Season premiere review: House of Cards “Chapter 14” – Welcome Back

From the beginning, House of Cards has been about one thing: Frank Underwood’s domination of humanity, a sociopath’s journey from dirty congressman to murderous political entity, one willing to ruthlessly protect his interests at any costs. “Chapter 14”, the first episode of what will not be the show’s final season (being renewed for a third earlier this week), not only shows us that hasn’t changed, but intensified: and although it’s quite effective in demonstrating that, it does so in a way that seems to work against the show more than it does for it.

Yes, I’m talking about the death of Zoe Barnes, the climatic moment of “Chapter 14” (both literally, and symbolically). Sure, it’s a very visceral example of Frank dealing his own brand of ‘humane’ justice (the subway train acting as the literal shovel in Freddy’s metaphor), as is the image of Rachel cooped up in an empty apartment, the manifestation of Freddy’s new butcher’s “slow bleed” method (minus the padded walls, of course). But there are a few things about the parallels drawn between the two dominating story lines of “Chapter 14” that just don’t make a whole lot of sense: if Zoe is so easy to kill, why has Rachel been kept alive for so long? Wouldn’t killing Zoe (a person that Frank’s wife, his driver, Doug, and a few others know about) only draw more attention to himself, despite the message it sends Lucas and Janine about shutting the fuck up?

More so, doesn’t it rob House of Cards of its best antagonist? For all her annoying characteristics and poorly-developed story lines, Zoe was the closest thing Frank Underwood had to a challenge in his life: her pragmatism, while it doesn’t extend to the darker depths of Frank’s, certainly established her as a viable intellectual opponent for him, in ways his political opposition never has (the merry band of suited idiots at the Capitol blindly follow along with Frank’s obvious plan to insert his own candidate without much of a fight… and the President really could give a fuck less about the whole Whip appointment, because he has to be in Pittsburgh). Zoe was his female counterpart, a woman not debilitated by a sudden recognition of her biological clock (the ‘weakness’ that the show uses to separate Frank from his wife) – and with a sentence and a shove, she’s erased from the show, another skeleton looming in Frank’s closet that may one day turn out to be his undoing, but already feels like a cheap hand-washing of a character the show was never really sure what to do with, outside of her presence as a plot device (even though the framework was right freaking there to turn her into a powerhouse).

But this is the nature of House of Cards, no? Frank Underwood finds women to do his bidding, silently intimidates the men around him into doing what he likes, while the conveniences and crimes pile on the fringe without a worry? For House of Cards to make its protagonist a more interesting character (instead of morally empty master manipulator), it needs to explore further this absolute lack of moral depth: what inadequecies cause him to so blindly embrace this notion of “hunt or be hunted”? It makes for great dialogue, and acts a resolution to the episode’s central metaphor of tying up loose ends by “any means necessary” (be them humane or cruel)… but what does it say about our titular character and his insatiable desire to conquer all, with no remorse for anything… even HUMAN LIFE? Being a murderer robs Frank of all complexity: if he’s willing to go through with killing multiple people, than why do the political machinations House of Cards loves to detail even matter?

I’d like to think Jacqueline Sharp, Frank’s handpicked successor for Whip, could be a viable counterpart to Frank… but as he details, she’s just the same thing he is, except she “is kept awake at night” from the mass murders she committed to defeat the enemy. But I doubt the show will allow her to be: she’s a female on House of Cards, and thus unable to reach the same inhumane depths that Frank is, “held back” and deemed inferior for her unwillingness to put aside the violence she committed for the sake of working her own way up the food chain. By the time “Chapter 14” is over, the show’s already built her up and broke her down: she’s ruthless and cunning, but doesn’t see the big picture like Frank (or why ask him the questions she does about selecting her?), nor does she have the lack of compassion needed to compete with him.

Eventually, House of Cards will probably turn against its protagonist (just look at the name) – but it’s already doing itself a disservice by making it impossible for anyone to even remotely challenge the man. There isn’t a character in awe of Frank’s power (even Janine is, in some way), nor anyone who doesn’t bend or bow to it from “Chapter 1” to “Chapter 14″… and the only two who have tried, are dead (and a third was threatened with the life of her unborn child, if you want to count the whole Underwood family). It will all fall apart one day – but unless it feels like we’re watching actual humans being ripped apart by their decisions, will we even care?

Grade: B-

Other thoughts/observations:

– a quick note regarding reviews: I’ll be posting reviews of episodes intermittently over the next two-three weeks, so keep your eyes peeled on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

– just when I thought I’d escaped a season full of Kevin Spacey mugging at the camera, I’m greeted with a big F.U. Literally.

– “Can you finish? I’m good.” What a terrible last memory for Lucas to be left with.

– Frank insists on no gifts, cakes, or sentimental cards – but he’ll take Ed’s cuff links and Claire’s cake (maybe).

– so Claire is going to live vicariously through the doctor who was going to sue her? I mean, it’s better than her throwing the doctor in front of a bus, but it’s a complete 180 from the character we watched through season one.

– Glad to see the show keep Christina around, working in the Oval Office.

– the hogs can smell it coming; Zoe had no such luck.

– Janine’s going back to Ithaca, home of my alma mater. Go Bombers!