Tagged: House of Cards (US)
Frank Underwood’s Dressed-Down Blue-Gray Suit
Kevin Spacey as President Frank Underwood (with Robin Wright as Claire Underwood) in “Chapter 40” of House of Cards (2016).
Vitals
Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood, ruthless and calculating U.S. President
Dallas, January 2016
Series: House of Cards
Episode: “Chapter 40” (Episode 4.01)
Streaming Date: March 4, 2016
Director: Tucker Gates
Costume Designer: Johanna Argan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
In the fourth season premiere of the Netflix U.S. version of House of Cards, Frank Underwood’s presidential re-election campaign takes him from his own home state of South Carolina to his wife’s home state of Texas, where Claire (Robin Wright) has been visiting with her mother, Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn), who has been suffering from terminal lymphoma. Continue reading
Frank Underwood’s Blue Suit at the DNC
Kevin Spacey as President Frank Underwood in “Chapter 48” of House of Cards (2016).
Vitals
Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood, ruthless and calculating U.S. President
Atlanta, July 2016
Series: House of Cards
Episode: “Chapter 48” (Episode 4.09)
Streaming Date: March 4, 2016
Director: Robin Wright
Costume Designer: Johanna Argan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Tomorrow is Election Day here in the U.S. and hopefully the end of one of the ugliest campaign seasons in modern American politics.
In the political world of House of Cards, voters tomorrow would be choosing between Democratic incumbent Frank Underwood and Republican candidate Will Conway (Joel Kinnaman). In Chapter 48 of the series, Underwood notes about his opponent:
You’re a New York Republican. That’s an attractive fiction, isn’t it?
Chapter 48 spans the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta from Monday, July 25 through Wednesday, July 27. (The actual 2016 DNC was held in Philadelphia, in case you’d forgotten, and was quite dramatic in itself… which I’m sure you hadn’t forgotten.) President Underwood’s team seemingly makes a play for Secretary of State Catherine Durant (Jayne Atkinson) to be chosen as his running mate while secretly working behind the scenes to secure the spot for the First Lady, Claire Underwood (Robin Wright, who also directed this installment.)
One of the episode’s more outstanding scenes finds the unlikely situation of both candidates meeting alone, sifting through the heavy haze of dirty politics permeating the air while channeling their opposition into a discussion of video games. Continue reading
Frank Underwood’s Cream Linen Suit
Kevin Spacey as President Frank Underwood in “Chapter 33” of House of Cards (2015).
Vitals
Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood, ruthless and calculating U.S. President
Gaffney, SC, August 2015
Series: House of Cards
Episode: “Chapter 33” (Episode 3.07)
Streaming Date: February 27, 2015
Director: John Dahl
Costume Designer: Johanna Argan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Week of Weddings comes to an end with a subdued renewal of vows for that coldest of TV couples, Frank and Claire Underwood.
“Chapter 33” is a particularly meditative episode for a show that has found its lead character throw another major character in front of a train. The episode uses the creation and subsequent destruction of a Hindu mandala to tell the story of the unorthodox Underwood marriage. While political murders and extramarital affairs aren’t enough to kill their marriage, the President and his wife find themselves more divided than ever after the events of the previous episode. It’s significant that they return to the original church in Gaffney where their formation was created in order to rejuvenate their relationship, and it’s while talking to Yates in front of their first home together that he can admit:
I can tell you this, though, there would have been no White House without Claire.
Of course, Gaffney was also the place where Frank Underwood was created, and it is here – through the increasingly less biased eyes of biographer Thomas Yates – that he is as removed from his ruthless political self as possible. He is disarmingly introspective and charismatic, pouring out stories and wisdom though it were from a bottle of bourbon in his office. Continue reading
Frank Underwood’s Blue Linen Suit
Kevin Spacey as President Frank Underwood in “Chapter 34” of House of Cards (2015).
Vitals
Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood, ruthless and calculating U.S. President
Washington, DC, September 2015
Series: House of Cards
Episode: “Chapter 34” (Episode 3.08)
Streaming Date: February 27, 2015
Director: John Dahl
Costume Designer: Johanna Argan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
According to the Netflix version of House of Cards, today – September 7, 2015 – would have found the American eastern seaboard in trouble as Hurricane Faith rumbled on its way. Luckily for dwellers in both the show’s universe and the real universe, the Category 4 hurricane ended up offering no real threat… leaving President Underwood in the frustration position of having provided emergency funding when it wasn’t needed. While this wouldn’t necessarily mean trouble for a politician, it meant the end of Frank’s “AmericaWorks” pet project and thus the beginning of his 2016 presidential run. Continue reading
House of Cards’ Remy Danton Goes Casual
Mahershala Ali as Remy Danton on House of Cards (“Chapter 38”, Episode 3.12, 2015).
Vitals
Mahershala Ali as Remy Danton, former White House Chief of Staff
Washington, DC, December 2015
Series: House of Cards
Episode: “Chapter 38” (Episode 3.12)
Streaming Date: February 27, 2015
Director: Robin Wright
Costume Designer: Johanna Argan
WARNING! Spoilers ahead! If you haven’t finished the third season yet, then:
a) Go and do it, and
b) You’re bad at Netflix.
Background
Though Kevin Spacey receives much well-deserved praise for his power suits and performance as ruthless politician Francis Underwood, I always try to find a good guy to root for even in a shadowy world like House of Cards‘ D.C. While a few exist outside the political world, the only character who proves any definite altruism by the end of the third season is Remy Danton, the ex-lobbyist and now ex-Chief of Staff for the Underwood administration. Continue reading