Like many others, I too have been hooked to the drama series "House of Cards" right from its first season. The American television drama that delves into American politics although follows the fictitious story of Republicans Frank Underwood (played by Kevin Spacey) and his wife Claire Underwood (played by Robin Wright), but it has never been far off from the complexities, the tensions, the facts and the truths of the contemporary times and that's what always kept the viewers thoroughly engrossed in all of its previous seasons. I had been waiting with bated breath for the new season to begin and now that the season 5 is here, all set to start on Zee Cafe, I couldn't have asked for more. I watched the premiere episode on Netflix to get an outside idea of what's in store for us this season and boy, wasn't I thrilled by the opening episode? The episode certainly made for a compelling watch, starting right from where it ended in the Season 4 finale and I am sure the forthcoming episodes too will be as intriguing.
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| House Of Cards Season 5 |
** Spoilers ahead **
The Underwoods, particularly Frank who through his deft manipulative and sometimes evil ways climbs up the political ladder to become the President of the United States, are at it again in the first episode - but are even more vicious and more lethal. The American elections are two weeks away and the Underwoods make sure to instill fear into the minds of the general public, right from the opening scene of the episode where the first lady Claire asking American citizens to watch out for any suspicious activity in their neighbourhood, implying the terrorist organisation ICO.
Meanwhile her husband, the US President Frank in order to show that he is acting tough on terror, storms into the Parliament session despite calls for the President to leave, and demands that the Congress declare a war against the terror organisation ICO, trying to capitalize on the fact that one of the supposed suspects - Joshua Masterson - responsible for the beheading of Jim Miller, is still at large. The ploy is to monger fear among the citizens, trying to make them believe that the terrorist organisation ICO has been rapidly infiltrating America. Therefore he calls for a new immigration policy, asking for strict travel ban from certain nations (much like the current President Trump's policy).
The episode takes a surprise turn when we see that Joshua Masterson had in fact all along been locked up in Frank's captivity, so that Frank could use him as a pawn for his political game, in spite of the counter-terrorism squad's findings that Joshua had absolutely no real connection with the terrorist organisation ICO. Thus the manhunt for Joshua was all but a PR stunt by Frank Underwood to swing the elections in his favour and to get re-elected as the President, using public fear as a tool.
It is still to be seen if Frank will succeed in his wicked plans or whether we will see the downfall of the Underwoods but I am certain that the following episodes will be even more thrilling and as engaging as the first episode. Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood is brilliant and menacing as ever, but it is his wife Claire (Robin Wright) who for me has always been more impressive - she is no less a schemer herself but she always remains very subtle. She looks set to take the centre stage in the coming episodes.
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! So guys, I will suggest you not to miss the action on
Zee Cafe #HOConZCafe.
