Robin Wright as Claire Underwood, Frank Underwood's wife and the CEO of the Clean Water Initiative, a non-profit organization devoted to environmental awareness.
Kate Mara as Zoe Barnes, an ambitious young journalist working for the Washington Herald and eventual lover of Frank Underwood.
Francis "Frank" Underwood is an ambitious Democratic congressman and the House Majority Whip. Frank helped ensure the 2012 election of President Garrett Walker, who promised to appoint him as Secretary of State. However, before Walker is sworn in, Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez discloses that Walker will instead nominate Senator Michael Kern. Linda informs Frank that their administration requires his help from within the House of Representatives, starting with working on an education reform bill with Rep. Donald Blythe. Furious at Walker's betrayal, Frank and his wife Claire (an environmental activist) make a pact to destroy Walker, starting with Kern. Frank starts seeking out pawns in his war against Walker. When the troubled Rep. Peter Russo is arrested for driving drunk with Rachel Posner, a prostitute, in the car with him, Frank offers him a reprieve in exchange for his loyalty, covering up the incident by bribing the police commissioner. Frank also encounters Zoe Barnes, a young political reporter for the Washington Herald newspaper. The two come to an agreement in which Frank will leak inside information to incriminate his opponents, while Zoe advances her career by publishing it. Frank leaks a copy of the first draft of Blythe's education bill, which proposes massive increases in government control of education, promptly causing a scandal the very first day after Walker's inauguration.
In the aftermath of the leak of the education bill, Frank secures full control of the legislative course from the President and promptly removes Blythe, who graciously takes the fall for the controversy. Frank hires a team of young congressional staffers to write a draft of the bill in a week (a process which would usually take months). Claire decides to lay off more than half of the staff at her environmental non-profit, the Clean Water Initiative (CWI), in order to proceed with a costly international expansion despite losing a major donation which had been contingent on Frank becoming Secretary of State. Via Zoe, Frank plants a story that loosely ties Kern to an anti-Israeli editorial column that ran in his college newspaper while Kern was editor. Kern mishandles the resulting media scrutiny. Frank forcefully arranges for Russo to meet conspiracy theorist Roy Kapeniak, who wrote for the column in question, and convince him to go on the record and state that Kern himself wrote the article, destroying Kern's confirmation chances. Frank then tosses Catherine Durant's name to Zoe as a likely replacement before reinforcing her credentials with Linda.
In the midst of negotiating the education reforms with the teachers' unions, Frank must visit his hometown of Gaffney, South Carolina, when his main local opponent stirs trouble. A young woman has been killed in a car accident after texting while driving, apparently distracted by the peach-shaped water tower which Frank had advocated to keep standing. His rival encourages the parents to sue, forcing Frank into a difficult negotiation. Claire meets and hires a hesitant Gillian Cole, another environmental activist, to employ her international expertise. Russo makes an effort to clean up his life in order to maintain his relationship with his girlfriend, Christina Gallagher, who is also his chief of staff. Zoe gets into trouble for talking on national television about the Herald and her editor, Tom Hammerschmidt, after being told not to.
Frank resorts to intricate string-pulling when House Speaker Bob Birch refuses to support the education bill with its controversial amendments, organizing a coup against Birch using House Majority Leader David Rasmussen in order to pressure Birch to cooperate. He ensures Rep. Terry Womack's support for the coup by forcing Russo to allow a shipyard in his district to close in order to keep a military base in Womack's district open. Birch relents and Womack replaces Rasmussen as majority leader. Meanwhile, Tom is exasperated with Zoe's rebelliousness but the Herald's publisher supports her. Tom offers Zoe the position of White House correspondent and she indicates acceptance, but Frank convinces her to decline it, which further antagonizes Tom. Remy Danton, a lobbyist and former employee of Frank's, offers Claire double the donation previously promised to CWI, which would allow them to hire back the staff they laid off. However, Frank pressures Claire to refuse it, suspicious of Remy's motives. Claire meets with photographer Adam Galloway, a former lover who tries to rekindle their relationship. Zoe invites Frank to her apartment for an intimate encounter.
Claire is aware that Frank is having sexual relations with Zoe, but goes along with it as long as it achieves their goals — this, however, rejuvenates her interest in Adam. The changes to the education bill lead to an irate meeting between Frank and Marty Spinella, the lobbyist for the teachers' union, who vows to fight back. The fallout from being forced to allow the shipyard to close and breaking up with Christina sends Russo into a depression, causing an inebriated Russo to confront Frank at his home. Frank forcefully berates Russo's drinking and immaturity, then confides that he has set the stage for Russo to run for governor of Pennsylvania if he can clean up his act. Tom fires Zoe and is in turn forced to resign for profanely insulting her. Frank and Claire foil Spinella's televised attempt to disrupt their fundraising event with a charm offensive. In retaliation, Spinella initiates a nationwide teachers' strike.
As the teachers' union strike persists, President Walker instructs Frank to water down the bill. Frank decides he has to achieve total victory over Spinella or he will lose all of his influence with the President. A brick thrown through a window of Frank's home allows him to target Spinella, and the pair debate on CNN with Frank performing poorly. Frank barely manages to keep Walker from forcing him to abandon the bill. A cleaned-up Russo informs Frank that he will accept Frank's help and run for governor. Frank sets the wheels in motion by enlisting Claire's help to draft an environmental bill that will help CWI and also replace some of the jobs lost with the shipyard closure. Monitoring the police radio, Frank uses a local shooting to force Spinella to the Capitol, provokes Spinella into a rage (by revealing that Frank organized the brick incident himself) resulting in Spinella punching him in the face. Frank advises Spinella to end the strike immediately or else face felony charges.
