It's pretty lol that every line of every issue that gets talked about and each position a character advocates in the 2nd half of ep 3 and the 1st half of ep 4 (where I'm at now) could've been pulled out of its own dedicated New Yorker article from the past 6 months verbatim.

The first eps started kind of slow for me with the dawdling Stamper bs et al but now the show seems to be entering a new stage of maturity with this confluence of attacking all the hot button global issues of the past year- Underwood Style- and adding in all the machinations of forces in the show's universe along with the James Bond FBI hacker stuff.

Looking forward to see how this plays out over the course of the season, but if this is done correctly it may be able to create a commentary in upcoming seasons that serves as something of a direct public dialog with Obama who is a known viewer and creates a viewing experience that enriches the understanding of current geopolitical forces in Washington in a gratifyingly entertaining manner.

Not sure how long it will take for the Underwoods to stage their comeback, but I'm really liking how they're getting taken down fast. 15 minutes into ep2 and they both are kinda screwed. Which is the coolest part of the show when they start to win again. Regardless of how the season ends, the buildup to that cliffhanger-type moment should be fun. Cause they won't go down alone!!

That might be the worst sex scene ever filmed

lol obvious Windows phone product placement, sticks out like a sore thumb

RIP "Cassie" at least if we assume that it's her seeing as they cut away as Stamper was driving towards her and didn't show her face when burying her body. It's probably her but it's just seems strange not to show Stamper actually kill her considering they showed Russo's and Zoe's murders without that much ambiguity. Probably a creative choice by the showrunners, but if the Rachel/Stamper story arc is truly done it would seem a bit odd not to show Stamper follow through with it and it would be a big moment for his character considering how much time they've dedicated to it.

Overall I didn't enjoy this season as much as the first two. It was paced far too slow for my liking and a lot of the focus on the foreign relations stuff while currently relevant just didn't interest me that much. I didn't feel there was a big "wow" moment this season either not even Claire leaving Francis as they were alluding to it all season long.

The House of Cards never really existed for me in this season. In the first 2 seasons, he was doing things that would put him in jail. This was just about losing his political life, and it wasn't nearly as interesting. Keeping Doug alive was a bad idea. It effectively ended Rachel being a problem any more and everything else Frank did. If Doug was dead, it would have forced Frank to make serveral decisions that could have continued the feeling like the house could collapse at any time. As it was, even if he didn't stand a chance to win the primary, he still has considerable power until he is gone and then would be an instant millionaire. It's not the same at all.

RE: Claire, what really changed so much to make her leave Frank? By now, she knew what she was in for. They may have helped each other get there, but he has had to endure the daily grind. She never earned the right to make presidential decisions, though Frank eventually gives her a position that she couldn't get on her own, even when his position was in jeopardy. Then, she was made to look incompetent with the power that she was given. Don't even get me started on the suicide. After Frank's presidency, she could have done anything and had decades to do it. Instead she sought power that she never earned, while at the same time not using any of the power that she already had as First Lady. I just didn't get the character in S3.

I liked some of the policy discussion for educational purposes, though the likelihood of a democrat ever trying to force reductions in entitlements is laughable.

All in all, I'd say good, but not great

I really, really dislike addiction story lines in everything I've ever seen and this Stamper storyline is no different. I'm glad that it's been featured to a lesser degree after the first ep.

Also, the guy playing the Russian president is actually a Danish actor (and the brother of Mads Mikkelsen aka Hannibal). It's funny how they cast a lot of people from our country to play Eastern European villains :P.

Did the actor playing Mendoza (obviously a Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio standin) die or something? How do they just write off a character like that?

Benito Martinez(who also played David Aceveda on 'The Shield' is on the new ABC show 'American Crime' so that may have something to do with it.

Wish they had cut a lot from eps 1-10 and involved more of the relevant (and unfinished) storylines from last season.

Gotta agree it was way too slow

And obv it was Rachel/Cassie in the hole...

Who else would it be?

rachel dying was such a pressing issue. Shes out of the way, living under an assumed name. I guess she could one day talk, but by then who'd listen?

the likelihood of Israel ever accepting peacekeepers in the WB is much more laughable than a Democrat cutting/reforming entitlements. Anyone with the barest familiarity with Israel/Palestine politics understands this. Clinton did NAFTA, welfare reform and financial deregulation among other things. Like only Nixon could go to China, sometimes only a Democrat can cut entitlements.

