House of Cards: Chapter 33
March 11, 2015 7:15 PM - Season 3, Episode 7 - Subscribe

The damage is done and the Underwoods must repair it. But deep wounds don't heal fast and sometimes not at all.

The episode begins a month later after the Moscow trip as Frank and Claire (with brown hair!) renew their vows.

Then we see the immediate aftermath of the fight - Frank thinks Claire flinched when he touched her shoulder when they posed for the Presidential Portrait photo shoot, Claire feels that Frank purposefully singled her out during a Cabinet meeting. As they confront each other in the Oval Office, it all comes back to how Claire feels Frank never wanted her to be ambassador and Frank feels that Claire made him President.

You think you made me.
No, I don't. I think we're a team, actually.
Well, we're not a team at the moment.


There's a lot of Tibetan sand mandala symbolism and it turns out some actual possible insecurity on Frank's part. He trusts Tom enough to admit his marriage isn't at its best one drunk night. He also tells Tom that he feels that he doesn't deserve Claire and how she made him a better man and how he wouldn't have made it to the White House without her. It's hard to tell whether Frank is still playing Tom or not, especially since Tom confesses that he didn't write the first half of the book that launched his career.

Ultimately a visit to the FDR Memorial and how Eleanor and Franklin's statues aren't together makes him take the first step toward reconciliation. Claire basically admits she misses him and they decide to renew their vows.

After the renewal, Claire confronts the Israeli ambassador who has been trying to sabotage the resolution and defends her husband, calling him brave and resolute. When she returns to the White House, she sees a picture of the finished mandala the monks had been working on all month with a message from Frank - "Nothing is forever, except us." It is then she decides to go to sleep in Frank's room.

In other news, Kate and Tom make eyes at each other. Gavin finds some 3 week old pictures of Rachel in Santa Fe. He wants some progress on the passport lock but Doug insists on an exact location. Doug starts becoming fixated on the street intersection webcams where Rachel was last seen but still manages to get some "never gonna see you again" nookie from Sharon, his departing physical therapist.
posted by zix (10 comments total)
 
Sorry for not being more on the ball with these episode threads. Life + sick = bleargh whoops. Thanks, donajo, for keeping the ball rolling!
posted by zix at 7:21 PM on March 11, 2015


It's still unclear if Tom is playing the president, or if he's actually a robot.

When she returns to the White House, she sees a picture of the finished mandala the monks had been working on all month with a message from Frank - "Nothing is forever, except us."

I rolled my eyes so hard at this I did a backflip.
posted by hellojed at 8:22 PM on March 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


Frank and Tom didn't kiss I'm mad.

Like Meechum is right there being weird out his OT3 with this interloper.

I don't watch this show to watch people NOT have ill-advised affairs.
posted by The Whelk at 10:21 PM on March 11, 2015 [8 favorites]


Frank and Tom didn't kiss I'm mad.

You'll be happy to know in my fantasy version of S4, with Peter Capaldi reprising his role as Malcolm Tucker, there is some angry smooching
posted by hellojed at 11:01 PM on March 11, 2015 [5 favorites]


Jealous Meechum is really the best Meechum.
posted by sparklemotion at 8:20 AM on March 12, 2015 [3 favorites]


More than for the people that got murdered, I feel sorry for Meechum.
posted by Monochrome at 8:44 AM on March 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


every meechum is the best meechum. He's so protective, and not in a "It's my job" way, and it's great.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 2:32 PM on March 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


I feel like the episode where Claire causes a major diplomatic incident with Not!Putin (love that) was mainly so the writers would have an excuse to have this episode. I wish they would have come up with something else.
posted by grouse at 7:18 PM on March 19, 2015


I'm kind of skeeved out by two things:

1) Physiotherapist could be Rachel's sister
2) Stamper is emphatically not a sex object

Also, final scene, I was so hoping for Claire to put the picture on the nightstand and go to sleep in her own room.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:04 AM on March 20, 2015


An unexpected cameo: Ambassador Davila was played by Emilio Delgado, also known as Luis from Sesame Street. I wouldn't have spotted him except I saw him teach Bert how to ride a two-wheeler twice that day.

I found a Screencap on reddit.
posted by Gary at 6:16 AM on March 21, 2015 [3 favorites]


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