- Jossed
- Similarly, in season 2, Frank will get a PS4.
- He would have, had the Secret Service not cut his internet.
- Pennsylvania isn't a guaranteed Democratic state in Real Life either, though. Even though it's consistently gone to the Democrats since 1992, it's been fought for each time and could be swayed by a strong challenger. A bit like North Carolina for the other side.
- This WMG actually fits quite well with the one below—well, the "Clinton—Bush—McCain" version, anyway.
- Here's one theory: the point of divergence between the House of Cards timeline and ours is that Al Gore won the 2000 presidential election instead of Bush, due to the voting machine discrepancy never happening. Gore then either served one term and was followed by a two-term Republican, or served two terms and was followed by a one-term Republican. This may also account for the Democrats' much more centrist stance in the show, as Gore's victory and the absence of the Bush Administration means that the DLC faction of the Democratic Party is still dominant.
- There is reference to Catherine Durant being "vocally anti-war" which means that while there may have been a different President than Bush in office, 9/11 still happened as it did in real life, and the War on Terror unfolded similarly to how it did in real life. For the record, invading Afghanistan would have been a no-brainer after 9/11 regardless of who was President at the time, but it's hard to believe that Al Gore would invade Iraq after that.
- In fact, we know 9/11 DID happen in the House of Cards timeline. In season 4, Will Conway mentioned that he enlisted with the Air Force literally the day after 9/11 happened.
- There is reference to Catherine Durant being "vocally anti-war" which means that while there may have been a different President than Bush in office, 9/11 still happened as it did in real life, and the War on Terror unfolded similarly to how it did in real life. For the record, invading Afghanistan would have been a no-brainer after 9/11 regardless of who was President at the time, but it's hard to believe that Al Gore would invade Iraq after that.
- At one point, the show refers to a "Bush Senior" (implying that there is a junior as well) and the Republicans control the Senate.
- Alternatively, "Bush Senior" is Prescott Bush (H.W. Bush's father) and the point of divergence from our own time is even further back.
- It can't be Prescott Bush. The reference to Bush, Sr takes place in 1992, meaning it's referring to George H. W. Bush. Prescott Bush died in 1972, and there are references to the presidencies of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
- Perhaps the inferred "Bush Junior" is Walker's immediate predecessor as President. It doesn't necessarily have to be George W. Bush either — it could be Jeb Bush, succeeding in 2004/2008 where his brother failed in 2000. Another possibility is that John McCain was the Republican candidate in 2000 in this timeline, who lost to Gore, freeing up either Bush brother to succeed Gore later.
- Alternatively, "Bush Senior" is Prescott Bush (H.W. Bush's father) and the point of divergence from our own time is even further back.
- I think the safest point of departure would be the 2008 election. Perhaps in the House of Cards timeline, the electorate weren't confident that the Democrats who were backing Barack Obama would get them out of the economic slump and went with John McCain, and the Democrats lost the House. Things were then very similar to what happened in our timeline until 2012, when Walker was elected.
- I personally thought that "Bush Jr." was George W. Bush and his presidency still happened (since George H.W. Bush is referred to as Bush Sr.), and another fictional Republican filled in the gap between the end of Bush's presidency and the start of Walker's presidency, as it is hinted that the Democrats finally get back into power when the show starts. I don't think McCain, Hillary or Obama were that interim President from 2009-2013, as none of them are in Congress and aren't even mentioned or shown, so I think the government probably transitioned from reality to fiction (with the obvious exceptions of Frank, and other fictional characters in Congress for past years/decades like Jackie Sharp, Heather Dunbar, Doug Stamper, Bob Birch, Hector Mendoza and whatnot) around 2009.
- A major plot element in Season 3 is dealing with reducing tensions between Israel and Palestine, and no massive ongoing quagmires in Iraq or Afghanistan are mentioned. Maybe just trying to keep things tidy, but might also be a sign that there is no conflict in Afghanistan or Iraq.
- Of course if Al Gore had won then there would still be a Bush Jr., even if he wasn't President.
- Apropos? Most definitely! (Especially if there are two "between season" comedy episodes, in addition. In a word: Jokers!)
- Also appropriate in that each season takes approximately one year, and if the Underwoods lose in 2016, it would coincide with the end of the fourth season.
- Unlikely. Claire is a wealthy Texas socialite, and it is even occasionally hinted that Frank married her for her family's money.
- Semi-Jossed for them both. Neither of them are really antagonistic, the hacktivist just trying to stay free and Rachel just trying to not get killed to protect a secret she has no interest in revealing.
- Turns out Doug isn't dead after all.
- Given the ending of the original version of House of Cards, I'd say that Frank's end will be getting shot by a sniper during the unveiling of a memorial.
