| Season Number: | 6 |
| Bgcolour: |
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| Showrunner: | |
| Network: | Netflix |
| Num Episodes: | 8 |
| Episode List: | List of House of Cards episodes |
The sixth and final season of House of Cards, an American political drama television series created by Beau Willimon for Netflix, was released on November 2, 2018. Frank Pugliese and Melissa James Gibson returned as showrunners for the final season. The sixth season continues the story of recently-inaugurated, Democratic president Claire Underwood (Robin Wright), who faces new threats within and outside the White House following the death of her husband and former president Frank Underwood. Powerful elites, led by wealthy siblings Annette and Bill Shepherd (Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear), are attempting to manipulate and destroy her presidency, while Claire struggles to exert influence and escape her husband's shadow.
The sixth season marks the first of the series without Kevin Spacey, who portrayed lead character Frank Underwood. Soon after production began in October 2017, Netflix fired the actor as a result of sexual misconduct allegations made against him. Production was halted for several months while the screenplay was reworked to exclude Spacey's character. As a result, the season was reduced to eight episodes, deviating from the 13-episode format of the previous seasons.
One hundred days after President Claire Underwood has taken office, she faces increased scrutiny, particularly in light of her husband's death following his resignation. The brother-sister duo of Bill and Annette Shepherd seek to influence Claire. The Shepherds are connected with Mark Usher, whom Claire has made Vice President, and who is having an affair with Annette. Annette's son Duncan puts pressure on Claire through his media company, Gardner Analytics. Claire and the Shepherds battle over deregulation measures, and Claire uses a chemical leak from one of the Shepherds' operations to embarrass the two. Doug, meanwhile, is in therapy following his confession to Zoe's murder, and Claire uses Assistant Director Green and his psychiatrist to monitor him.
The Shepherds decide to influence Claire by other means, including through a Supreme Court justice they convince her to nominate. They and Seth Grayson also develop a mobile application which can secretly be used to monitor the user's activity, including their location. Secretary of State Durant also comes within the Shepherds' sphere of influence, and they persuade her to speak with prosecutors investigating the Underwoods as the Shepherds become increasingly distant from Claire. As Durant's testimony proves more threatening, Claire and Jane Davis plot to assassinate her, but she fakes her death and flees the country. Following Durant's fake death, Claire and President Petrov forge a deal on Syria. Claire then discovers that Durant is alive and living in France with Petrov's help. Following this, Claire disappears for three weeks, prompting questions of her ability to lead, and leading Usher to plan to use the 25th Amendment to remove her from office. Claire foils Usher's plan and fires her Cabinet, replacing it with an all-female Cabinet, much to Annette's surprise. Annette plans to use Claire's prior abortions against her, but Claire retaliates by revealing to Duncan he is not Annette's biological son.
With her new Cabinet in place, Claire decides to undertake a new, progressive, agenda. The Shepherds, meanwhile, continue to plot her downfall, enlisting the help of Brett Cole, an ambitious Congressman who seeks to become Speaker of the House. They also seek the help of Doug, but he refuses, initially. Doug meets with Hammerschmidt, providing him with information on Frank's actions. Determined to strike back against her enemies, Claire frames Usher for Yates's murder, claiming he colluded with Russia to do so. She also has Hammerschmidt, Davis, and Durant killed. Claire then reveals to Doug that she is pregnant with Frank's child, who will become his heir even though Frank secretly left his assets to Doug.
