Review: House of Cards ‘Chapter 5’ – Friends Make The Worst Enemies

For the first time on House of Cards, ‘Chapter 5’ presents Frank Underwood with some serious conflict. A lot of the attention is paid to the impending strike of the teacher’s union – but like the episodes preceding it, the politics of the show are mostly neat affairs, with the real meat coming in the form of the show’s two wild cards (groan): Claire and Peter Russo.

Russo spends most of the episode alone – after alienating his biggest supporters and being dumped by Christina, Russo’s left to drown in his disappointment alone. Corey Stoll’s stellar performance reaches new heights in this episode, especially in the silent moments where it’s revealed just how lost he is. He’s divorced, his values have been stripped by his many mistakes, and by all accounts, he has no control of anything in his life. He can’t control his addictions, he has no say on Christina leaving, and his every political move is being spoon fed to him by Underwood – who could care less what repercussions are ultimately on Peter’s conscience. For Frank, relationships are only defined in mutual benefit, measured in tangible values and weighed on his personal scale.

This appears to apply to Zoey as well: it’s revealed that his ‘affair’ isn’t so much an affair, as it is empowering a young woman through sexual and professional manipulations. Frank’s ability to affect people at their core is on full display in the episode – he literally has Peter and Zoey stripped down to nothing in different scenes, fully exerting his dominance on the people around him.

More importantly, Claire’s fully aware of Frank’s fling, something that’s discussed in terms of its value to their ‘plan’: Zoey’s getting quite the power trip and career boost, while Frank’s getting …. a blogger who looks good naked? Since the pilot, we’ve seen Claire slowly start to question everything that she’s doing for Frank – sacrifices that are becoming more vocal (she says in the limo that she’s tired of his problems leading bigger issues for her), and more problematic: she calls Adam the artist, entertaining the idea of rekindling something with him. She can’t bring herself to do it (yet), though – the value of that relationship is a completely different playing field than Zoey and Frank’s, and Claire knows that pulling on that thread could take the whole thing down. Robin Wright’s performance continues to be absolutely stunning – just the way she carries herself in any given scene displays a poise and warmth that a woman of her pragmatism and position would normally display.

‘chapter 5’ has its weekly political problem – this week, it’s not letting Claire’s fundraiser happen inside a fancy hotel – but what was more interesting was everything surrounding it, pausing to look at the tiny, tiny cracks appearing in the surface of the glass house Underwood’s built himself over the years. He’s a man with many friends – who he points out, can make the worst enemies. If that’s true, what kind of enemies would a best friend, a lover, and a wife make?

Grade: A-

Other thoughts/observations:

– Whoever narrates the news on News 28 might be the most boring person in the world.

– “You fuck me, I fuck back.”

– Frank’s monologues to the camera are always eloquently written, but there’s too much bluntly explaining things to the camera. It’s done more for show, but it undermines the intelligence of its audience at times.

– Zoey missed the memo to wear dark colors.

– Hmmm, how can I trust you? I know: look at my boobies!!!

– Does House of Cards take place in the corporate state of Applerica? …. Only Frank seems to have the power of the Blackberry.

– “Eight months from now, they’ll be what Politico was a year and a half ago.” In a show full of intricate, well-written dialogue, this line stuck out like a sore thumb.

– if they’re going to do the New Media vs. Old Media material, they’ll have to do better than the Slugline office and Tom’s speech about how it’s just ‘surface’.

– What’s really sad about the newsroom scenes in House of Cards: a lot of them are filmed in the many vacant offices in the Baltimore Sun office.

– Frank plays chess with himself, the 1,498th time it’s been used as a metaphor in dramatic television. Does anybody even do that anymore?