Reflection on House of Cards I

If you were like me snowed a bit this past President's weekend, you might have found yourself drawn to the second season of "House of Cards."  The major event that comes in the middle of the first episode is Frank (Kevin Spacey) throwing Zoe (Kate Mara) under the train. He then leaves and seemingly without a trail. At least a trail detective in the second episode cannot find. Lucas (Sebastian Arcelus) examines the surveillance video with one of detectives at the District police department. The detective says there were two witnesses, and both are duds. So Frank washes hands in the first episode, and becomes a president in the last.

Seemingly unstoppable Frank, who was denied the post of Secretary of State in the first episode of the first season frees himself from all allegiances, and with his wife Clair (Robin Wright) presses ahead through power plays and schemes screwing people lives until he becomes a president via vice presidency (thus you may guess requiring a resignation of the elected president in the process). No one seems a worthy opponent who can crack Frank's intentions and bring him down. Several have tried in vain. Journalists investigating the suspicious suicide of the Congressman Russo (Corey Stoll), businessman Raymond Tusk (Gerald McRaney) who in the end sells out President Walker,  the president Walker (Michael Gill) himself briefly gets a whiff of Frank's malfeasance as his (Walker's) political demise nears, but then lets his guard dissipate again in the face of obvious clues of Franks' treason. 

There were lots of chances to make Frank's life more difficult and, in my humble opinion, show more thrilling. But the writers seemed to be so preoccupied with fitting the process from Frank's becoming the VP to his presidency in 13 episodes that many story-lines felt sloppy, underdeveloped, and frankly did not hold water for how clearly unrealistic they were.

In this regard, the story-line that bothers me is the one with Zoe's death. Zoe comes to meet Frank disguised in a fedora and thick-rimed glasses at the train station and ends up under the train; he pushes here onto the tracks after a dialog. He then leaves seemingly incognito, while walking in the direction opposite everyone is running to see what happened, and uncaptured on surveillance tapes. No evidence to suspect or prove a foul play. I am sure everyone watching thought, "Oh c'mon, seriously!" Perhaps the writers wanted to avoid the whole "what if he is captured on the surveillance" story, but we don't need a CSI-style investigation to claim an unrealism of this line of thinking. With cameras watching every corner, Frank (or at least a figure leaving the station) would have been seen and exposed. In fact, the right of the surveillance video Lucas is watching with the detective  (the lower picture) shows where Frank exited after having pushed Zoe. There is certainly the evidence of foul play. So go from there, detective.

This is not to say the Frank should have been exposed and accused of murdering Zoe, but I would have liked to see this plot developed rather than pushing Lucas into deep web and locking him up for cyber terrorism (what a doozy subplot).