Screens: Netflix
Claire And Frank Underwood Bring Us A Beautiful Portrait Of Commitment And Love
Sarah and Tara consider the relationship at the heart of House Of Cards.
Our Players
Hello, I'm West Coast Editor Tara Ariano.
Hello, I'm East Coast Editor Sarah D. Bunting.
The Discussion
Somewhere around the point in "Chapter 14" when Claire calls Gillian into her office, strongly implies that she's the one who tipped off Gillian's baby's father's wife (stay with me here) about the pregnancy, and offers a deal that will almost certainly ruin Gillian's life in the long run, I commented to Dave, "I like that this is a show where both the anti-hero AND his wife are evil; it's not just him doing all the bad shit and her being like, 'Quit it!'" Not to say that's exactly how Breaking Bad was the whole way through; Skyler comes to involve herself pretty deeply in Walt's business. But not with the glee that Claire brings to her plotting on House Of Cards, both in concert with Frank's and on her own behalf. And I kind of love it.
I love it too, and not just because it's refreshing to see the first-lady figure having -- and acting on -- her own agenda instead of sort of standing around looking proud or pinchy or whatever reactive thing she's doing. I also love it because HoC has always implied that their plotting is just that: theirs. The viewer comes in in medias schemes, to a degree; maybe I've inferred incorrectly, but it seems like they've had a plan since the '80s.
It also seemed, in the first season, that their shared goals -- or goal, really; just the one -- were/was what was keeping them in the marriage; I don't remember them seeming like they were that into each other, uh, physically? And part of that may have been that Frank had Zoe as a side piece, and that Claire had still been in love with Adam. But as uncomfortable as the Menage á Meechum was, HEAR ME OUT, I appreciated that it happened because it showed us that Claire and Frank are united on every front. (Yes, it was still icky.)
Deeply icky -- but it also served as a reminder that these people are largely unbothered by the destruction they visit on others. Their sangfroid the next morning was quite unsettling; there's no fighting back, really, because they just don't give a shit about anything. Except...each other. And I'd agree that the first season made it seem like they had a roommate marriage more than any great romantic attraction, but on the other hand, they're both so scorched-earth horrible that it is kind of a great soulmate love story.
The other thing that makes their partnership so enjoyable to watch, for me, is how their persuasion styles complement each other's. The way she worked the First Lady this year was so gorgeous, moving her into position with the therapist so expertly that even Tricia didn't realize what had happened after it had happened and could still tell Claire, with all sincerity, what a good person Claire is. Frank is, obviously, also an expert at tricking people into doing things against their own interest, but his way of wheedling and flattering has such a different character from Claire's. If she talked to me in that quiet voice, with those soft eyes, I think she could probably get me to understand why it's a good idea for me throw myself out a window.
The complementary quality also sells the opposites-attract part of their pairing, and while I find Kevin Spacey handsomer than most people probably do, he's not necessarily great at selling the attraction to Claire on his end. Robin Wright has to do a lot of that work, and she does.
I will say that the show gave me a craving for more shows where it's not just an evil dude and equally evil lady as the lead couple, but an evil lady with a dude in the traditional hand-wringing wife role. A tweet to this effect on the weekend elicited replies about Damages (which I do really need to check out at some point because vintage Olyphant), and The Americans (which I'm not sure I agree with -- he's not as into their mission as she is, but they're still on the same job). Can you think of any other examples?
I'm not sure how seriously you can take the Graysons of Revenge -- they're more like an Axis of Shitty than actual evil, plus the allegiances shift every ten minutes -- but maybe you can make the argument that Emily and whomever she's paired with, be it Aidan or Nolan, is that first-among-schemers woman whose male partner's focus pales in comparison. Because the other thing is that, though the Underwoods are definitely bad news, we're given the context to root for them because of how crappy everyone else also is. So maybe Revenge is a good analog, strangely.
Ooh, good one. One could also make the argument for that other Netflix show, Orange Is The New Black, which featured a lot of female characters who put one over the men in their lives -- partners and otherwise.
And perhaps Nashville, to a much gentler (and therefore more boring sorry Oliver Hudson) extent.
As long as Juliette is done with her Donna Reed routine: yes. (Hee.)
You could also assert that House Of Cards itself set up that dynamic in S1; Zoe is herself a harder-charging, brusquer ass than Lucas or the EIC who gets fired for calling her a C.
True! (God, Lucas. Get a haircut, 1996.)
For realsies. If he showed up in a David Byrne sweater a la Noel Crane, I'd have had to quit the show. ANYWAY! The Underwoods. Do you see their relationship changing at all in the third season, or do they remain a team?
I can imagine a scenario where the authorities start gaining on him and he gives her permission to distance herself for her own self-preservation...but I also don't think it's likely that he'll find himself in serious jeopardy, so I think it will just be more complex schemes on a larger scale. What do you think?
Anything could happen, I suppose, but when he did the worst possible thing he could really do in the context of that marriage (and many others, not for nothing), by losing it and telling her her own goals weren't as important as his/"theirs" within the government and the more official corridors of power, they did manage to weather that. The next big breaking point really should have been either the live interview, when she outed the general for raping her, or Tusk's outing of her in turn for her affair with Adam Galloway. In the first instance Frank looked proud of her and in the second he didn't seem to give a shit re: the infidelity, so in terms of threats to their shared loyalty, I don't think we're going to see anything else like that. But I didn't think they would jointly bone their security detail either, so don't ask me?