The latest trailer for Netflix’s House of Cards season 6 - the final season - makes clear that President Claire Underwood won’t be pushed around. While the final season of any series as acclaimed as House of Cards is sure to be highly anticipated, the fan sentiment going into season 6 can perhaps best be described as bittersweet. For five seasons, Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey enthralled viewers with lead character Frank Underwood, an ambitious politician willing to resort to any means to accomplish his goals. While Frank was by all accounts a person it would be awful to know in real life, in the realm of fiction, he made for a darkly enjoyable villain protagonist.
Sadly, House of Cards season 6 moves on without Frank, and will - as confirmed via a prior teaser - kill the manipulative murderer off. While the character of Frank will be missed, Netflix can’t be blamed for his departure. The fault for that can solely be laid at the feet of Spacey, one of the first powerful Hollywood men to be accused of multiple sexual crimes in the early days of the ongoing #MeToo movement. Considering that Spacey was even of accused of misconduct by the House of Cards crew, there was absolutely no way he could be allowed to reprise his role for even a single season 6 episode.
The drama surrounding Frank and Spacey aside, the show must go on, in this case for one more season. With Frank dead and buried, Claire (Robin Wright, elevated to the leading role) must now continue the presidency she began after Frank abruptly resigned at the end of season 5. Netflix has released a new trailer for House of Cards’ final season, and it showcases that while Washington, D.C. remains full of dangerous people, Claire may well be the most formidable player in the political game. Check it out below.
As Claire points out to more than one person in the trailer above, now that she’s in office, any backroom deals and shady agreements made by her deceased husband are null and void. That obviously isn’t going to sit well with those who thought they had the Underwoods in their back pocket. As can be seen near the end of the trailer, someone even takes a shot at Claire’s presidential motorcade. On the other hand, Claire’s aptitude for evil has always been a lot less obvious to others than the often bombastic Frank, and it’s likely she’ll inflict some dire consequences on those who choose to oppose her.
One other interesting plot point clarified in the above trailer is that season 6 takes place very soon after season 5. Some had wondered whether there would be a slight time jump to accommodate for Frank’s unexpected demise, but as Claire says in her opening speech, she’s still in her first 100 days as president. That means Frank must have died quite suddenly, as he appeared healthy enough at the end of season 5. The marketing so far has gone out of its way not to confirm how Frank’s life ended, so it’ll be interesting to finally learn what the circumstances were, and whether or not Claire had anything to do with it. After all, it’s not like she hasn’t killed before.
More: House of Cards Season 6: Every Update You Need to Know
House of Cards season 6 premieres November 2 on Netflix.
Source: Netflix