House of Cards (TV Series) Chapter 65 (2017) User Reviews

Season 5 review

[Kingslaay · 9/10 · 6 June 2017]

Season 5 had a great start however after the first two or so episodes the quality started to take a dive. The current show runners managed to keep all the elements intact about HOC however this seemed to be at the expense of a chilling plot or twist later in its season and dragged on a bit. Rather than write a number of paragraphs and make this review look like a novel I will list the pros and cons in a structured manner for those who bother to read this and care.

Pros

• Frank Underwood/Kevin Spacey was exceptional and its probably some of the best acting we have seen from this legendary actor. It feels like he really is the president we're all watching some kind of documentary rather than a drama.

• It had some shocking and chilling moments. Frank revealed he actually had one of the ICO terrorists. Frank pushed Cathy Durant down the stairs before telling her she needs to take a fall and he resigned his presidency after winning the election.

• The show gave us a great and creative way on how the Underwoods won the election by showing a clause in the US Constitution that allowed them to get to postpone it and leave it to the house as a result of fear that they inspired. Later an election was held in only one state that led to the win after Conway appeared in a negative light.

• We saw some old favourites again like Gareth Walker and Raymond Tusk.

• Claire broke the fourth wall and did it well for her character by saying she wasn't sure how she felt about us just yet.

• Some questions were left at the end with Claire and Frank. Frank is now out of the White House and the game and Claire is left with two vultures for Advisors. What will Frank do?

Cons/Criticisms

• The election and Conway lasted too long. The show prolonged the election and Conway's stay when based on past seasons it would have been wrapped up in the first few episodes. After the quick wrap up the show would have shown us a brand new challenge and some big twists, this did not happen this season.

• The show introduced unnecessary side plots that didn't add too much to the plot. Tom Yates story lines is an example and the new reporter from the post who didn't really add much except tell Frank about Hammerschmidt. Seth Grayson making some private deal that also didn't go anywhere. A story involving Russia and China that was not interesting and didn't reveal much. Time wasted on the advisors like Usher and Davis.

• Frank and Claire on the sidelines. I felt we heard less from Frank with his monologues and him and Claire watched a number of others steal the spotlight.

• Davis and Usher. Unless they are used for some other big plot these are annoying time wasters who take time away from Frank and Claire. Davis is very unlikeable as a character and is begging to be killed off, also why was she so quickly thrown into the spotlight?

• Tom Yates. Tom Yates worked well as a character in previous seasons but clearly has no use in this season. His scenes with Claire were painful to watch and no one was interested in him and Claire expressing their love. They waited too long to kill him off.

• Frank giving up his presidency. It seemed out of character for Frank to simply resign the presidency after all the schemes and reveal that it was his plan to bring himself down. He could have confided in Claire earlier as well as there was no reason to keep her in the dark.

• Expected more from the finale. The end was somewhat predictable because we had a feeling Claire would not pardon Frank and leave him out. This end didn't seem worthy of a season finale and would have been better suited as an end to an episode. Compared to previous seasons this was not a huge finale.

End watching this series right here

[vonnoosh · 8/10 · 26 May 2020]

So we have both Underwoods in office. Frank and Doug use the press to manage Frank's own downfall so that he can resign and be the power behind the president, his wife. The only thing left is the pardon and it doesn't look like Claire will give it to Frank.

The stage is set. Two people who will do anything and everything to get what they want are now pitted against one another again only this time Frank is facing to lose alot more. What will he do? What will Claire try to do knowing what her husband is capable of? What will Doug do when he finds out LeAnn is dead? Better to imagine what would happen next than to try to make sense of Season 6.

The Underwoods are not people you love to hate, you just hate them and if you watch 65 episodes, you kind of deserve to see them both pay for their crimes but you don't get that. The stage was set for the Underwoods to take down each other and that isn't happening after this episode so let your imagination do the rest.

House of Claire

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 27 June 2017]

I have to agree that this didn't have the splash of the previous seasons. Frank resigns and finds himself at the mercy of his own wife. There are a few problems to be solved and a few people to be gotten rid of. Frank continues to try to save his power, even though, in a political sense, he has no power. The love of his life is now President and she is becoming Frank (or she always was). In the past seasons, when the final episode played out, it left me with a desire to get to next year. I will certainly watch it, but I don't have that unfulfilled element in my mind. By the way, does anyone ever feel that deaths seem to happen with a lot of frequency.

its about Francis Underwood!

