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House of Cards: Chapter 1 (2013)
Behind every great man, there stands a woman
Securing a recent victory for newly-elected president Garrett Walker, Frank Underwood believes himself a shoo-in to be appointed the administration's Secretary of State; indeed, he elected to back Walker's campaign on this promise. Spacey's Underwood feels understandably betrayed, therefore, when Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez (Sakina Jaffrey) informs him that Walker - not yet sworn into office - has reneged on this promise. Senator Michael Kern will instead be awarded the position, while Frank is assured of the invaluable role he will play in exercising his abilities as House Majority Whip - in order to pass the president's new education reform agenda through Congress. From here on in, the real drama begins to unfold, as Frank and his ice-cold wife Claire (Robin Wright) begin to plot Kern's fall from grace. As these events play out, we witness an entirely different story unraveling, in the offices of local rag The Washington Herald. Kate Mara's ambitious young reporter Zoe Barnes pursues meatier journalism, repeatedly requesting her own online column, under the assertion that print media is dead. Yet she is landed with nothing but small, 'human interest' stories ('puff pieces'): articles that do nothing to whet her appetite. On a whim, Barnes appears on the Underwoods' doorstep late at night, and following a brief discussion, Frank clearly recognises her potential as a pawn in his political game.
From the episode's opening beat, Spacey introduces his character's signature habit of breaking the fourth wall; addressing the viewer in those unmistakable dulcet tones as he stares knowingly into the lens - he kneels over a neighbour's dying dog and says 'Moments like this require someone who will act, who will do the unpleasant thing, the necessary thing'. Then, in an act that is wholly unexpected, Underwood proceeds to calmly, and tenderly, end the poor mutt's life. It is this single act that defines Underwood's coldness and severity: this is not a man to be underestimated. Yet Frank is not alone is political motivation. 'Behind every great man, there stands a woman' - if there has ever been such a living embodiment of this phrase, Claire Underwood is it. 'I love her more than sharks love blood,' Frank says (direct to camera), a sentiment which reveals an absolute reliance on his wife, as well as a not-so-subtle reference (one of many, in fact) to Underwood's pure animalism. Indeed, the meaty and animalistic rituals of politics are out in full force in this opening episode. House of Cards more than represents the pinnacle of television drama; bordering on the theatric. Comparisons that liken Claire with Lady Macbeth are undoubtedly apt, and Spacey's Machiavellian masterpiece is indeed worthy of a Shakespearean epic.
Mara's fresh-faced journalist represents an entirely different kind of optimism, among a cast of bitter and self-motivated old-schoolers. Yet Barnes represents the same hunger that we see in Underwood, a common trait which undoubtedly draws them together. This first episode is a belter, no doubt, whose closing scene leads us eager to see what lies ahead. Barnes now stands in the political firing line - exactly where she wants to be.