House of Cards: Chapter 28
February 28, 2015 11:18 PM - Season 3, Episode 2 - Subscribe

Claire's U.N. bid runs into trouble. Frank fights off mutiny with a bold address to the country.

Claire makes a mistake at her Senate confirmation hearing and, under pressure from Senator Hector Mendoza (Benito Martinez), becomes flustered enough put her confirmation in danger. She begins contacting senators to rally support but it is an uphill battle. Meanwhile, the Democratic leadership meets with Frank and tells him they don't want him running for 2016. Even Jackie Sharp (Molly Parker) agrees with the leadership. After discovering that the idea was from an ally, Frank starts to make fundraising calls in order to demonstrate that he is a viable candidate.

Despite their efforts, neither makes much progress. After a run, Claire discovers Frank on the floor of his study and the show demonstrates again their sex-power dynamic. Although Claire loses the nomination 52-48, Frank finds inspiration from an Easter egg that leads to seemingly agreeing to the leadership to not run in exchange for more support for his America Works project.

Frank announces to the nation his decision and his promotion for America Works. After some reflection, Claire decides she still wants the ambassadorship via recess appointment and explains why.

I prepared for it. I can do this. And after it's all over, if I've done the job I know I can do, I'll be positioned for anything I want... And I know you'll take the hit politically. And I know people will think I don't deserve it. They'll have doubts in me. But what if...this is as far as we get? What if it's all over in 18 months? I don't want to wait or settle for something else, when I've put all this work-

Okay. I'll do it.


Other possible things of note: after hearing that Doug is trying to prove his usefulness with America Works, Frank wants Seth to check up with Doug more often in person. Jackie and Remy (Mahershala Ali) flirt-negotiate despite being broken up and Jackie being with someone else - information on potential candidates for Jackie being VP in 2016. She leaks information about the short meeting with the leadership to Pulitzer finalist reporter Ayla Sayyad (Mozhan Marno) in order to gain leverage. Frank meets with Solicitor General Heather Dunbar (Elizabeth Marvel) regarding a drone strike case.
posted by zix (24 comments total)
 
I love that Claire can effectively pretend to be interested in mindless First Lady tasks while focusing on the vote count. GO CLAIRE.

I love that Frank kept the black Easter Egg, because it was the most awesome one, and it inspired his masterstroke political move. I also love that Doug understands him better than Seth, who just seems far less competent.

I think this episode marked the nadir of Frank Underwood's emotional state. Have we ever seen him this broken down? Then Claire becomes a human sex tonic, because a little sexy sex is just what Frank Underwood needs to boost his self-esteem, which takes the episode into about five different layers of disturbing. Is she doing this because she loves him, or out of some sense of obligation? Is she doing this because she needs him to be not pathetic to get her UN appointment? The answer, of course is all of the above because the power dynamics of this relationship are bonkers.

I love Jackie, but I'm worried about her siding with the leadership instead of Frank, because we know damned good and well that Lipitor guy is no match for FU, and I don't think she can play both sides effectively - she's just not evil enough for that.
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:47 AM on March 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


I love how Claire has absolutely no qualms about getting Francis to nominate her as UN Ambassador. Even after the she easily flubs the nomination process. It just doesn't matter to her, she wants the job, so any means to get it is on the table.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:26 AM on March 1, 2015


This first half of the episode really hammered how both of them were out of their depths. They've usually had some degree of control over their situations but was this the first time both of them were basically begging for approval from other people?

The sex was - she's literally fucking him to equal partner functionality. How in the world does she know when Frank needs a pep talk or a threesome?

It's weird but refreshing to see Frank and Claire as underdogs, even though they are President and First Lady. It's not for power now, it's for history, the desire to not be a placeholder President and the fear that all their work is for an ineffectual 18 months.
posted by zix at 8:17 AM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


How in the world does she know when Frank needs a pep talk or a threesome?

A good spouse constantly reads their SO to see how they're doing and then provides what they need help get them back on their feet.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:37 AM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


What linguists say about Kevin Spacey's Southern accent
posted by growabrain at 8:39 AM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


I've got this on right now and I love the beer pong scene. I know that Claire is crafty and manipulative and Lady MacBeth and all that, but I appreciate every time I get to see her human side.
posted by kinetic at 11:05 AM on March 1, 2015 [2 favorites]


I loved Claire so much in these first two episodes that I just finished binge watching the whole season because I had to see what happens to her. She became the main character in my viewing.

I really wasn't planning to watch it all at once but I couldn't help myself. Now I'm super sad that it's over and I have to wait AGAIN. Wish I had better willpower and stretched it out.

At least I have the rest of this discussion to look forward to.
posted by Jalliah at 1:59 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm a little baffled why Frank doesn't want Stamper back; the guy is clearly loyal and Frank can use all the loyalty he can get. Surely he'd want all possible allies fighting in his corner, right?

I'd also think Claire would try for a different position; I guess Ambassador to the UN is a significant position in this fictional universe, but if she wants to position herself for power in her own right, wouldn't she be better off working on running for governor or a House spot in South Carolina?
posted by tautological at 2:12 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


I think beer pong isn't until the next episode?
posted by Dr. Zira at 2:48 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


wouldn't she be better off working on running for governor or a House spot in South Carolina?

I feel like Claire is written off-model a lot this season cause they really want her to paralell Eleanor Roosevelt and like, it's makes her make weird decisions.
posted by The Whelk at 2:51 PM on March 1, 2015


I feel like Claire is written off-model a lot this season cause they really want her to parallel Eleanor Roosevelt

Huh. I figured she was supposed to be Hillary Clinton by way of Lady MacBeth; I haven't watched much of this season yet, but I had assumed she was angling for higher office herself in order to keep them as a pair politically relevant and powerful once his term's up.

