Jackson Ball reviews the third episode of House of Cards season 2…
The third chapter of House of Cards’ second season has Francis ‘Frank’ Underwood (Kevin Spacey) well and truly back in the swing of things, after the ‘inconvenience’ of episode 1. Storms are brewing in Washington over the impending amendments to entitlement laws, creating a genuine political obstacle for Frank to overcome.
Spoilers Ahead – You’ve Been Warned!
Himself declaring that his opponents have him “by the teabags” Frank has to pull out his arsenal of manipulation to gain the upper hand. This has him once again going toe-to-toe with President Walker (Michael Gill), but this time with a pleasant surprise. To their credit, the show’s writers seem to have finally given the President a long-overdue back-bone. I understand that the President is supposed to appear as a puppet, for Frank and the other ‘sharks’ to influence as they see fit, but that doesn’t mean he has to be the total drip he was for most of the first season. Walker not only stands up to Frank’s antics, but does so in way that suggests there is more to the character than we had been led to believe.
Outside of Frank’s plot, Episode 3 spends much of its time building the character arcs of some of the supporting players. There’s a lot going on here with a lot of intertwining sub-plots, and in true House of Cards style each character gains another layer with every scene, all whilst slowing pushing the plot forward.
First of all, we see the Frank’s replacement as House Majority Whip, Jackie (Molly Parker) as she struggles to rally a patriarchal congress. Parker is a great addition to the cast, while her character Jackie seems like another crucial ingredient to the show. She’s been hand-picked by Frank, a man she’s never truly trusted (and rightly so!), and now faces a battle to survive in the male-dominated environment; there’s something very reminiscent of Lisbeth Salander about the character.
Elsewhere, reporter Lucas (Sebastian Arcelus) descends further into the cyber underworld in his quest to avenge Zoe’s death. Unpredictability and originality are two of House of Cards’ best features, but this plotline feels painstakingly regurgitated. The whole ‘hackers vs. government’ angle is one that has been used so often in both TV and film, that is was almost a relief when season 1 finished without resorting to it; a fact that makes it all the more disappointing to see it so brazenly executed here. Still, there’s always the chance that this is just another red herring by the writers to make us wrongly believe we know where the story is going.
Sadly, with all the good character-building going on here, Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) is forced to take a back seat in proceedings. It’s understandable that there is only so much they can squeeze into one episode, and some of the lesser character do get some much-needed fleshing out , but with all the revelations about her character in episode 2, it’s a shame we’re left without our Claire fix now.
Jackson Ball – follow me on Twitter.
Originally published February 17, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