- Jossed for season 3, which has a major theme of him trying to secure re-election, and ends with him winning the Iowa Caucus.
- Confirmed as of Season 3: the first episode chronicles his physical therapy after the attack.
- Jossed for Season 3, Walker does not appear and is barely mentioned throughout the season.
- More likely for season four, in fitting with the fact that that's the next major election cycle (2016), and at thirteen episodes per season, we get 52- the same as a set of cards
The Washington Herald in House of Cards is obviously a stand-in for The Washington Post. In real life, there was a paper called The Washington Herald that operated from 1906 to 1939. William Randolph Hearst, who already owned The Washington Times, took over the Herald in November 1922. Though he consolidated the operations of the papers, they still published separately except for a joint Sunday edition, which is how they worked until 1939 when they merged to become The Washington Times-Herald. Then the combined paper was bought out and consolidated into The Washington Post in 1954.
Perhaps in the House of Cards universe, The Washington Herald that Zoe Barnes starts off the series working at is the original Washington Herald that Scott C. Bone founded in 1906. Its history is unchanged until 1954. The merger of The Washington Post and The Washington Times-Herald was instead a reverse merger (think similar to the one where US Airways was merged into America West Airlines, and while America West's management continued, the US Airways name was one that was adapted and which was used until the company was merged with American Airlines), wherein the Times-Herald and Post were consolidated, but the Herald name was the one that survived.
What I'm getting at is that I think that, besides the political subplots that happen in House of Cards, the real events of Washington politics also happened, albeit slightly rewritten (we don't know what Frank's stand on gay marriage is, or his stand on gun control, among other things).
- Except Frank didn't lose the nomination to Dunbar — in fact, he won the Iowa caucus, meaning that right now he's ahead of her. While it's not out of the question that he'll end up lagging behind later in the race and then resort to extreme methods, right now it's not necessary.
- Jossed. It's not a terror attack, but an assassination attempt on Frank's life.
- Although there IS a terror attack in the last two episodes, where the Islamic Organization Caliphate kills an American citizen.
It wouldn't surprise me if at some point in Season 4, Doug finds out Frank has been having him closely monitored ever since their meeting in the Oval Office when Doug burned the journal.
I'd also bet that Claire was right, and Doug actually did make a backup copy of that journal as insurance, just in case his meeting with Frank didn't go as smoothly as he hoped. Doug may be blindly loyal when it comes to Frank, but the man isn't stupid and considering the role he played in Peter Russo's and Zoe Barnes's deaths, Doug has seen first hand the lengths Frank is willing to go to when someone presents themselves as a threat.
- Her sudden appetite. At the end of Chapter 28, she claims she is not hungry, and then almost throws up before making some not some great looking eggs in a hurry.
- Up and down emotions, and mood swings, a big change from her usual self.
- In later episodes, we mostly see her around kids reading to the group of young kids and the mother with the young child. The mother mentions to her having a husband cheating and being stuck to him due to having a child with him- which is referenced about Claire's marriage to Frank.
- In Chapter 39, there's a scene where Claire lights a cigarette, but if you watch closely, she never actually smokes it.
- There's a shot of Claire facing off with Petrov. They're big rivals, so.
- There's a shot of a woman sitting on Frank. Many think it's Zoe Barnes because of her height, body, and the clothes she wears resembles something of Zoe. Possibly a vision or another woman who reminds him of her.
- It's Frank having a hallucination.
- A shot of the actor who played Augustus Underwood in that Civil War reenactment scene in season 2. So he either comes back for another reenactment or he's either joined the Anti-Frank and will attempt an assassination on him or is joining Team Frank.
- There's a shot of a crowd panicking and taking cover. It looks like it could be an assassination attempt, since the only people standing appear to be Secret Service agents.
- It's the crowd scattering after Lucas Goodwin attempts to assassinate Frank, only succeeding in wounding Frank and killing Meechum.
- There's a shot in which we see Claire's reflection while someone else attacks Frank. Assuming this could be either Meechum or someone else within the Secret Service detail because that would be impossible to happen with a regular person since he's the President.
- It's Frank hallucinating being attacked by the ghosts of Zoe Barnes and Peter Russo in the Oval Office while he's undergoing surgery
- Doug attacks someone and throws them to the floor. I think most have said the person Doug is attacking is the Underwoods' former PR guy Connor Ellis, but it looks more like the guy being attacked is Michael Kern. Kern would be another loop from the old days. He was the first person Frank tore down, and of course with the Walker stuff. He could have information or be suspecting something and Doug acts quickly.
- It's Seth Grayson, and Doug is attacking him for leaking a photo of Frank's father posing with KKK members and another one of him with the Civil War reenactor.
