House of Cards Season 2 Discussion Thread. SPOILERS

This is open to discuss anything from this season and the past one. You've been warned of the spoilers.

So yeah, I'm not going to write too much (or in a uniform fashion), just some general thoughts.

• Was shocked Zoe got killed, and in the first episode. Was waiting the entire season for Frank to get whats coming to him after that and Russo, but I guess that would kill the series...
• On the topic of the series ending, I actually hope the third season is the last. I don't think this particular story could last more than that. Its already turning into a repetitive back and forth game between the characters hating and making alliances with Frank. I'm ready to see Frank get eaten alive at this point (think I might hate him more than Walter White).
• Kind of wanted Lucas to get all fiery eyed planning the revenge/war path, but instead he's in jail... Then Hammershmidt came in and I was like "GET READY FOR THE HAMMER FRANK! OH WAIT, DON'T WE HATE THIS GUY?" That didn't pan out in the direction I wanted either, but thats fine.
• Franks Bi? Well, that explains his old college buddy and their close relationship.
• Doug and His creepy relationship with Rachel.
• Also, Doug is dead, right? people are dead when their eyes are open like that, so I'm going to assume yes
• Im calling bullshit on the way Frank finessed his way into the presidency. Especially walker flipflopping on his hate for Frank. When Frank wrote that letter and got the call from walker, I was expecting "So yeah, I'm going to use this letter, you know! Also, fuck you Frank!", but nope! Blame it on the meds, I guess (still not good enough).
• God of War: Ascension. LOLOLOL
• Meechum walking in on Frank watching porn. More lols
• Poor Freddy...
• Probably more I'm forgetting
• Bring on Orange is the New Black Season 2!

There you go. My random thoughts. Now go ahead and post yours! Here! In this thread!

I haven't watched the entire season, so I didn't read your post. But you obviously mention the biggest thing so far, probably, that being Zoe getting killed. I saw it coming because some people on twitter mentioned something crazy happening and the word train came up, so when it got to that scene, I was sort of expecting it, but damn! Still shocked at how bold Underwood was about it, no fucking pity at all.

@strife777: the creepiest part is remembering he turned her to face the tracks before doing it too.

I couldn't help but binge watch the entire second season. It was absolutely unrelenting from beginning to end. And that final scene! I find it somewhat scary how much I was rooting for the Underwoods throughout the entire season. The show does a fantastic job of making you root for the bad guy - even more so than Breaking Bad, in my opinion.

And now we play the waiting game until season three.

What a great show. Just finished the second season.

I love the show simply because the villian of the series is also the protagonist. It's such a unique perspective. So well done too. Make no mistake, Frank Underwood is absolutely a villian.

It's great that theres a political thriller that makes me more nervous and tense about whats going to happen than a horror movie with the main character creeping through a dark house.

Just a superb show. I eagerly await season 3.

I think Doug's pretty much dead.

I mean, I hope Doug's dead, with the shit he's put Rachel through. Who I would consider the only person that's remotely likable in this series (save for the Herald staff, whose story is basically over with at this point). I only worry about the fact that she took Doug's car to escape with, which was being tracked.

Also, I don't understand why Frank himself murdered Zoe to get rid of her, why they didn't just have Doug do the same with Rachel?

Spoilers lie ahead, you've been warned, yawr.

I disagree with a few points.

I do hope it lasts one more season but could see a good 2 seasons where the next season has the next presidential election and season 4 being the last term. I kind of hope Frank gets away with it all, I think it would be to much of a "happy" ending if Frank gets caught.

While yes, Frank gaining the presidency the way he did would never play out that way in real life, I don't think Walker would use the letter. For a few reasons but mostly because Walker knew he would still go through the impeachment process, his party would be crushed in the mid-terms, he would be a one term president if he doesn't get impeached. So I think Walker banked on Tusk just pleading the 5th and hoping he actually had a friend in Frank and not re-running for president. But after Tusk named him Walker had to fall on the sword and save the party.

