Frank spitting on the face of a Jesus statue in the middle of a cathedral is shocking, but it doesn’t have any lasting impact in terms of the character’s bravado, and it certainly doesn’t introduce an element of religion. Season 3 spends a large amount of time rearranging furniture as every bold action is almost always followed by listlessness or retreat. There is a nice irony in that the Presidency has finally made Frank “human” (or some facsimile thereof), but this novelty eventually becomes wearisome as the story refuses to drive Frank further. The story structure undercuts him at the outset, he’s not as savvy as he once was, and he now appears to be part of an ensemble rather than the puppet master. While I wish I could applaud the show for providing its protagonist a unique “fall”, we never saw the descent, and this floundering Frank Underwood is overshadowed by everything. Instead, the best we get is seeing how Frank has become completely neutered and dropped his scalpel for a sledgehammer. I want to see how Frank Underwood is a man reduced to crying in the fetal position because no one will give him money to run for a Presidential election. We’re lead to believe that someone as intelligent as Frank would have no idea how to hold on to power, and perhaps we could believe it if we had seen those lost six months in between when last season ended and this season begins. He relies heavily on sweet talk, has no idea how to maneuver, and is constantly being outflanked by mere mortals. In theory, that’s a fascinating and natural turn for the character, but in practice, it looks like Frank lost all of his game. Frank doesn’t care if he makes the world “a better place.” Power is the end goal to Frank, and now that he has it, he has no idea how to wield it. The first two seasons let us know that Frank is amoral and craves power as an idea, but he never had any ambition on altruistic goals. The season starts with plenty of potential by seeing how Frank will act now that he’s achieved his highest goal, which is ultimate power. The third season of House of Cards treats us to a new side of Frank Underwood, but a less interesting one. Ambassador to the United Nations even though she’s unqualified for the position and her appointment would reek of nepotism. The latter goal is further complicated by Claire’s request that she become the U.S. Second, he wants to create peace in the Jordan Valley between Israel and Palestine, but to do so he has to partner with the abhorrent Russian President Vladamir Putin Viktor Petrov ( Lars Mikkelsen). Instead, Frank is a President who struggles with two (and apparently only) issues during his time in office: First, he has to get his “America Works” program off the ground, which seeks to end all entitlements and use the money to fund a $500 billion program that would create 10 million jobs. Would Claire-someone who was collected enough to betray a rape survivor-really get flustered by a Senate hearing committee? Would Frank-who sees his job stolen away from him in the very first episode-really be surprised that the Democratic leadership doesn’t want him to run for another term? The Underwoods should know better, and in Season 3, they know surprisingly little. If there had been some gradual deterioration where we saw how they were overwhelmed by the Presidency, it would be easier to swallow that Frank and Claire are being constantly outmaneuvered. Frank and Claire committed a massive, bloodless coup (if you ignore Peter Russo and Zoe Barnes), and Season 3 has them floundering from their own rookie mistakes. And that’s fine, except we’re only told how they fell, and watching them try to claw their way back out now comes off as incompetence. The writers apparently reasoned that Frank and Claire ( Robin Wright) work best when they’re at the bottom and backed into a corner. We’re not treated to seeing those failures. During his recovery, Doug (and the audience) learns we’re already six months into the Underwood presidency and it’s been a series of failures. Although the first scene of Season 3-Frank pissing on his father’s grave-hints that we’ll be getting the craziest season yet-the story really begins with exposition intertwined with a reintroduction as we discover that Doug Stamper ( Michael Kelly) survived getting his head bashed in by Rachel ( Rachel Brosnahan), but has had to endure a long, and difficult recovery.
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