[alvinsiaang · 7 June 2017]

Its not that I dislike a woman president, but im here for Francis Underwood! I wait for this show to come out yearly, you cant just change the coolness of Francis Underwood to another character, it doesn't work that way, im not saying that Claire is a bad character, but we're here to support Francis Underwood!

Excellent

[dougmacdonaldburr · 8/10 · 31 May 2017]

House Of Cards is the best political show on television. Season 5 might be my favourite they have ever done. By this point a core group of main characters has been established. It is very easy to dive right into the season. The pace is solid and consistent. Each episode ends with key revelations and the next carries the momentum on towards a strong finish. I feel the characters and plot lines are more unified this season. It is the Underwood administration against the world with all the dirty tricks and vicious back stabbing you could hope for. This episode ties the season together beautifully and completely opens the story up for next season. I really have no idea what will happen. Another thing I appreciate is that the show does not force feed you the writers own political opinions. You can probably find that in it if you want to, but, you don't have to. The Underwoods are smart, charming and willing to do anything they can to acquire power. Who cares what their political opinions are? I enjoyed this a lot and already look forward to season 6.

A good season, but slightly underwhelming

[Dannyboi94 · 6/10 · 5 June 2017]

Season 5 has been good throughout, however unlike the previous seasons, this one has been a little slow and uneven. It starts off promising, with a very good first episode, only to drag out on the election, which has been happening since season 3-4, it got a bit tiring after a while.

While this season's strongest points come from the brilliant acting by Kevin and Robin, this season has been very slow. Around 90% of season 5 takes place in the White House, and eventually it gets boring. Seasons 1-4 was very open, and had much more interesting characters, and a more throughout story. This did not.

That doesn't mean that this season was bad, this episode in particular was very well written and directed. House of Cards has always been a beautifully shot season, with some great moments.

One of the biggest complaints and what I think is the reason this season got so many bad reviews, is it felt pro-feminist. Almost every male character in this season is portrayed as been dumb, with all the females being the strongest. Claire​ Underwood appears to be smarter than Frank this season, which is completely stupid.

Season 5 has been good, it's had great moments, but overall it felt very feminist, slow and I got sick of seeing the damn White House. So I'll give the season along with this episode a 6.4/10, most of which comes from Kevin's acting.

"When you bring yourself down before someone else can, you control the way it happens"

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 21 July 2020]

'House of Cards' for 2/3 of its six season run was a great show. Even the weakest episodes of the first four seasons had a huge amount to be impressed by and to me still managed to be well above decent, yes even the more divisive episodes. Season 5 didn't feel as strong, the show doesn't completely crash down and there are a good deal of fine things. Yet almost all the episodes are quite majorly flawed and the best episodes are not classics, by "Chapter 64" the show did feel like something different.

Season 5's finale "Chapter 65" is one of those finales that ends the season on a underwhelming whimper than a thrilling explosion. It is better than the mess of storytelling and characterisation that was "Chapter 64" and is certainly better than the whole of Season 6, but considering that it was the season finale and that there were a good deal of intrigue on paper a large part of me was expecting so much more. Especially when the best episodes of Seasons 1-4 were so brilliant, and those seasons had plenty of those. As far as the fifth season goes, "Chapter 65" is one of the weaker episodes.

As always, it is beautifully shot and atmospheric. It is well scored, with the last individual score from all the 'House of Cards' to make a completely positive impression. The acting as expected is extremely good, with scorching performances from Kevin Spacey (in his last episode before being fired) and Robin Wright (in her last good performance of the show, was not impressed by her acting in Season 6).

Frank and Claire still compel as characters and their chemistry is dynamite. The writing has some thoughtful moments.

Sadly, "Chapter 65" also lacks tension, other than between Spacey and Wright (and would even say that it was better previously). The pace lacks tautness and energy, some of it due to that but also because there is the sense that 'House of Cards' had run out of material and steam and instead including material that moves aimlessly and feels like padding. The story also can feel muddled from not being fully explored and even for Season 5 (though not as badly as "Chapter 64", which took ridiculous to a whole new level) it lacked clarity and realism.

