Chapter 1 (House of Cards)
However, before Walker is sworn in, Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez (Sakina Jaffrey) announces that the president will not honor the agreement and will instead nominate Senator Michael Kern.
Furious at Walker's betrayal, Underwood and his wife Claire (Robin Wright), an environmental activist, make a pact to destroy Kern.
Francis "Frank" Underwood (Kevin Spacey), a U.S. congressman and Democratic Majority Whip, leaves his Washington, D.C. residence after hearing his neighbors’ dog get hit by a car.
Frank and his wife, Claire (Robin Wright), go on to attend a New Year's Eve party in honor of President-elect Garrett Walker (Michel Gill).
Despite his assurances to Linda that he will remain Walker's ally, Frank feels personally betrayed and, with help from Claire and Chief of Staff Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly), formulates a plot for revenge.
Stamper finds out about the arrest and immediately contacts the D.C. police commissioner, offering Underwood's support for his mayoral campaign in exchange for releasing Russo.
Russo is picked up from jail by his secretary and romantic partner, Christina Gallagher (Kristen Connolly), and falsely tells her that he was alone when he was arrested.
Frank meets with Donald Blythe (Reed Birney), a progressive congressman with whom the Walker Administration wants to work on an education bill.
The episode ends the morning after Walker's inauguration, with Frank visiting his favorite restaurant, Freddy's BBQ Joint, for breakfast.
The episode was directed by David Fincher[2] and was written by Beau Willimon,[3] who has served as an aide to Charles Schumer, Howard Dean and Hillary Clinton.
[4] As he was completing his work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fincher was introduced to the original miniseries by his agent and sought to develop a series with Eric Roth.
Netflix, interested in launching their own original programming, outbid the networks, picking the series up for 26 episodes, totaling two seasons.
The fictional newspaper, The Washington Herald, is set with "brutal" lighting and drab furniture, in part because it was filmed at the real life offices of The Baltimore Sun.
Carr uses several pejorative adjectives to describe Barnes' apartment including sad, grubby, dirty, dreary and humble but note that this implies that the digital revolution is dominated by people "on laptops who have no furniture".
[16] The debut date was a weekend when there was little competition on television other than Super Bowl XLVII and a new episode of Downton Abbey on PBS.
[1] Time television critic James Poniewozik, notes that by the end of the first episode Frank establishes that his metaphor of choice is meat because both literally and figuratively it is his preference.
One bite at a time"; and he endures a tedious weekly meeting with House leaders, he tells us, by "[imagining] their lightly salted faces frying in a skillet.
"[25] Nancy deWolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal describes what she sees of their relationship in the first two episodes as pivotal to the show's success: "Benign though they may seem – and their harmless air is what makes the Underwoods so effective as political plotters – this is a power couple with the same malignant chemistry as pairs of serial killers, where each needs the other in order to become lethal".
[26] After viewing the first two episodes, Stuever also finds fault with the use of breaking the fourth wall, describing it as "the show's unwise narrative trope".
Club notes Russo seems to employ vices without restraint, which is a respite from the other exacting characters in the episode and a makes him a sort of metaphor for the show.
[28] McGee also notes that the episode includes "establishing shots within Zoe's apartment that offer up almost everything you need to know about her current position in life".
