According to Hillary Busis on Entertainment weekly, “House of Cards is made for binge watching.” I like/dislike that it’s on Netflix. I have the opportunity to watch it as fast as I’d like to, but have no moderation. When I first started watching House of Cards I didn’t intend on doing a synopsis, so as a writer it makes it a little more difficult to direct hour by hour. Like many others, I proved incapable of saving more for later, I finished Season One in a week (for good reason). My recaps are a bit dicey.
In the third to fourth episode Frank Underwood is dealing with an education bill. Viewers unfortunately watch Frank and Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez doing a lot of collective bargaining.
Back at The Herold Zoe gets promoted to White House Correspondent, but doesn’t have much interest in climbing that ladder. Frank sees her job offer as a total turnoff, which aids her disinterest. (Rookie move letting a man’s opinion dictate a life decision).
Zoe Barne’s character is one of the most well developed in House of Cards. She is young and extremely hungry, almost desperately. She’s constantly texting & typing extremely fast, almost as if she’s doing so without thinking. Some of her decisions (which will evolve in later episodes) make it hard for a viewer to root for her. Zoe states that “she deserves to be heard,” but neglects to check her facts and who they’re coming from.
Barnes is doing all of this to get the dirty inside track to skip ahead in her career, yet then doesn’t care about the promotion? This move would be badass had she not made this career decision because of Frank’s opinion. You could say she isn’t seeing the big picture and how she is being manipulated. Why turn down the most coveted job opportunity for reporters when you can work for Slugline!
Tom, the Herald’s editor-in-chief, calls Zoe “an ungrateful, self-entitled little cunt.” Mistake…to her credit, Zoe tweets his invective with the chilling warning. “These days, when you’re talking to one person, you’re talking to a thousand.”
Claire Underwood is laying off left and right at CWII. Remy (Frank’s former press secretary) is now a lobbyist for the natural gas company San Corp. He tells Claire if will give CWII $1.5 million and ask nothing in return. Frank is skeptical. Of all people, The Underwoods know that kindness comes with a cost. Claire refuses Remy’s money. CWII is Claire’s baby. She should be thankful for her husband’s advice, but there is a sense that Claire feels that Frank is overstepping.
Enter Adam…a sensitive wondering photographer from her past. When Frank disappoints Claire, she falls back on Adam. “I found her in a village. She died shortly after this photo was taken. ” This isn’t your round trip ticket buyer. It is evident Claire will always have nostalgia for her relationship with Adam. He tells her, “There are no mistakes.”
Adam is a completely different person than Frank. While Claire & Franks relationship shows no signs of intimacy and romance, her relationship with Adam does. He gives her something Frank can’t…or won’t. But claire respects her relationship with Frank more. She states in an episode, “I found someone I could love more than a week.” (Poor Adam lasts about that long.)
Peter Russo, current druggy/ alcoholic is chosen by Frank to become a representative ( a chess piece). He is sent to his home town in Philadelphia to speak with his people, promising them he won’t close the ship yard if they vote for him. Frank & Doug (Frank’s worthless Chief of Staff) begin moving people around. They’re going to close the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Bye 22,00 jobs! Russo reacts to this news by coming home shitfaced (surprise) and his girl friend/secretary Christina quits & dumps him. Poor guy..
Meanwhile Zoey throws down a few glasses of wine before pacing around and calling her favorite source. Frank comes over late night and so begins Zoe and Frank’s affair. It gets a couple levels of weird as Frank takes on the roll of seducer and daddy. Asking her “Are you cared for? Do you have an older man that cares for you?” I can’t see through all of the awkwardness to tell whether I saw this coming or not. Does she really do this because she thinks she’ll get more information? Or is she dumb enough to think that physical power gets her closer to actual power? We’ll see…
http://www.vulture.com/2014/02/house-of-cards-season-one-recap-episodes-4-5-6.html