Okay, giant product placement but it has been shown that Frank uses video games as a stress reliever and mindlessly hack-slashing people online is a good way to do that.

This sums up my favorite moment of this season.

Frank dont give a fuck bout nobody. Just my thought but at this point Frank is a superhero. Hes written to be smarter than anyone else. Hes smarter than a fifth grader, the President felt like a fifth grader always hemming and hawing about things, everyone felt normal, except Frank. I wasnt scared for the Underwoods. Its like the walking Dead, the producers say no one is safe, but we know thats not true, they will never kill Daryl and the Underwoods will never be in danger. Franks ride to the top was to easy, he became Vice President and President inside of a year. And the journey of his ring? come on, did Clair really know what his ring looked like? He buries the ring then she gets a new one? Did she have a blueprint of it? Another one stashed away? Its a TV show.

Ripped through the second season as well. I think I liked it more than the first. And even if Frank is a villain, I feel like you're supposed to be on his side the whole time. The Shakespearean asides he does to the audience are almost his way of saying "You knew the whole time. You've been with me since the beginning and that makes you my accomplice." I dunno, I kind of love that the show isn't just interested in showing you the story, but actively involving you in it.

@laserguy: it was a class ring, so she could have easily found out what the ring looked like based off of the year he graduated.

That may be the writers intention, but I am incapable of siding with a person who has zero redeemable qualities. Frank is Randian, Romanesque, Power Hungry, Evil. A person whose goals are centered around complete self interest, and gaining the submission of others to aid in his desires.

I can't root for someone like that. I can watch someone like that, see how their story unfolds, but I cannot side with them. I can empathize with them, but only if I can properly understand how and why they grew into this person. My main hope for this series is that Franks backstory is detailed heavily to better illustrate how he became the person he became.

Just watched episode 1.

:(

People on this site (presumably because of Jeff's brute-force way of talking about it) tend to pontificate and try to convince themselves that spoilers don't matter, but when you experience something like episode 1 without even a hint of what's coming, like I just did, it really hits you on a completely different level that isn't possible when you suspect something is up. It was awesome.

Now no one reply to me, because I won't be reading anything else until I finish the season.

That final double knock on the table!!

Not sure how season 3 will be like but I'll definitely watch Kevin Spacey screw everyone over and brand them with his initials "F.U."

I actually feel like Frank isn't evil per se. He definitely rip you to fucking bits if you get in his way, or simply if he needs to, but now that he's president, I actually don't expect him to be some sort of dictator. If I had to guess, anybody in politics should look out for him, but if you're just a civilian, he probably won't be much of a problem.

Also, even though he's kind of a scumbag, I have a hard time disliking him. He and his wife have such an interesting relationship. While it is not in my interests, if I were to ever marry someone, I would like my relationship to be like theirs (minus the "evil" scheming). They don't let petty things get between them, they don't hold each other back and they have complete respect for each other. You'd expect the absolute opposite, considering how much of a professional liar he is. While I found the way it ended a little sad, his friendship with Freddy also felt genuine and admirable.

It's also great that he's not some left-wing or right-wing extremist, he relatively balanced.

What can Season 3 be but the downfall of Frank? I can't think of anything else.

I am extremely curious, though, about what Frank's goal will be now that he's President. This has clearly been his goal through all of Season 1 and 2, so what now? Does he actually have policies he wants to enact? Does he care the slightest about the United States? I really want to see what he does with this power - if he thought about it at all.

The threesome thing was weird, the Zoe thing was unexpected and shocking, the Doug thing at the end was upsetting, and the overall plot was okay. The actors are great but this season just wasn't as good as the first.

Watch him become the greatest president since FDR, in acting universal healthcare, regulating the stock market and financial institutions, growing the middle class to post WW2 era highs, and evening out the wealth gap in USA. Having such a despicable and conniving person actually doing some good would be a great love/hate idea.