Did feel that the big reveal was pretty absurd and quite difficult to get the head around, while other than Frank and Claire the characters lack distinction and are quite simplistically written. Everything with the pardon was not that much of a surprise and was almost too anti-climactic and definitely undeserved. Although in a way it did serve as set up for what was to come next season, somehow it didn't feel finished at the end and is fairly abrupt, definitely not a sizzler. Have always thought it dangerous for any franchise film or episode for any show to end in this type of way, just in case any intended follow ups or another season does not happen and gets cancelled.

All in all, there are some things to like but a rather unsatisfying conclusion to an uneven season. Even worse was to follow though. 5/10

Total Confusion

[abdolla · 21 April 2019]

After watching the first five seasons, I can say the show died officially in the third one.

When Frank makes it to the presidency, the interesting part of the story ends, with very few exceptions. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 are mainly about how the Underwoods are trying to cover up their crimes and how to retain power.

On top of that, you find yourself lost trying to understand what is going on. It is hard to know who is sided with whom. Speaking of siding, Doug is loyal to Frank to a degree you just can't swallow.

And what's truly frustrating is that Frank never gets caught even though The Herald editor, Tom, is digging deeply into it.

If Frank was to get caught and put in prison that would make a better ending for this season.

Ugh

[dinasnyder · 3/10 · 3 November 2018]

This is torturous to watch. Only on the 3rd episode of the final season. Don't know if I can keep my interest to see it through. It just doesn't have the spark or snap of Frank's repartee, his quick wit was what sold us and drew us in. The urgency is gone. Robin is a corpse delivering every line in a single monotone voice acting as if she's above it all leaving us nothing to fear, not keeping the audience at the edge of our couches sucks. I miss Kevin Spacey

Steadily downhill

[justthought · 1/10 · 20 June 2017]

When this series began it was fresh and believable. This season was so far out in left field, I don't know how they can get it back on track. I guess they could use the old Dallas series ploy to explain a lost path of it all being a dream and Claire wakes up and realizes this really did not happen. I understand this is fictional but I do like my fiction at least to be plausible. I don't think "Godfather" had this many characters rubbed out of the picture. Just the reality of what goes on in DC is crazy enough. They proved it during the early seasons of this series that it can be captured. I think the writers are just filling some void they have to either kill the show with the plots or they just don't care anymore. I'm not sure if I will tune in for the next season, if there is one, for fear of things getting more out of kilter. That would be too much on the heels of this dud season.

S5: Solid at best, but too little consequence or challenge in most of the narrative, and it lacks teeth or hooks (SPOILERS)

[bob the moo · 6 July 2017]

Before this season began there was lots of talk about how it could compete with the drama of the real White House, and in many ways it is good that it doesn't really try to one-up reality. Of course there are plenty of links to real life narratives and situations, but generally it doesn't feel that pressure to compete with the 100mph of the news cycle at the moment. The downside of this is that the season seems too settled into a steady pace and familiar aspects. As a viewer I found some comfort in that familiarity, the way I knew the ebb and flow of the scenes, and the usual high production values. However at the same time I couldn't not see that this was a limit too.

The fifth season is solid, but little more than that; and there is plenty about it to dislike. It moves quite slowly and often does little of consequence – or at least of consequence outside of moving to the next plot moment. In this way, the season does have lots of events, but far too many things involve criminal violence of some form; in particular the Underwoods are up to a lot themselves, which breaks the feeling of internal realism that previous seasons sort of sold. It also reduces the shock value of them – which is a problem because some of them are clearly done just for that impact. A lot is done which doesn't last either – and indeed it appears that the whole season is somewhat like that, as so much of what we thought was happening to Frank, was happening because of Frank, and it was only the final few twists at the end of the season that are likely to carry over, the season as a whole didn't do that.

This feeling of lack of consequence is backed up by the parade of characters who serve functions within the narrative, and how easily they are removed etc once that function is complete. It doesn't feel like a complex place that the Underwoods maneuver cleverly within, it actually feels pretty straightforward. The writing makes this more apparent by how effortlessly they are able to make things happen, whether it total surveillance of everyone using only a few people, dispatching people with ease, or just moving around without any care or worry.