(I mean, I'm assuming that Frank ultimately runs as a Republican, given his anti-entitlements stance, but electoral success is hardly guaranteed, from Claire's perspective. I also generally have to assume he is President in a weird mirror universe America; for one thing, I can't imagine a real politician being willing to piss off the elderly voting bloc in favor of the young and poor.)
posted by tautological at 4:22 PM on March 1, 2015 [5 favorites]


a little sexy sex is just what Frank Underwood needs to boost his self-esteem, which takes the episode into about five different layers of disturbing

I can't think of a sex scene on this show that hasn't been more disturbing/uncomfortable than anything else.
posted by sparkletone at 7:40 PM on March 1, 2015 [1 favorite]


I'm a little baffled why Frank doesn't want Stamper back; the guy is clearly loyal and Frank can use all the loyalty he can get. Surely he'd want all possible allies fighting in his corner, right?

Doug is also a bomb waiting for the reappearance of Rachel to go off if she's not handled properly.
posted by scalefree at 3:39 AM on March 2, 2015


Brandon Blatcher: I love how Claire has absolutely no qualms about getting Francis to nominate her as UN Ambassador.

It is immediately after Francis capitulates to her demands to make her ambassador that Claire unexpectedly throws up...I wasn't quite sure what to make of this? Clearly, she seemed to be expecting Francis to put up more of a fight about twisting the rules to make her UN Ambassador, so are we meant to understand she had been genuinely steeling herself for a gigantic battle of wills? That she assumed Francis, at least, would have had some qualms about so obviously fixing her failed nomination. (And she is vomiting out of relief - a response to suddenly redundant adrenaline?)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 7:15 AM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


Forgot about that scene. I suspect she's disgusted by how easily Francis rolled over for her.

The biggest question is will she simply divorce him eventually or divorce him AND run against him?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:24 AM on March 2, 2015 [2 favorites]


I have changed my stance on Doug for this episode only (so far!), because Seth has no bite and is just boring. Frank didn't really need any help after he got his black egg idea, but at least Doug would've been more dynamic than Remy and Seth put together. (Of course Frank's idea looks better if he comes up with it on his own, so it makes sense to have the 3 of them in the room together so he ends up looking way more superior than he did during the first 30 minutes.)

I like the idea of Claire being disgusted by Frank, rather than relieved.
posted by minsies at 11:56 AM on March 2, 2015 [1 favorite]


A couple of people I watched this with suggested that the Claire vomiting scene might have been a hint at pregnancy, especially with all the egg symbolism going on.
posted by une_heure_pleine at 10:42 PM on March 2, 2015 [3 favorites]


There's a lot of egg symbolism going on, but it's all cracked eggs or black eggs, false starts and bad beginnings, so I took it as Bad Omens.
posted by The Whelk at 6:49 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]


There's no way the intended reading of Claire gagging in the sink was disgust at Frank agreeing so easily to her recess appointment.

That's just...ridiculous. That's just not how human beings work?

I think I'm reacting so strongly to this suggestion because for that to be the case you'd have to mangle her character into unrecognizability. And it would mean that at this huge personal tipping-point the main thing on her mind is whether her husband is being manly/powerful enough?
posted by nobody at 7:26 AM on March 4, 2015


Maybe she gagged both in disgust at herself and in relief that she got the job. She's never been merely a politician's wife. She didn't get the ambassadorship on her own and ultimately had to ask for help from supreme executive power. Sure, they try to be a team of equals but you can't be equals if only one of them is President.

He offers her some of his food. She says she's not hungry but makes her own after he leaves. Maybe she's trying to reassert herself, I dunno.
posted by zix at 8:32 AM on March 4, 2015 [3 favorites]


Working my way through this season, one episode per night...just watched this one. Some thoughts.

-Claire's positioning herself for UN ambassador kinda makes sense. It's a big enough job to raise her profile, but small enough that she and Frank won't get laughed out of the room at the mere suggestion. It's also, presumably, open at the moment. Her only other option is to go back to South Carolina or somewhere and run for Congress, but I think that would be a tough sell politically for a sitting First Lady - easier to appeal to 100 senators (or, as it stands, just her husband) than hundreds of thousands of voters. And she wants power on her own NOW, not when Frank leaves office.

-Frank isn't going to run as a Republican. He has few connections to their power brokers and donors, Mendoza seems formidable, and the political calculus makes no sense. He's going to appeal to Republican primary voters by...launching a program that he compares to the New Deal and that primarily benefits the young and poor? Even if it does cut entitlement spending, there's no constituency for this on the Republican side - and that's leaving aside the political fallout from switching parties. Frank is either going to undermine the leadership and ride in at the last minute as the Democrats' savior, or he's going to run as an independent/third party candidate.

-I'm totally fascinated by what is going to happen with Doug. I think he's the key to the whole season. He's going to wind up either bringing Frank down, saving Frank's ass, or dead.
posted by breakin' the law at 9:16 AM on March 4, 2015 [1 favorite]


He's going to wind up either bringing Frank down, saving Frank's ass, or dead

Note that these are not all mutually exclusive.
posted by neilbert at 6:43 AM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]


Note that these are not all mutually exclusive.

Good point.
posted by breakin' the law at 10:22 AM on March 6, 2015


I appreciate every time I get to see her human side

She doesn't have one, same as Frank. Beer pong was another manipulative tool.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:20 AM on March 18, 2015


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