Walker signs the education bill into law, earning Frank a major victory and affording him influence and favor. Vice President Jim Matthews feels sidelined and expresses discontent with Walker. Russo readies himself for the governor's race by attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Via Zoe, Frank generates some positive spin on the announcement. He meets with Christina and requests she reconcile with Russo and become his deputy campaign manager, reigniting her personal relationship with Russo. Meanwhile, Rachel Posner attempts to blackmail Frank's chief of staff, Doug Stamper, for financial assistance. In preparation for his nomination, Russo is grilled by one of Frank's team about his past misbehavior, making him very uneasy. Doug, like Russo, is revealed to be attending AA meetings regularly. Zoe recommends Janine Skorsky for a job at the news website Slugline.
8
8
"Chapter 8"
Charles McDougall
Beau Willimon
February 1, 2013 (2013-02-01)
HOC-108
Frank visits his alma mater, a military college, which is honoring him by putting his name on a new library. He spends the night reminiscing and drinking with old buddies, including one who is implied to be his former lover. Remy has concerns about Russo running for governor. Russo visits Philadelphia and tries to convince the former shipyard employees to support him. An angry meeting with them reveals an uphill struggle ahead, but he perseveres.
9
9
"Chapter 9"
James Foley
Beau Willimon and Rick Cleveland
February 1, 2013 (2013-02-01)
HOC-109
Russo goes on a bus tour around Pennsylvania with Vice President Matthews for support. Matthews initially thwarts Russo's campaign but Russo eventually wins his respect. Frank tries to whip support in Congress for the environmental bill. Walker requests Linda to assist him, but Frank instructs her to instead attend to her son's college admission issue in which he is being refused entry. Frank requests Claire to present a justification for the large financial commitment, but she causes the bill to fail in exchange for assistance for CWI from Remy. Zoe decides to terminate her sexual relationship with Frank but changes her mind when he withdraws the professional aspect as well.
Frank is furious with Claire for engineering the environment bill's failure. Claire visits Zoe and informs her that she knows about Frank's affair. She then spends some time with Adam in New York, to Frank's consternation. With the environment bill defeated, Russo demands an alternative and threatens to reveal the conspiracy that brought down Senator Kern. Frank in turn decides to destroy Russo; Stamper enlists Rachel to pick up Russo at a fundraiser and get him drunk. An inebriated Russo makes a mess of a live radio interview, destroying his candidacy. Frank does a favor for Linda by having Gillian Cole recommend her son's college admission. Zoe approaches her former colleague Lucas Goodwin for intimacy.
11
11
"Chapter 11"
Carl Franklin
Keith Huff and Kate Barnow and Beau Willimon
February 1, 2013 (2013-02-01)
HOC-111
Frank convinces Vice President Matthews to give up his office and run for governor of Pennsylvania in Russo's place. Linda asks Frank candidly if his ambition is to become Vice President himself; he admits it and reaches out to her as an ally. After attempting to reconnect with his children, a still-drunk Russo hands himself in to the police for the previous DUI for which he was not charged. Frank picks him up from jail and, recognizing Russo to be too great a liability, kills Russo in his car by carbon monoxide poisoning, making it look like suicide.
With Matthews about to win the governor's race, Frank is helping the White House vet candidates to replace him. Walker sends him to evaluate Raymond Tusk, a billionaire who lives modestly in St. Louis. Frank discovers deeper connections between Walker and Tusk, and realizes that it is actually Tusk who is vetting him. Tusk offers to recommend Frank in return for an unspecified favor but Frank refuses. Gillian obstructs SanCorp's media presence at CWI's establishment in Botswana, resulting in Claire firing her. Janine investigates the Philadelphia shipyard closure in connection with Russo's apparent suicide and enlists Zoe's help with the political aspect.
13
13
"Chapter 13"
Allen Coulter
Beau Willimon
February 1, 2013 (2013-02-01)
HOC-113
Frank attempts to leverage Tusk by requesting Remy to compromise Tusk's nuclear industry assets, but Tusk purchases enough of SanCorp's stock to defuse any threat. Tusk again attempts to secure Frank's loyalty in relation to international trade tariffs, particularly Chinese-controlled raw materials for his nuclear reactors. Frank wins his respect by offering only to work pragmatically with future developments. Walker offers Frank the vice presidency, and he accepts. Gillian initiates a wrongful termination lawsuit against Claire. Claire ponders with Frank the point of their plans, and then consults a doctor about possible fertility treatment. Zoe, Janine and Lucas uncover Russo's uncharged DUI, Rachel's identity and Stamper's involvement.
Reception
Critical response
The first season received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the season received a weighted mean score of 76 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, which translates to "generally positive reception."[2][3] On Rotten Tomatoes, the season received a score of 87% with an average rating of 8.1 out of 10 based on 47 reviews; the site's consensus reads, "Bolstered by strong performances — especially from Kevin Spacey — and surehanded direction, House of Cards is a slick, engrossing drama that may redefine how television is produced."[4]USA Today critic Robert Bianco praised the series, particularly Spacey and Wright's lead performances, stating "If you think network executives are nervous, imagine the actors who have to go up against that pair in the Emmys."[5] Tom Gilatto of People Weekly lauded the first two episodes, calling them "cinematically rich, full of sleek, oily pools of darkness."[2] In her review for The Denver Post, Joanne Ostrow said the series is "Deeply cynical about human beings as well as politics and almost gleeful in its portrayal of limitless ambition." She added: "House of Cards is a wonderfully sour take on power and corruption."[6]
The first season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on June 11, 2013,[30] in region 2 on June 10, 2013,[31] and in region 4 on June 27, 2013.[32]
Director's commentaries for all of the first-season episodes premiered on Netflix on January 3, 2014. They had not been included on the home video release.[33]
