Sunday, April 28, 2024

'House of Cards' Series Finale: Francis Underwood Death Explained

house of cards frank underwood

When Congress refused to pass and fund the program, Underwood utilized a clause in the Stafford Act and declared unemployment in Washington, D.C. He additionally fired Secretary of Homeland Security Steven Travers, and threatened Arnold Silva, allowing him to use funds from the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund to finance a pilot program in DC. As his presidency was off to a rocky start, Underwood, in an attempt to reverse his poor approval numbers, begins working on a program designed to bring unemployment to virtually undetectable levels, a program called America Works.

Fictional character biography

In the fifth season, Claire also addresses the camera directly, on one occasion explaining that she had always known the viewer was there, but didn't know if she could trust them. At the end, after usurping the Presidency from Underwood and deciding not to grant him a pardon, she looks into the camera again and states "My turn." Underwood and Claire engage in a threesome with their Secret Service bodyguard Edward Meechum at one point in season 2, but have otherwise largely given up intramarital and extramarital sex in favor of their pursuit of power. Underwood's sexuality is ambiguous throughout much of the first two seasons; he has sexual liaisons with both men and women, but he is never explicitly identified by any sexual label. It is revealed in "Chapter 8" he had an experience with homosexuality in college. The same season, however, also features the only scene in the series in which Underwood and Claire have sex exclusively with each other.

House of Cards Season 6: Frank Underwood's Death Explained

house of cards frank underwood

Underwood is fond of the head of his Secret Service detail, Edward Meechum (Nathan Darrow), and it is hinted several times that they harbor unacknowledged sexual feelings for each other. Underwood has been described as conniving, Machiavellian, sociopathic, and a symbol of political corruption. Throughout the series, he manipulates and destroys several people, including those he calls friends, for his own ends. Underwood talks to Claire and asks about why she hasn't moved forward on his pardon. That afternoon, in the Oval Office, Claire is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, with Underwood becoming First Gentleman and continuing to live in the White House until his death two months later in May 2017.

Vice Presidential Attempt

The first campaign I worked on, I worked as an intern on Chuck Schumer's first Senate race in New York. And subsequent races that I worked in, I was an advance man, which sounds fancier than it is. But the advance man or advance-woman shows up in a small town and finds the junior high school gym that you're going to do the event in and gets the risers and the microphones and gets the crowd and figures out all the logistics. And the candidate swoops in and you're just making sure nothing goes wrong — that the lights stay on and the sound is good and then the candidate is whisked off to the next event.

While everybody else is scheming nonstop and jockeying for power, Doug is constantly switching sides as he tries to figure out which side will actually prevent Frank’s name from being dragged through the mud. Despite these traits, Underwood can be warm and gentle to those he truly cares about, particularly to Claire Underwood and to a lesser extent Zoe Barnes. He protects and takes care of those around him such as Doug and Steve and Edward Meechum, his bodyguards. With fellow schemers and politicians who understand his game, he has a definite respect for, such as Catherine Durant or Raymond Tusk. However, they can very easily become his enemies if they interfere with his plans. With others who are oblivious to his intentions or less intelligent, he adopts a different façade, acting more caring and generous than he really is to mask his true personality.

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Season 1 (

He also mortally wounds Meechum, who manages to kill him before succumbing to his injuries. Underwood is rushed to the hospital for immediate surgery, and falls into a coma. Stamper manages to bump him to the top of the transplant list, and he survives. He graduated from The Sentinel (a fictionalized version of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina) in 1980 and, subsequently, Harvard Law School in 1984. In season 2, he is the newly appointed Vice President of the United States, before becoming President of the United States in the season finale.

The Murder Suspects

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One hundred days after Claire takes office, she faces increased scrutiny, particularly in light of her husband's death following his resignation. The brother-sister duo of Bill and Annette Shepherd seek to influence Claire. The Shepherds are connected with Mark Usher, whom Claire has made Vice President, and who is having an affair with Annette. Annette's son Duncan puts pressure on Claire through his media company, Gardner Analytics.

Peter Russo for Governor

Claire and the Shepherds battle over deregulation measures, and Claire uses a chemical leak from one of the Shepherds' operations to embarrass the two. Doug, meanwhile, is in therapy following his confession to Zoe's murder, and Claire uses Assistant Director Green and his psychiatrist to monitor him. In the weeks before the 2016 election, Frank uses ICO as a pretext to enacting martial law in urban areas and consolidating polling places in key states.

house of cards frank underwood

Made America Works a vital rallying point throughout Underwood's campaign for the Iowa Caucus. Underwood uses the objections of Heather Dunbar and Jackie Sharp to his advantage, presenting himself as dedicated to reducing unemployment. Considering Underwood's victory in the primaries, and later the general election, the program could potentially survive in the future. The program was met with opposition from both parties, including Bob Birch, Hector Mendoza, and Mendoza's replacement Henry Mitchell.

They and Seth Grayson also develop a mobile application which can secretly be used to monitor the user's activity, including their location. Secretary of State Durant also comes within the Shepherds' sphere of influence, and they persuade her to speak with prosecutors investigating the Underwoods as the Shepherds become increasingly distant from Claire. As Durant's testimony proves more threatening, Claire and Jane Davis plot to assassinate her, but she fakes her death and flees the country.

After Claire asks Doug if he had a plan after the fact, he admits to not having one. In a fit of rage, Doug takes a letter opener and tries to make Claire confess that Frank was the person who made her who she is, holding the blade to her throat and accidentally cutting her. In the end, Doug can't finish what he started and tells Claire he's sorry.

On December 24, 2019, Spacey posted a follow-up short film to Let Me Be Frank titled KTWK to his YouTube channel, once again in-character as Frank Underwood. On a night in May 2017, Underwood was drunk and came over to the Executive Residence with the intention of killing Claire. However, realizing Underwood killing Claire would destrory his legacy, Doug gave Underwood a lethal dose of his liver medication.

A Democrat from South Carolina, Underwood took office following the resignation of his predecessor Garrett Walker. And one of those times is when he's giving a sermon in season one and he's talking about how deeply he loved his father and how heart wrenching it was when he lost his father. And then he turns to us and he tells us how little he cared about his father and he's sort of glad that he died, but that doesn't make for a good eulogy. And so what we're playing with there is the stories, the narratives that politicians often create in order to sell themselves. There is a big aspect of theater to politics, to what is the story I'm presenting that will make me seem powerful or compassionate or someone who feels your pain.

Following Durant's fake death, Claire and President Petrov forge a deal on Syria. Claire then discovers that Durant is alive and living in France with Petrov's help. Following this, Claire disappears for three weeks, prompting questions of her ability to lead, and leading Usher to plan to use the 25th Amendment to remove her from office. Claire foils Usher's plan and fires her Cabinet, replacing it with an all-female Cabinet, much to Annette's surprise. Annette plans to use Claire's prior abortions against her, but Claire retaliates by revealing to Duncan he is not Annette's biological son.

Frank wins back Claire's support by promising not to sabotage her campaign in Texas, but he later publicly endorses Celia in his State of the Union address. Frank and Claire travel to South Carolina for a primary, but a series of scandals causes Frank to narrowly lose the state to Dunbar. Frank discovers that Claire had been leaking information to Dunbar, and she threatens to continue unless he names her as his running mate. Spacey was fired from the Netflix series last December, following multiple accusations of sexual assault. Netflix also dropped Spacey’s film “Gore,” on famous writer Gore Vidal, in the wake of the accusations. The revelation takes place when Doug and Claire, who are warring against each other over Frank’s will and the various life-destroying secrets they know about each other, meet face-to-face in the Oval Office.

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