I really dig this show. Due in large part to Spacey's KILLER performance. Don't know if it has been mentioned yet. But that final knock on the table. That entire last shot, the very last shot. Man. MAN. Soooooo good.

He's killed 2 people in the name of power and self interest. Dude's fucking evil.

He's more the ultimate pragmatist, willing to do whatever it takes to win. The government as a collective entity kills hundreds of people every day just to further their own power. Frank Underwood is simply the way all politicians think, the only difference is that other politicians are not as smart as he is.

Right. I don't think his intentions were inherently evil. The act itself might be, but he committed those murders as means to an end. It of course doesn't excuse it, I'm not arguing that, but yes, I wouldn't call it evil, just ruthless pragmatism.

NOoooooooooooooooo. Stamper! My man! Noooooooooooo. Favorite character. Zoe was boring, but my man Stamper... :'(

:'''''''(

Guess this means the hacker dude's gonna be a problem for Frank.

I jumped ship when Frank fucking threw a person into an oncoming train. Ridiculous.

Almost everyone but the Underwoods are complete fucking morons, especially that thick as fuck president. It's hard to buy Franks supposedly prodigious conniving when everyone around him can't be arsed to have a thought now and again. The whole thing just felt way less grounded than all of season one.

Still, they've sowed some seeds that I'm interested in seeing develop, namely the hacker that looks like Jeff potentially stirring shit up and Jackie 'not becoming Frank Underwood'. Remy could've been (or I suppose was, though mostly from being an unknown quantity) an interesting character, but seemed to be neutered a fair bit by the end. I'm curious about where it'll all go, but this whole season's left a real sour taste in my mouth.

Stamper's death did nothing for me. Claire's little episode on the stairs, nada. Fuck em. They made most everyone on team Underwood too terrible for me to give a shit about, and everyone else is either dumb as bricks or can be killed with impunity (especially now that Frank's the president).

I am trying to find out the title of the book Frank was flipping through in episode 16. Does anyone have an idea, how I can get this info, thx.

OK, I'n hooked Watched season 1 and 2 in about 3 days. Likes. Spacey is Brilliant. So is most of the other acting. Season 3 starts today. Umm not much productive use of my time in near future.

How brilliant is Spacey? My favorite scene is very last scene of episode 13 season 2 when Frank goes in to claim his prize. Just watch him. Does not say a word. He's like an animal claiming his kill, First one hand on desk, then the other. Slowly looks up and you think he is going to speak to us. No, double (New replaced Ring) ring tape, and the fastest fade to black I have ever seen. Is it just me or does he just eat that scene up and with the edit to black ...I thought it was superb film making.

Now a few dislikes. I call bull crap on season 2 episode 2. In ep.1 Frank tosses Zoe in front of train. OK. In ep. 2 Lukus goes to the Detective and is investigating. If you watch carefully on the laptop there is a continuous time stamp running on film. Stay with me.

OK so Det. Shows Lukas Right at frame where Zoe takes a dive. Then slows it down. Stop!!! Right before he does that he shows a few seconds of where Zoe would have been standing when talking to Frank. Where is she? The counter on film is still counter. Why no Zoe in those frames. Also as you can seen down track a bit. This is where Frank walked before turning into alcove which should have picked him up. Why does it not show Zoe entering. Because it sure as hell shows her learning to fly from that exact spot 2 seconds later.

Any thoughts?

Steve

@rongalaxy:

I just finished season 2 and wow. I do have to disagree with some of the statements though, I don't think Doug is dead. He has too much unfinished business and it looked like he was moving his eyes and still breathing during the finale but I could be wrong. I would be pretty pumped up though if he was in fact still alive in season 3. I was so creeped out by him and that adds a lot of interest to his character.

Also despite frank being a bad guy... Isn't that what makes rooting for him all the more fun?

I didn't understand the threesome, just thought it made Claire and frank look like absolute freaks but I loved it anyway.

Any thoughts about Rachel? Lucas? The cyber hacker guy?