Hilarious that we have to wait until the last episode to figure out why Claire vomited when Frank said he'd back her nomination

I hope they're not writing Remy out. He's a better character than Doug IMO. It was interesting how they built up to his encounter with the police. There were minor remarks from more powerful people several times in episodes leading up to that that could be interpreted in a racial way if someone was already feeling that way. And we could see Remy getting increasingly tired of it.

I don't think they spent enough time showing exactly how Frank won in Iowa. He was behind and his horse backed his opponent. He should have been way behind. Sure she lost the journal (which I'd forgotten the relevance of. Claire had an abortion?) but why would that hurt her campaign so badly?

The stuff about Frank not doing things this season that cuould put him in jail is LOL. His chief of staff just killed someone? The stakes are much much higher than him going to jail. I loved the intrigue with Russia and the putin standin. Odd that they never mentioned Ukraine once. I guess they didn't know how that would go so they didn't want to date the show?

Claire walking out didn't make much sense to me. Neither did her speaking out and screwing the peace deal because the guy killed himself. neither did her being able to deal with a relatively easy matter of being taken out of context in her nomination hearing.

Because Janine and Lucas were trying to get her to talk. With Rachel talking at any point they'd have a huge story.

this season was terrible, especially the final two episodes

we've entered the "drawing the show out as long as possible" phase where almost nothing of interest happens in 13 hours of television. the only positive takeaway from this season was episode 3, where "Putin" visits the White House. that was a real good episode!

other than that, there's nothing in this season to chew on or talk about with other people. the entire stamper arc was unbelievably bad. oh wow what a twist, he was secretly loyal to frank the whole time. if you're going to bring a character back from the dead, you better have a damn good reason. not pure filler.

all in all, not a fan of this show, its gone steadily downhill from season 1, but i'm a politics junkie so ill prolly keep watching against my better judgment

Rachel tied everything together from making the DUI going away to setting up Peter, not to mention trying to kill Doug. It's Frank's only real weak spot, though she was relatively irrelevant by that time which is part of my problem with this season.

Democrats in the 90s=/=today. That's like saying it's not funny that the GOP wants immigration done because GWB wanted to get it, actually worse. Pelosi/Reid/Obama emphatically don't support cutting anything from entitlements. So yes, it's laughable and saying something else is more laughable doesn't change anything. It's just this show in general. In the show, Democrats are republicans and republicans are irrelevant. The education bill never would happen either.

RE: Journal. It showed that she had an abortion that wasn't a result of the general's rape. Claire had much higher polling numbers than Frank, which is why there was so much emphasis on her campaigning. If it was shown that she had another abortion or the abortion happened at a different time, then she would have been discredited and Frank would have been done so close to primaries.

RE: Iowa and Jail. The show is House of Cards. Iowa/getting re-elected was Frank's House of Cards this season. The last 2 seasons it was him doing anything he could to get to the top including murder where the house could come down at any moment. Season 1 was more refined, but he could have lost everything at any time. In season 3, none of that exists. The Russia stuff is still all about getting the nomination. If he fails, he looks incompetent. At this point unless it's sloppy, Doug murdering Rachel means nothing to Frank other than a loose end being tied up. Because she was off the grid living with people who didn't speak English, not to mention sober Doug, the likelihood of sloppiness is low, plus Doug has offered to fall on a sword before. Frank is the president until 2017 and that wasn't changing. The drama and deceptions are entirely in winning the nomination. If he doesn't win, nothing happens. He gets 6 figure lectures for the rest of his life. That's nothing compared to being indicted in season 2 or becoming completely irrelevant without the 6 figure lectures for the rest of his life in season 1. The stakes can't be higher, because the options are no longer win or go home. Claire leaving him is actually the worst thing to happen with regards to the House falling down, and even after that, he is still president who just won Iowa, that is, he is still better off than he was at any point in the show. He just has a more uphill battle.

Well, I've got God's ear now.

I mean, the drama so far has pretty much been parliamentary procedure. Oh noes, the override of a Russian Security Council veto is in danger! And if that's not enough drama for you, he's using FEMA to test fund a pilot program of a completely insane jobs bill in order to get around Congress which would never in a million years pass it!