Four months after the murders, Claire reverts to her maiden name and continues her progressive agenda. Annette, now strained from Bill, plots with Usher, no longer Vice President, to assassinate Claire. She asks Doug to perpetrate the act, but he is reluctant, mainly desiring to protect Frank's legacy. Claire, through now-Speaker Cole, blackmails Justice Abruzzo into recusing himself in a case dealing with her power to launch nuclear weapons. Janine Skorsky and Doug continue to work to uncover the Underwoods, with Doug leaking contents of Frank's secret audio diary while Claire blames everything on Frank. Claire then uses the pretense of ICO obtaining a nuclear weapon to create a crisis, leading the Shepherds and Doug to accelerate their plans. After sending a copy of Frank's audio and letter opener to Claire, Doug visits her in the Oval Office where he admits that he killed Frank because he was undermining his own legacy. Doug threatens and wounds Claire with the letter opener, but when he draws back, she grabs it and stabs him in the stomach. As he lies bleeding on the floor, she covers his mouth and suffocates him, completely unaware that, thanks to Doug, journalist Janine Skorsky is going to expose her crimes.
On October 11, 2017, The Baltimore Sun reported that House of Cards had been renewed for a sixth season and that filming would begin by the end of October 2017.[1] On October 18, 2017, production of the sixth season of House of Cards appeared to be already in progress, without an official renewal announcement by Netflix, when a gunman opened fire near a House of Cards set outside Baltimore. Production company Media Rights Capital and Netflix stated that production on the show was not affected by the shooting.[2]
Production on the series was shut down on October 30, 2017, following sexual assault allegations towards Kevin Spacey by actor Anthony Rapp, who publicly stated that Spacey had made a sexual advance on him in 1986, when Rapp was 14 years old. Netflix announced its decision to cancel the series after the upcoming season, although multiple sources stated that the decision to end the series had been made prior to Rapp's accusation.[3] [4]
The following day, Netflix and MRC announced that production on the season would be suspended indefinitely, in order to review the current situation and to address any concerns of the cast and crew.[5] Robin Wright strongly opposed Netflix executives who wanted to cancel the season, as she was concerned about the 2,500 people who had been involved in the production at that time and were at risk of losing their jobs.[6] On November 3, 2017, Netflix announced that they would no longer be associated with Spacey in any capacity whatsoever.[7]
On December 4, 2017, Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, announced that production would restart in 2018 with Wright in the lead, without Spacey's involvement, and revealed that the sixth and final season of the show would consist of eight episodes.[8] House of Cards resumed production on January 31,[9] and wrapped filming four months later, on May 25, 2018.[10] The firing of Kevin Spacey significantly affected the production process, as showrunners Frank Pugliese and Melissa Gibson had to rethink the show and come up with a conclusion for the series in a limited amount of time, taking into consideration other contractual obligations of the cast and crew.[11] [12] In an interview with IndieWire, Pugliese and Gibson revealed that these changes did not represent a huge shift for many of the characters; it was the overall story that was mostly affected, which was initially intended to center on a struggle between Frank and Claire to own the White House. The showrunners also revealed that—even in his absence—Frank continues to have a big impact on the story, and noted that erasing him completely would have seemed disingenuous.[13]
In the wake of Spacey's firing, Wright leads the sixth season of House of Cards, with her character, Claire Underwood, having assumed the presidency at the end of the previous season.[14] A number of returning cast members reprised their roles from previous seasons,[15] while Alik Sakharov, who had helmed three episodes in season five, directed for the final season as well.[16] New additions to the cast included Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear, who played Annette and Bill Shepherd, the sister-brother inheritors of an industrial conglomerate; said characters were inspired by the Koch brothers, as members of a family with the power to influence American politics. Joining them, Australian actor Cody Fern plays Annette's ambitious son Duncan Shepherd.[17] Lane had been cast to play Claire's longtime friend prior to the firing of Spacey, with whom she had shot a number of scenes. However, as she told IndieWire, the writers "managed to find the same trajectory for [her] character in terms of what she means to Claire."