The cast, the production values, and the general tone all still make it solid television, but it is not more than this. The fifth season has too slow a pace, but more importantly it doesn't feel like much in it really matters or is difficult. House of Cards was never as smart as it thought it was, but at least it tried to present itself as such – now it feels much more ordinary when really it should be more savagely cutting than ever.

Ends with a Whimper

[Samuel-Shovel · 5/10 · 2 November 2017]

Now that Kevin Spacey is in the headlines regarding sexual assault allegations, there is a real possibility that this maybe the last episode of House of Cards to ever be available on Netflix. Regardless of whether or not HoC has a future, Season 5 ended with a giant shrug. It had none of the intensity of past finales and really felt like the writers had no idea in which direction they wanted to take this. Do they really want Claire as President instead of Frank? Do they want to kill of Durante or Leann? What is Usher's role? None of these questions seem to have answers. I realize that the writers intend to have cliffhangers to draw audiences back into Season 6 but none of it really feels planned out, almost as if they decided "Ehhh we'll figure it out later."

So many subplots from this season either were pointless or just kind of tapered off. Seth's indecision on whether to stay in the White House or make a deal with the reporter didn't go anywhere. I couldn't care less about Tom's character arc in this one. The entire thing with Aidan is still muddled and confusing. I'm sure there's plenty I've also forgotten about. Season 5 just felt unfocused.

After the first few episodes of this season, I was really excited. I believed we were in store for one of the better seasons to date but as time wore on, I realized this clearly wasn't the case. As far as television goes, House of Cards is still better than a lot of other things currently on the air, but Season 5 maybe the new low point as far as I'm concerned.

Hanging on by its Fingernails

[tremolay · 3/10 · 4 June 2017]

HoC started off wonderfully. I will go as far as saying I stuck with it enjoying each episode all the way through season 4. However, this show is now a prime example of how a network can keep a show in play after it's prime. Season 5 could have been a wonderful final stand for the Underwood's, but instead the audience is left with ridiculousness and an eye rolling cliff hanger.

-

[weipengrui · 3/10 · 25 July 2017]

Based on my ratings you probably already know my opinions on this finale, same as many other reviewers. I just want to point out that the way Leann Harvey and Catherine Durant died is beyond ridiculous. Leann was driving a Porsche and some old Jeep can just catch up, a simple acceleration the Porsche would be long gone. Also, any licensed driver knows not to look in the mirror when the car behind has high beam on. Now on to Catherine Durant, none of the cameras caught the action? Like really? The most secure building in the world and a whole gigantic stair case has no one or camera watching...

Besides that, Tom Yates has no business what so ever in this season. He has turned into the type of character to fill in time when ever the episode is a few minutes short.

All in all, this season (and recent ones) lacks creativity, all the foreign problems are China Russia China Russia and Syria, how stereotypical can you get? As far as the Congress goes, all I can take from it is who ever yells the loudest wins.

House of Cards - it's over :(

[andre73 · 1/10 · 3 June 2017]

well season 5 was the worst yet. ridiculous all the way to the final episode (13). I'm not sure if it's just the underwood's being sloppy or if the writers have had enough and taking the mickey from the audience. either way, it's not worth my time any longer. at first (first few seasons) I could imagine some the the political machinations could be plausible, but come season 4 (and 5) and i'm thinking that if a someone else wrote the story for an upcoming tvshow, it wouldn't see the light of day. sorry Kevin and Robin you are awesome always - as is the cast. sorry about the material this season. ridiculous

Off the rails

[teatag · 1/10 · 31 May 2017]

HoC's descent into the bizarre began in season 4. Sure, there were plenty of far-fetched developments in earlier seasons, but season 4 took the proverbial cake. Season 5 opened with more of the same. I'm about to bail on this once-engrossing tale of psychopathic political chicanery, just as I bailed on "24" a season or two before it was put out of its misery. Should I stick around until the end, just because I've already watched 4 seasons? Sunk costs are sunk. And there's a high opportunity cost attached to HoC, given the large number of good shows that are in my Netflix and Amazon Video queues.