acting president. The Underwoods are able to negotiate a set of new elections in the states that couldn't certify their votes; in these elections, the Underwoods prevail and Frank is sworn in as president almost a month after Inauguration Day. After snubbing him in his inaugural address, Congressman Alex Romero uses his congressional committee to investigate the Underwood administration. Frank's misdeeds are slowly leaked in the press to Hammerschmidt. With growing talks regarding impeachment, Frank announces that he will resign.
Upon Frank's resignation, Claire is sworn in as president. She feels blindsided by his decision but he reveals that he orchestrated his downfall because the real power rests with the titans who own the politicians, and that the Underwoods can achieve true power with him in the private sector and her as president. Although she appears accepting of this partnership, she refuses to pardon him for his crimes and ultimately blacklists him from the White House. Months later, Frank is found dead of an apparent overdose of his liver medication. Doug still idolizes his former boss and tries to lobby Claire into issuing a posthumous pardon, an idea Claire is resistant to. Meanwhile, as president Claire is able to withstand several threats to her power from private industry magnates Bill and Annette Shepherd, including a failed try at the 25th amendment and an attempted assassination. However, Doug believes that Frank left him everything in his will. Claire informs him that whatever Frank left him belongs to his heir, and that she has artificially inseminated herself using Frank's sperm. Months later, a heavily pregnant Claire is widely popular with the American people. Doug learns that Frank changed his will last-minute and left Doug, among other things, an audio diary that implicates Claire in all of his misdeeds. Doug starts leaking excerpts, and Claire in retaliation floats the idea of a posthumous indictment for Frank. They agree to meet in the Oval Office to discuss a truce, but during a heated argument, Doug confesses to Frank's murder. Frank was intending to murder Claire and Doug killed him to protect his legacy. Doug becomes manic and attempts to stab Claire with a letter opener. Although he refrains from killing her, she stabs, suffocates, and cradles him as he dies; completely unaware that, thanks to Doug, journalist Janine Skorsky is going to expose her crimes.