House of Cards: Fear and familiarity as Frank and Claire return

There's an undercurrent of fear in House of Cards' fifth season, just as there seems to be in the real world right now.

Kevin Spacey stars as Frank Underwood in House of Cards. Picture: Contributed

“Fear is un-American. You have nothing to be afraid of,” Kevin Spacey’s formidable President Francis J Underwood assures his people.

But as we all know by now, they do have something to fear: him.

A dramatic start to the latest series of Netflix’s political smash hit lands the viewer in familiar territory: terror threats, cyber attacks, tightened immigration policies and a president who pays little attention to the rules.

“I don’t care,” Frank Underwood shouts, as he breaks protocol in Congress within the first four minutes of season five’s opener.

Last year we left him dealing with the fallout of Tom Hammerschmidt’s revealing article in the Washington Herald.

In true Underwood style, his reaction was shocking and self-serving - he decided to stand back and allow the execution of American hostage James Miller, in order to then wage war on the terrorist group responsible, ICO.

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Now, Frank has Miller’s angry and distrustful family to deal with, not to mention tricky presidential opponent, Will Conway, and a dangerous terrorist on the run. And, of course, that pesky article and the consequent official investigation haven’t conveniently evaporated either.

The first two episodes are exhaustingly chaotic. But, as always, this chaos is (for the most part) carefully calculated, and Frank Underwood is the puppet master.

As always, Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) is by her husband’s side throughout, despite their increasingly strange and strained relationship.

Her love interest, speechwriter Tom Yates (Paul Sparks), is still very much in the picture, and the First Lady seems torn between both men, while still being consumed by her aim of becoming Frank’s Vice President.

Data scientist Aidan Macallan plays a key role in the latest series - using his NSA links to carry out a cyber attack that, in reality, Frank is orchestrating from behind the scenes.

Other returning characters - such as Chief of Staff Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly), investigative reporter Tom Hammerschmidt (Boris McGiver), and Secretary of State Catherine Durant (Jayne Atkinson) - provide strong supporting performances, as always, but aren’t initially given their own individual storylines.

An exception to this rule is Press Secretary Seth Grayson (played by Derek Cecil), who quickly turns classified White House intel into potential means for throwing colleague and longtime adversary Stamper under the bus.

For the most part, though, the president’s storyline is the most important, and we stay glued to Frank’s side in the early episodes.

Stepping back into the Underwoods’ White House feels familiar, but it’s clear that the show’s creators have gone to great lengths to avoid using the same old tricks and tropes.

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Frank no longer raps his class ring authoritatively on his Oval Office desk - too predictable.

Claire looks straight to camera in the opening few seconds of season five, but - we quickly learn - she is broadcasting live to the nation, not looking at us.

When someone does finally break the fourth wall, it is 45 minutes into the first episode, and it is Frank, of course.

As always, he uses this intimate connection with the viewer to reveal his true character - and it is as ugly and ruthless as it as always been.

“And I thought you knew me,” Frank spits at us with a sardonic smirk.

All we really know is that, even four years in, House of Cards and its infamous protagonist are as unpredictable as ever.

• Season five of House of Cards is available to stream in full on Netflix now