House of Cards (TV Series) Chapter 56 (2017) User Reviews

Election 2016

[Samuel-Shovel · 8/10 · 14 August 2017]

This episode of House of Cards was almost like a mid-season finale break as the two candidates square off on election night. Underwood is as shrewd and manipulative as always, using his connections and power to prevent any type of tentative result. The audience is left on a cliffhanger as we wait to see who the next president is.

This episode was a fairly good one. For such a huge event within the show's history, it sometimes felt a little on the slow side; it definitely could have been better but was not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. Spacey and Wright are at their very best in this one, a very entertaining hour of television.

Entertaining but Beyond the Pale

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 22 June 2017]

So Frank Underwood has that much power on the night of the election to start messing with polling places. I know he has been extorting governors, but the people he has such great disdain for are rounded up like cattle. This terrorism threat based on one incident is enough to cause a ripple bigger than a tsunami. Of course, like with Trump, Pennsylvania and Ohio are critical. I suppose one could figure out a way to freeze them out. While I found this an intriguing episode and Frank a purely fictional character, it's the ease with which he maneuvers. Also, so much is dependent on a computer guy, an insider, who seems to do more than the tech savvy people of the entire government. Once again, Doug, the sycophant and sociopath, is at the center of things. For a guy with so little spin when it comes to Underwood, he certainly can throw his weight around. Oh well. We've got nine more episodes to go.

"If we fail, it's on both of us. I won't be able to protect you"

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 24 March 2020]

Re-watching some of Season 5 recently, it is actually better than originally thought. My original thoughts being that the show "jumped the shark" badly at this point. After re-watching, it does have major flaws, all the episodes are patchy (some more so than others) and it is nowhere near the brilliant standard of what came before. There are a good deal of great things though, and all my problems with the season (which though still remain) are actually much bigger in Season 6.

"Chapter 56" is Season 5's fourth episode, and it is the epitome of the kind of episode that has many good things but some frustrations along the way as well. It is better than the (disappointing but certainly watchable) previous episode, being more involving in terms of pacing and more of a sense of progression. But the season's first two episodes were marginally more superior with their flaws not bothering me as much as here.

It certainly looks great, full of style, atmosphere and class classic 'House of Cards' style. The music complements well, not feeling too over-the-top or inappropriate. The direction shines in the more tense character interactions, namely Frank and Claire which was true for pretty much the whole of Season 5. Enough of the script is thought-provoking and is never really less than engaging.

There is plenty of political intrigue, the best of which having a thriller-like tension. Frank and Claire continue to be fascinating characters, that was never lost throughout Seasons 1-5 (it was sadly lost with Claire in Season 6) and their character interaction is both entertaining and chilling. The ending is a contender for my favourite of the season, it gave me more chills than that of "Chapter 53" (and that ending was a highlight of that episode). The pace is tighter here with higher stakes and the acting from all is terrific.

Sadly, there are debits with "Chapter 56". The rest of the characters have been far more interesting and complex before. Doug on a minor side not though has the right amount of intensity, though even the writing for him in prime-'House of Cards' had more cohesion. Back on target with regarding the characterisation mostly flawed, this is particularly true for Yates. For me he was a dull character that served very little point, the case throughout Season 5, and absurdly written and dumbed down too. Again, didn't get anything from his chemistry with Claire and the dialogue between them is quite melodramatic and silly.

Moreover, the storytelling has had far more freshness and suffers from some convolution in parts (inducing some head-scratching) and with some ridiculous character decision making (especially sex-related). The writing is mixed, great with Frank and Claire but especially weak with Claire and Yates.

In conclusion, pretty good but there was real potential for it to be much better than it actually was. 6.5/10

Superb

[851222 · 10/10 · 23 January 2018]

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Chapter 56" (aka Night Of Election) was a superb, intense and highly involving episode of "House of Cards" - best episode of season 5 so far.

Tightly paced, superbly acted and written it felt more like a thriller. There were surprises and unexpected moves - and while i'm not sure if its possible that this kinda outcome would have been in real life, it sure was entertaining to watch it on a small screen.