As Frank and Jackie try to flesh out votes for the entitlement bill, there is a quarantine and Frank is locked up in his office for four hours with Rep. Donald Blythe, whose wife is an Alzheimers victim. He is greatly distressed that he can't be with his wife. While Jackie puts the arm on other Reps they two parry and thrust over support of the bill. Donald controls 28 votes in the house, a truly significant number. There is quite a realistic give and take in Frank's office. Meanwhile, an interview is being done with Claire. Frank is supposed to be present but, of course, is under lock and key until the all clear is given. Frank gets a message out that she should do the interview anyway. There is concern about the issue of children, and Claire is maneuvered into admitting to an abortion (actually she has had three). Further questioning forces her to reveal her rapist (though she never became pregnant with him). There is going to be significant fallout. Also, Lucas continues his quest in dangerous waters. He has made contact with a freelancer who could end up in prison for his activities (or so he says). Good writing and suspense.
2 Reviews
"If we never did anything we shouldn't do, we'd never feel good about doing the things we should"
TheLittleSongbird10 May 2019
Like to love all the episodes of Season 1, back when 'House of Cards' was good and in its prime (a far cry from how the show is now, how drastically the show has declined still shocks and angers me), and had high hopes for Season 2. It thankfully turned out to be a season that started off brilliantly with its first episode but was a little disappointed by but still very much liked "Chapter 15" and "Chapter 16".
"Chapter 17" is an improvement on the previous two episodes with the newer characters shining more and Frank not dominating quite as much, while not quite as great as "Chapter 14". Do not get me wrong, absolutely love Frank as a character, but the newer characters did need to become more interesting so it was natural and necessary to see more of them. "Chapter 17" is a return to form and is one of the better episodes of Season 2.
Not an awful lot wrong here in "Chapter 17", but Lucas' stupidity with the fingerprints in the previous episode still looms high here and whereas the other newer characters are beginning to hit their stride when it comes to the different subplots his is the least gripping for me and doesn't advance as much as them either.
Do like though that things continue to progress and things introduced, set upon and built upon in the previous Season 2 episodes build on further with nothing going round in circles. Loved the tension and suspenseful character interaction throughout, the mystery aspects are intriguing and is developing all the time, the political intrigue is not laid on too thick or hard to understand, the cynical edge of it intelligently done, and the darker tone of the season works.
It does help having one of the show's most frequent directors James Foley as director in his second episode of the second season, and again he does a fine job for the same reasons as with his other previous directorial efforts for the show. he allows the drama to breathe while still giving it kick, it's very stylish too if not quite cinematic level (not that that was expected). "Chapter 17" looks slick and stylish, with lots of atmosphere with a darker look and no trouble with cohesion. Nothing to complain about there. The music knew when to have presence and when to tone things down to let the dialogue and characters properly speak. The writing is sharp and has bite and the story does engage for the reasons described in the above paragraph.
Of the newer characters, my favourite is Jackie. Love her steel, spirit and ferocity. Donald is also intriguingly bitter. Frank always fascinate and did appreciate that he doesn't dominate as much here, while Claire's subplot is done with tension and pathos. The acting is never less than excellent, especially from expectedly Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright and also Molly Parker and Reed Birney.
Summarising, great. 9/10
"Chapter 17" is an improvement on the previous two episodes with the newer characters shining more and Frank not dominating quite as much, while not quite as great as "Chapter 14". Do not get me wrong, absolutely love Frank as a character, but the newer characters did need to become more interesting so it was natural and necessary to see more of them. "Chapter 17" is a return to form and is one of the better episodes of Season 2.
Not an awful lot wrong here in "Chapter 17", but Lucas' stupidity with the fingerprints in the previous episode still looms high here and whereas the other newer characters are beginning to hit their stride when it comes to the different subplots his is the least gripping for me and doesn't advance as much as them either.
Do like though that things continue to progress and things introduced, set upon and built upon in the previous Season 2 episodes build on further with nothing going round in circles. Loved the tension and suspenseful character interaction throughout, the mystery aspects are intriguing and is developing all the time, the political intrigue is not laid on too thick or hard to understand, the cynical edge of it intelligently done, and the darker tone of the season works.
It does help having one of the show's most frequent directors James Foley as director in his second episode of the second season, and again he does a fine job for the same reasons as with his other previous directorial efforts for the show. he allows the drama to breathe while still giving it kick, it's very stylish too if not quite cinematic level (not that that was expected). "Chapter 17" looks slick and stylish, with lots of atmosphere with a darker look and no trouble with cohesion. Nothing to complain about there. The music knew when to have presence and when to tone things down to let the dialogue and characters properly speak. The writing is sharp and has bite and the story does engage for the reasons described in the above paragraph.
Of the newer characters, my favourite is Jackie. Love her steel, spirit and ferocity. Donald is also intriguingly bitter. Frank always fascinate and did appreciate that he doesn't dominate as much here, while Claire's subplot is done with tension and pathos. The acting is never less than excellent, especially from expectedly Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright and also Molly Parker and Reed Birney.
Summarising, great. 9/10
See also
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