- There's a shot of Lucas Goodwin in prison, so he's back in the picture. Perhaps he's conspiring with a cellmate who's about to be released, or maybe it's someone undercover to stop Lucas or maybe against Frank. Or possibly someone hired by Frank through Doug to kill Lucas in prison.
- That's Lucas talking with the Armenian cellmate
- In one shot, we see Heather Dunbar looking out a window with her staff appearing to be questioned by police or Secret Service. Maybe a scheme to end her campaign.
- Her staff are being questioned about a meeting she had with Lucas Goodwin.
Watching Tom Hammerschmidt's plotline in the second half of season 4, part of me wondered, why is Hammerschmidt focused on exposing Frank's corruption as opposed to linking him to Russo and Zoe Barnes' deaths? In Chapter 49, when Heather Dunbar visits Hammerschmidt at his house, and he lets her in on what he's been doing. As they are talking it over, she says "I don't think Frank's a murderer," and Hammerschmidt agrees.
However, that's assuming that Hammerschmidt was being honest when he says he doesn't believe Frank could have killed anyone. Reporters are like police detectives - sometimes they'll lie to get someone to say things they wouldn't normally say. An example of this is in Chapter 51 when Hammerschmidt pays a visit to Garrett Walker. The dialogue seems to imply that Hammerschmidt had to lie to Walker on the phone about the purpose of his visit in order to secure an interview time. Given that, part of me thinks Hammerschmidt very much suspects Frank killed Zoe and Russo (or at the very least hired assassins to kill them, if not just his part in the cover-up). He just can't go public with that for a few reasons:
- If debunked Clinton "death list" conspiracy theories have shown us anything, it's that the idea of the President of the United States being a murderer is tin foil hat material. And Hammerschmidt would know that. So he's choosing to not 'publicly' pursue that portion of the story. Instead he's wisely choosing to go after the "corruption in the White House" angle, because that's more acceptable, and probably a lot easier for the public to believe.
- Hammerschmidt's reputation is only just on the mend, especially since he went freelance after he left the Herald and only returned to the Herald for backing when he knew he was on the verge of breaking the story. To go public on "Frank Underwood is a murderer" without credible sources to back him up would probably be career suicide.
At the end of season 5, Claire is now President and addresses the audience for the first time, saying "it's my turn." This has been her true game ever since Frank took over and perhaps more than that. Everything that's been done has been part of Claire's calculated plot to become the first female President. She knew the lengths Frank would go to and also knew of the mistakes he'd make that could force him out of office. She manipulated him into seeing her as running mate being the only office for his own survival, not just her own and has been pulling the strings to ensure his fall came. Season 6 will have her explain things, with flashbacks, to reveal that while Frank thought he was in control, in truth, he was nothing more than a pawn to Claire in her plot to become President and thus reveal she is the true mastermind of the show.
The show's order of presidents corresponds to Real Life up until George W. Bush, and since Walker is a Democrat elected in 2012, we can assume that the 44th president in the show's universe was a Republican (let's assume John McCain, to keep things corresponding to real-life). So how did McCain win in the show's timeline, despite Bush's massive unpopularity (and thus the unpopularity of the Republican party as a whole at the time) and Barack Obama being a young, charismatic, and exciting figure promising the "hope and change" that American craved at the time? Simple, Obama wasn't the nominee, for one reason or another, and neither was Hillary Clinton; rather it was Edwards, who presumably would have been the frontrunner without Obama and Clinton in the race and whose anti-poverty populist rhetoric would strike a chord due to the looming financial crisis. McCain managed a victory due to the massive controversy regarding Edwards' extramarital affair that came to light after he won the nomination (this was what derailed his candidacy in real life as well). McCain goes onto largely continue the policies of Bush (as he presumably would have done if he'd won in real life), and gets defeated in 2012 by Garret Walker, the exciting figure in the show's timeline that Obama was in ours. This being the point of divergence also explains why the Democrats still have control over Congress at the beginning of the show, when Walker assumes the presidency.
Because are they really going to have the show end in The Bad Guy Wins after the lengthy and numerous trials and tribulations of those who the Underwoods screwed over? Crapsack World as it might be, is it really going to end in a Downer Ending, or is it more compelling to have the dogged heroic side Earn Your Happy Ending by pulling together to finally bring the Underwoods down after all they have cost?
Conversely, it is entirely in character for the show to end up with The Bad Guy Wins. It's depressing, sure, but all the Underwood's innumerable victories still haven't driven voters away with Too Bleak, Stopped Caring — and if anything, the Bile Fascination of Rooting for the Empire has only increased. And on a meta level, would the show really follow up Kevin Spacey's firing over sexual misconduct allegations by torpedoing the female Villain Protagonist after just one season of unambiguously holding the spotlight?
