| Season Number: | 3 |
| Bgcolour: |
|
| Showrunner: | Beau Willimon |
| Network: | Netflix |
| Num Episodes: | 13 |
| Episode List: | List of House of Cards episodes |
The third season of the American television drama series House of Cards was commissioned on February 4, 2014. Netflix released the season in its entirety on February 27, 2015. The season was filmed from approximately June 12 through December 20, 2014.
The season was recognized with numerous award nominations. Kevin Spacey won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards for his portrayal of Frank Underwood and Reg E. Cathey won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series at the 67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Freddy Hayes.
Several months into his presidency, president Frank Underwood pushes for a controversial jobs program called America Works. Determined not to be a "placeholder" President, Underwood reverses his previous pledge and runs in the 2016 election, competing against Heather Dunbar in the Democratic primaries.
Meanwhile, Claire is named the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and faces a crisis in the Jordan Valley, which pits Frank against Russian President Viktor Petrov. When Petrov has an American gay rights activist arrested in Russia, the Underwoods persuade him to secure a release. However, Petrov demands that the activist apologize on Russian television, leading the activist to kill himself while being visited by Claire. Later, after Russian troops are killed in the Jordan Valley, Petrov convinces Frank to remove Claire as Ambassador in exchange for a peaceful resolution. Claire resigns, giving the reason that she wants to be more active in Frank's campaign.
When Frank refuses to reinstate Doug as his Chief of Staff, Doug appears to switch sides and begins working for Dunbar. Gavin helps Doug track down Rachel and delivers findings purporting that she is dead, causing Doug to suffer a relapse. When Gavin reveals that Rachel is really alive, Doug brutalizes him into divulging her location. Doug finds Rachel living under a false identity in New Mexico, drives her into the desert, and eventually kills her. He returns to work as Frank's Chief of Staff after Remy resigns.
Throughout the season, a writer named Thomas Yates is hired by Frank to write a biography for the purpose of promoting America Works. Yates, a fiction writer with a dark past of his own, decides to put a different spin on the book and writes less about Frank and more about his marriage with Claire. Yates reads Frank a prologue that he does not understand at first, but agrees is a decent beginning. By the end of the season, Yates has the first chapter written and Frank, not liking the direction the book is taking, fires Yates. By the season finale, tensions between the Underwoods reach a point where Claire states her intent to leave Frank.
On February 4, 2014, Netflix announced it had renewed House of Cards for a third season of undisclosed length.[1] On December 1, 2014, Netflix announced that the third season would be available on February 27, 2015.[2] On February 11, 2015, 10 episodes from the third season became accidentally available on Netflix for approximately 25 minutes due to "a bug in the system"; however, they were quickly removed.[3]
In February 2014, Kevin Spacey stated that the show would again film in the Baltimore metropolitan area.[4] On July 3, the show was denied filming access to the Security Council chamber at the Headquarters of the United Nations by Russia through its representative Mikael Agasandyan despite encouragement from Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon.[5] Russia questioned the propriety of filming in the chambers and felt that the room should be kept available for normal uses.[6]
For a third consecutive season, the show filmed episodes at the offices of The Baltimore Sun, which in prior seasons served as the setting for the fictional Washington Herald.[7] Among the municipalities filmed in for the season were Havre de Grace, Maryland, and Aberdeen, Maryland.[8] On August 9, filming of a fictional motorcade at the National Mall caused road closures on Pennsylvania Avenue, Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue.[9] On October 6, filming occurred at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.[10] Other D.C. filming occurred at George Washington University and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.[11]
The season finale was planned to be filmed in Northern New Mexico areas in and around Santa Fe and Las Vegas, New Mexico in December 2014.[12] [13] On December 20, 2014, creator Beau Willimon tweeted that principal photography for the season had completed that day.[14] [15]
Netflix had received $26 million in tax benefits for the first two seasons, but was only offered a $4-million incentive for season three by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, which resulted in its delaying and threatening to move production.[16] By March 2014, it was clear that the requested state tax incentives would not be approved by the Maryland Legislature.[17] In response to Netflix's threat to move production if "sufficient tax incentives" were not provided, the Maryland House of Delegates threatened to use eminent domain power to purchase, condemn, or seize the production assets, equipment, and other property that remained in the state because the production had already been the beneficiary of tens of millions of dollars in tax benefits.[18] [19] By April 6, 2014, the Maryland General Assembly considered various methods to avail the tax incentives.[20] However, the April 7 state budget only included a total of $15 million in tax incentives for filming,[16] leaving a $3.5-million shortfall for House of Cards, which production company Media Rights Capital said might force them to move production.[21] Baltimore Sun longtime television critic David Zurawik felt that the $3.5 million would not keep House of Cards from returning to resume production.[22] As of April 11, some predicted that no matter what happened the season three release date would be delayed.[23] On April 25, a deal was reached to leave the 2015 fiscal year budget with the $3.5-million shortfall, but to allow the producers to collect the $11.5-million unallocated filming credit that remained in the previous year’s budget.[24] [25] [26]
On May 19, 2014, a May 19 - 21 casting call was posted in the Baltimore Sun for an NSA Director as well as senators, reporters, military colonels, emergency room doctors and a few other roles with projected shooting availability: June 12 – July 15, 2014.[27] [28] On June 3, 2014, an announcement for a June 7 casting call for extras and day players was made.[29] In August 2014, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina of the punk band Pussy Riot were confirmed to be in the cast for season 3.[30] In October 2014, two recurring roles were cast; Kim Dickens in an unspecified role, and Jenna Stern as an ambassador at the United Nations.[31] [32] Elizabeth Norment, who played Frank's secretary Nancy Kaufberger, died on October 13.[33]
See also: List of House of Cards episodes.
The third season has received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the season has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[34] On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a rating of 73%, based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's consensus reads, "Season three introduces intriguing new political and personal elements to Frank Underwood's character, even if it feels like more of the same for some."[35]
For the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards, the series received nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Kevin Spacey for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Robin Wright for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and Michael Kelly for Outstanding Supporting in a Drama Series.[36] For the 67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Reg E. Cathey won for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, Rachel Brosnahan was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, and Jeff Beal won for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.[37]
For the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards, the cast was nominated for Best Drama Ensemble, Kevin Spacey won for Best Drama Actor, and Robin Wright was nominated for Best Drama Actress.[38] For the 73rd Golden Globe Awards, Robin Wright was nominated for Best Drama Actress.[39]
The third season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on July 7, 2015,[40] and in region 2 on June 29, 2015.[41]