Jackson Ball reviews the twelfth episode of House of Cards season 2…
It’s the second season’s penultimate episode, and the Washington walls are beginning to close in around Francis ‘Frank’ Underwood (Kevin Spacey). He and his wife Claire (Robin Wright) are so close to the goal they’ve been working towards the entire series, but now it appears that their ‘friends’ are turning on them.
Spoilers Ahead – You have been warned!
For the first time since Season 2 began, I find myself face-to-face with a very familiar problem. It’s a problem that has fallen on every television reviewer over the past few years. Despite their best efforts to prevent it from happening, at some point they are going to compare a show to Breaking Bad. I call it the Heisenberg Syndrome.
I know, House of Cards could not be any further removed from Walter White’s exploits (despite the fact that they are both excellent!), but I have to admit that Episode 12 had me reminiscing. Remember those last few episodes before Breaking Bad’s finale, when all the supporting characters (quite rightly) turned on poor Walter? Well, that’s exactly what Frank’s going through now.
It’s not massively surprising though. It’s textbook anti-hero writing and, make no mistake about it, Frank is definitely an anti-hero. He might lack the good-intentions of Mr. White, but Underwood’s relentlessly watchable personality has earned him a begrudged place in all our hearts.
So, those people who had previously been Frank’s ‘puppets’ have finally wised up to his shenanigans; House Whip Jackie Sharp (Molly Parker), Special Prosecutor Dunbar (Elizabeth Marvel) and even President Walker (Michael Gill) have all finally broke Underwood’s spell over them. To be honest though, it’s about damn time! Yes, Underwood is very crafty and it’s always nice to see how his two-faced schemes pan out, but honestly, is everyone in Washington really that gullible? In the end, it’s actually quite refreshing to see people not falling for Frank’s antics.
Having said that though, it doesn’t last very long. By the end of the episode, the Underwood’s have gone on the offensive and seem dead-set on punishing those that have got in their way. Also, thanks to a prolonged waltzing analogy, Frank’s even managed to talk Catherine Durant (Jayne Atkinson) into joining his cause of betraying the President. Turns out they are that gullible…
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Originally published February 26, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