From March to October 2018, Netflix released various promotional material for the sixth and final season of House of Cards. On March 4, the first teaser premiered during the 90th Academy Awards ceremony. The teaser shows Robin Wright in the Oval Office as President Claire Underwood, declaring "We're just getting started," followed by an intertitle reading "Hail to the Chief".[18] On June 10, Netflix released two first-look images from the final season. The first photo shows Wright listening to director Alik Sakharov, and the second shows her looking straight at the camera.[19] On July 4, the 242nd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, a video message was posted on House of Cards official Twitter account, with President Claire Underwood saying, "Happy Independence Day... to me." The message is followed by the hashtag #MyTurn.[20]
On August 7, Netflix announced that the season would be released on November 2, 2018, and unveiled key art. The poster pays homage to the promotional image for the first season of the series, as Wright strikes the Lincoln Memorial pose, like Kevin Spacey had done before her.[21] On August 27, four images were published via a press release, which depict new cast members Diane Lane, Greg Kinnear and Cody Fern in their roles as members of the Shepherd family.[22] A teaser trailer released on September 5, revealed the fate of Frank Underwood, portrayed by Spacey who was fired from the show, months after the conclusion of the fifth season. It is shown that Frank died in 2017, and has been buried next to his father in South Carolina. Claire visits her husband's grave and says, "I'll tell you this though, Francis. When they bury me, it won't be in my backyard. And when they pay their respects, they'll have to wait in line." This speech mirrors the one Frank gives in the third season of the series, when he visits his father's grave.[23] On September 27, Netflix released a new teaser trailer that presents several new and returning characters. Claire is shown dealing with the aftermath of her husband's death, and declaring that "the reign of the middle-aged white man is over."[24] On October 8, Netflix released the official trailer for the season, which revolves around Claire's power struggle, as she clashes with the American oligarchs and tries to forge her own path as President of the United States.[25] On October 23, critics began publishing reviews on the season, based on advance copies of the first five episodes that they had received from Netflix, after they had signed a letter of agreement.
Prior to the official release date of the season, Netflix sent the first five episodes to a number of critics, to serve as advance screeners. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 65% based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The consensus reads, "House of Cards folds slightly under the weight of its labyrinthian ending – thankfully Robin Wright's commanding performance is strong enough to keep it standing strong."[26] On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[27]
Kevin Lever of FilmEra wrote that "with Wright at the forefront of the show now, House of Cards shines as it did in its early years." Lever described the production as "stellar" and the writing as "reinvigorated". He noted that the show still has the feel of previous years, but it works best when it focuses on Claire, instead of dealing with holdover pieces.[28] David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun wrote, "I love TV drama that speaks to the cultural moment the way this series does. And, as I have said over and over,
is a landmark moment." Zurawik revealed that the season primarily focuses on gender issues; "the evil of patriarchy and the stench of misogyny". He stated that the episodes exceeded his expectations, and praised the performances of Wright, Lane and Kinnear.[29] Christopher Hooton of The Independent described the episodes as "slightly banal". He expressed his disappointment at the new characters that were introduced this season, and commented that "Frank Underwood has left behind not only a power vacuum but an entertainment one." Hooton noted that ever since Frank became president at the end of season two, the series has drifted directionless, and after watching the first five episodes of the final season, it still remains unclear what the show is actually about.[30]
Negative reviews include one by Tyler Coates of Esquire, who writes: "Kevin Spacey's absence haunts the final season of House of Cards. Just as the show wouldn't work without Claire Underwood, it doesn't exactly work without Frank."[31] Another by Sonia Saraiya of Vanity Fair writes: "House of Cards collapses – finally. Down a star and out of things to say, Season 6 flounders."[32] Jack Seale of The Guardian rated the season 2 stars out of 5 stating, "We still need to talk about Kevin. It's impossible not to miss Spacey's presence as Robin Wright struggles to make her mark and save Netflix's first big show."[33]
The series finale in particular was met with largely negative reviews. Scott Von Doviak of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "C−", praising Wright's direction but criticizing the writing and the characterization of Claire during the final season.[34] Kyle Fowle of Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a "D" rating, saying the ultimate flaw of the season and the finale was the large focus on Frank and Frank's legacy.[35] Emily VanDerWerff of Vox gave the finale a one-and-a-half star rating out of five, saying the season "saved the worst for last".[36]
For the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, Robin Wright and Michael Kelly received nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, respectively.[37]