Kevin Spacey's fall from grace as a result of sexual misconduct allegations against him put the future of Netflix's "House of Cards" in jeopardy. But with this new (and final) season of Netflix's first venture into original content, it seems that the producers made up for the show's loss.
The series continues from the previous season, except with the fact that President Frank Underwood (Spacey) is dead, which thus makes his wife Claire (Robin Wright) the new president (Claire was Frank's vice president, so not necessarily nepotism).
Continuing the tradition of the Underwoods breaking the fourth wall, one of Claire's first breaks asks us if we're still there and we miss Francis yet. She goes on, "Whatever Francis told you the last five years, don't believe a word of it. It's going to be different for you and me. I'm going to tell you the truth." With the show now featuring a more female crew behind the scenes, this is probably a subliminal jab at critics of the show for letting Spacey go.
But the feminist undertones don't stop here. When Claire takes office, threats against her have skyrocketed. In the third episode, Claire, her childhood friend and new thorn in her side Annette Shepherd (Diane Lane), and Deputy Commerce Secretary for International Trade Jane Davis (Patricia Clarkson), talk about the 1949 Simone de Beauvoir feminist work "The Second Sex".
Another important thing to note about this season is that this is NOT a place of refuge from the real "house of cards" of politics we live in. In fact, many of Claire's activities mirror real-life events. She interviews a Supreme Court nominee with a known track record of sexist behavior. She visits a fictional Ohio town who has to be evacuated due to a chemical leak in their water supply. And the most interesting of all, debate over the 25th amendment comes up a lot as well.
To sum it all up, this finale of "House of Cards" shows that maybe Robin Wright was meant to be the lead of this show after all. Her character is professional, tenacious, and knows what she wants. And while she isn't her husband, she takes a couple of pages from him to show that the boss Frank Underwood is powerful even from the grave.
With all of this being said, "House of Cards" retires as another feminist-oriented series. But looking back, who ever said that was a bad thing?
All episodes of "House of Cards" are streaming on Netflix.
