On 'House of Cards,' Frank and Claire engage in a battle of wits

This article will contain spoilers for House of Cards Chapters 41, 42 and 43.

By pitting Frank and Claire, two of television's most ruthless characters, against one another, House of Cards’ fourth season harkens back to the series’ glory days. These next three episodes are dark, shocking, weird, over-the-top, and as highly watchable as the show has ever been.

After Claire puts into place a very Underwoodian plan to seize power for herself, the president strikes back in “Chapter 41.”  The joy of House of Cards from the beginning was looking on in horror as Frank schemed his way to the top, knocking down anyone who dare oppose him, but that was lost as the story progressed and Frank simply could not climb any higher. Luckily, Beau Willson has recaptured the first season's charm with a storyline where the president feels truly threatened once more and in “Chapter 41,” Frank does not hold back. He sabotages Claire’s deal with Doris in front of the entire nation on live television, because that's what the State of the Union should be used for, right? By announcing that Doris' daughter Celia will run for her seat and by offering funding for the clinic, Claire no longer has any leverage and must suspend her campaign for Doris' position before it even begins. When Frank motions towards Claire and the audience applauds, he might as well be flipping the bird.

This move was justified in Frank’s warped mind, as from his perspective Claire is extraordinarily ungrateful for everything they have achieved together, which he expresses in his first fourth-wall break of the year. The president tells a story about his childhood neighbor, who used to run away from home constantly even though he was pretty well off. One day, when the boy hid in a treehouse and refused to come down, Frank grabbed his axe and began to chop, fed up with this spoiled kid’s thankless attitude. Claire, in the same way is tossing aside everything she has in search of something greater and Frank is through putting up with it. The State of the Union was his axe. Of course, Frank sees no irony in the fact that Claire is just treating Frank to a taste of his own medicine.

Claire isn’t about to take Frank’s latest attack lying down, returning the blow with an axe of her own. She must figure out a way to regain the upper hand and she does so by leaking a picture to the press of Frank’s dad as a member of the KKK. On primary day. In Frank’s home state. After he gave a speech to a primarily black church. She wants Frank to know she was behind the leak too, so she blatantly leaves evidence behind for him to discover. Now Claire demands the position of vice president, outright saying that she will engage in more of the same tricks if he does not agree. “I can be a part of your campaign, or I can end it,” she coldly declares.

And so after the disappointing third season, House of Cards has recovered the palpable stakes of the first two, as we now feel at all times that one screwup could very well destroy everything Frank has worked towards his whole life. He can either accept Claire’s absurd offer, or refuse and pray she won’t pull another stunt like that again. What’s unclear is if Claire herself realizes how ill-conceived the idea of her on the ticket is. Not only is she Frank’s wife, but she has never held elected office and her time as ambassador was a disaster. Is Claire aware that this could easily cost Frank the campaign? Is that exactly what she has in mind?

Well, we’ll have to hold off those questions for a bit, as the bombshell that is “Chapter 43” grinds everything to a screeching halt. In a twist akin to Zoe Barnes' death in season 2, Frank greets a crowd of protestors only to be shot by Lucas Goodwin. The scene comes completely out of left field with virtually no buildup in the middle of an episode, which is exactly what makes it so effective. House of Cards had been heavily foreshadowing a Lucas assassination storyline prior to this. The man had nothing left, he knew the president was a monster and he seemingly had no other way to stop him. But the show does a laudable job of springing a predictable plot turn on us at least eight episodes earlier than we would expect. It's not necessarily a surprise what happens, but when it happens. In fact, it adds to the impact that Lucas does not appear in “Chapter 43” at all prior to the assassination, so we have momentarily forgotten about his storyline until he suddenly bursts onto the scene.

But as shocking as the assassination admittedly is, its abruptness leaves a bit to be desired from a storytelling perspective. After spending a fair amount of screentime with Lucas throughout the first three episodes, within seconds he’s shot, killed, his entire character arc is wrapped up, and that’s it. Never do we see anything from his end: him making his decision to shoot the president, his final moments, anything at all. Hell, we don’t even get a shot of Lucas' dead body, only finding out he was killed from a news broadcast. Obviously, this is because Beau Willson and the writers wanted the event to blindside us, but it’s still a bit unsatisfying how hastily a character who has been in the show from the very first episode is written off. Let's hope we get some sort of flashback later in the season.

It sure is an upsetting turn of events, though, especially since both Lucas and Meechum are killed at the same time. Agent Meechum was perhaps the only truly innocent character in the series other than Freddy, so his death is a genuine blow both to Frank and to the audience.

Now, for the second time in the House of Cards universe, a man is promoted to the oval office who was not on the original ticket: Donald Blythe. You’ll recall that in season 3, Frank picked Bythe as vice president in part because he was such a nothing politician that he would pose no threat in the 2016 election. Now, that guy is leader of the free world and he's so in over his head that he rushes out of a meeting like a kid on his first day of school. Suddenly, the monumental importance of the vice presidency, normally seen as being somewhat inconsequential, is made clear.

Naturally, Claire immediately sees this for the opportunity it is, recognizing how effortlessly Blythe can be manipulated. When Claire meets with him, she does not see herself as an advisor to the interim president. In her eyes, she is the interim president, and this is her opportunity to get a taste of the power she’s been craving all along. When she tells Doug in the final scene that China is now “part of the acting president’s plan,” what she's really telling him is, “It’s part of my plan, bitch.”

Will it work out for her? Will it blow up in her face? We’ll find out soon enough as our binge through this magnificent season continues.