Is it just me, or were the two halves on House of Cards remarkably different this season? What started as a season about the election trail took a dark turn. There are spoilers ahead for House of Cards Season 4 Episode 13. Why did Frank declare war on House of Cards ? The season finale of the Netflix series ended with the President declaring war on terrorism, but there's more to it than that.
Towards the end of the season, fictional terrorist organization called the Islamic Caliphate Organization arrived on the scene and become a point of conflict. ICO was actively recruiting American citizens and involved the federal government in a dangerous hostage situation.
The short answer, in my opinion? He did it for fun. Frank Underwood is declaring war just for the Hell of it, because of course he is. Sure, ICO is a real threat in this world. Sure, Claire's negotiations with Yusuf Al Ahmadi did not go as planned. However, the real reason he declared war is because he's about to be outed as a corrupt murderer anyway, so why not. Tom Hammerschmidt is running his story with Frank Underwood's many crimes and corruptions — including the murders of Peter Russo and Zoe Barnes — and so Frank and Claire decided to fight the truth with chaos, fear, and distracting the American public with a war instead of their own scandal. That means invading the Middle East, and basically tanking the US Government on their way out. Fun! Even Secretary of State Cathy Durant agrees with my theory about the true motivation behind these military actions, and asked him if these military strikes were simply a response to an article.
Honestly, I'm excited about House of Cards Season 5 even more than I enjoyed Season 4 because of this development. I find some sick pleasure in Frank and Claire using their powers of manipulation for pure evil. This show has dealt with a lot of political "what ifs" that seemingly never could happen in real life, and they are taking an even darker turn. (The fact that Claire broke the fourth wall with her eyes in the final shot doesn't hurt my excitement either.)
"We don't submit to terror," Frank said in the final scene. "We make the terror." They are the ones who knock. Okay, Underwoods. Enjoy your $7.00/gallon gas prices and inevitable fall from grace.
Images: David Giesbrecht/Netflix (2)
