House of Cards Chapter 53 Episode Review: Homecoming of Terror!

Vacations these days are very boring. When I was a child, I would spend hours playing on the ground with my friends. But now, there are hardly any grounds left. All I do the whole day is sit in front of the computer. But luckily, there is this blessing of some amazing TV shows. With these shows, I can immerse myself in a completely different world of drama, action, thriller, and suspense.

 

This summer another season of an incredible show released. American web television drama series, House of Cards premiere episode of its fifth season was released on May 30, 2017. And boy, this was the much anticipated season with lots of strong and exciting surprises and promises.

Source: House Of Cards

What is House Of Cards?

House of cards is an American political drama web television series. The show is about Frank Underwood, a Democrat appointed as the Secretary of State, who, along with his wife Claire, is set out to take revenge from the people who betrayed him. He does this while successfully rising to supremacy. The show showcases how politics is just like a game where you have to defeat various obstacles to reach where you want to.

The lead actors are Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. The show was created by Beau Willimon, directed by David Fincher based on the novel by Michael Dobbs.

I just finished with the premiere episode of the fifth season and it was remarkable in every possible way. Before I go ahead, I would just like to inform you that this blog post may contain spoilers. So move ahead with caution.

How was the episode?

The previous season was left on a huge cliffhanger with Frank initiating war on the ICO. The House of Cards Chapter 53 episode touches on multiple contemporary issues, including terror, tension and hatred between political parties, and conflict between government and media. One of the things that make this show worth the watch is its similarities with the real-life scenarios. But I won’t dive into that here.

Source: House Of Cards

The episode begins with Claire Underwood looking straight in the eyes of the camera just as her husband does. “I’ve been meaning to talk with you. It’s terrifying, isn’t it?” she says as the episode begins. Here, Claire is filming a PSA telling American citizens to be on the watch for suspicious activities in their neighborhoods. Claire addressing the camera just as her husband does. Her voice is chilling and Robin Wright gives an astounding performance throughout the episode.

Source: House Of Cards

Let’s take a moment to appreciate what a brilliant actor Kevin Spacey is! With each passing episode and each passing season, Kevin Spacey’s performance just got better and better for his character Frank Underwood. 

In this episode, Kevin aka Frank Underwood gives his finest, astonishing, astounding, and extraordinary performance. His performance in the first five minutes of the episode, where he address the members on the Senate floor (demanding an authorization of war against ICO) and when he strongly says, “I don’t care”, “I will not yield,” is just enough to give you goosebumps.

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My second favorite part was taking away the newspaper while walking down the aisle. He was an absolute beast on the senate floor.

With the election between Underwood and Conway not far ahead, tensions across parties start to boil and this is brilliantly portrayed here. Frank and Claire attend the funeral of one of the victims of the attacks. During the funeral of Jim, Jim’s daughter Melissa whispers something in Frank’s ear.

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Later on, Frank tells Claire that Melissa hopes he dies and that Claire becomes president. You can see Claire doesn’t have any reaction to this but there is a spark of an idea forming in her eyes. This has given rise to many theories that Claire may end up killing Frank to become the president herself.

Source: House of Cards

Further in the episode, Claire has smartly pressurized Mrs. Masterson into making a statement of turning in her terrorist son, Josh. On the other hand, we see that Frank already has Josh in custody, and in his own fashion, he interrogates him personally before sentencing his execution.

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The episode ends with the couple greeting the citizens and ushering them there is nothing to be afraid of. Frank stares in the camera and slowly utters the words to us viewers, “You have nothing to be afraid of,’ and the episode ends.

Source: House of Cards

My Review

The acting is strong as always. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright have been giving their best performance throughout this show. Watching the characters play each other is thrilling, and the ethical uncertainty on all sides makes it hard to choose which side the viewers should support. There is also some hint that the Pollyhop and NSA hacking storylines will be continued throughout this season five.

From what I understood, this season seems darker and may have some surprising things coming in the further episodes which the fans may or may not be ready for. The Underwoods are attempting to fuel the fear of terrorism among people. It looks like the couple is making an attempt to change the focus from the Hammerschmidt revelations by embracing terror as a political tactic.

Let’s wait and watch the interesting plot twists and surprises that the coming episodes have to offer. Don’t forget to catch the House of Cards on Zee Café.

“Frank Underwood is coming to India with the television premiere of House Of Cards Season 5 on Saturday, 3rd June, 5 PM onwards, only on Zee Café!”

This blog was selected by IndiBlogger   to review the first episode of the House of Cards Season 5. #HOConZCafe