House of Cards returns to Netflix

Americans will settle in for a bingefest of Netflix-and-House-of-Cards this weekend to watch Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood sabotage all those who stand in his way. Others will watch the plot unfold slowly, forcing themselves to watch one episode at a time (maybe two or three.)

Spacey captivated audiences with his performance in seasons one through three. House of Cards is the culmination of his acting career, yet it seems as if Robin Wright will capture viewer’s attention this time. In the closing scene of season three, Claire Underwood finally leaves her “Francis,” realizing that their relationship is one of duty rather than love. Of course, House of Cards fans would have seen this coming from a mile away in her relationship with Ben Daniels’ Adam Galloway, her forced enthusiasm for Frank’s campaign success and her lying on national television. It’s clear that she is done being a pawn in his power game.

The official trailer confirms that much of season four will be a battle between Claire and Frank.

“You have no idea what it means to have nothing,” Spacey said in a voiceover while the preview cuts to a standoff between Claire and Frank. “You don’t value what we have achieved. I have had to fight for everything my entire life.”

With that, we are bombarded with a montage of what is to come. We see Molly Parkers’ Jackie Sharp and Mahershala Ali’s Remy Danton in a lustful embrace, money exchanging hands, Elizabeth Marvel’s Heather Dunbar looking disgruntled as pages of names fill the screen, symbols of death, destruction and violence and parallels to the past.

The trailer foreshadows Frank Underwood’s slowly losing control and Claire sabotaging everything they had once tried to accomplish together. As the trailer comes to a close, it’s obvious that any hope of a future for Claire and Frank has already been destroyed. And House of Cards veterans should known that already; in the upside down world that the characters live in, nothing will ever last.

Netflix kept spoilers to a minimum up before the season’s  release Friday, keeping audience expectations high. Those who have followed House of Cards on Facebook have been salivating for the past month as they see more and more of what they love about the show.

Season four, which will be available for streaming as the Ides of March rolls up, is set to be the climax of the series, and through what has transpired in seasons one through three and what Netflix decided to divulge in the preview, the falling action has now begun.

We know what we are going to get based on our previous experience with House of Cards, but there is a hint that we will also get something new. Claire will become a more important part of the series, and instead of being on the same side as Frank it seems that she will now be against him. The audience will chose who they want to come up on top.

It’s team Frank versus team Claire now. We will have to see how they function without each other.