Frank and Claire's relationship is under pressure whilst Doug focusses on some unresolved business.
There are some pretty dark moments in this final episode of season 3. It follows two simultaneous plots bouncing and forth between Frank and Claire at the Iowa Caucus and Doug in a number of different locations.
In this episode Claire and Doug do some massive soul searching about their love and loyalty to Frank Underwood and both make huge decisions as a result of their relationship with him. There is nothing more I can add about the plot and claim to be spoiler free.
Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly and Rachel Brosnahan are all superb. Particularly Spacey who continues to shock as a truly vile lead character and convincingly portrays some of the worst traits of antisocial personality disorder ever seen on screen. Tony Soprano, Al Swerengen and Walter White had some brutally low points, but somehow they usually kept me on side.
The cinematography, soundtrack and editing are as strong as ever, especially the opening montage sequence and the campaign scenes that jump between two speakers. One shot of Claire where she closes a door during a specific moment was an inspired piece of film making.
When the episode concluded it did a pretty impressive job of compelling me to watch the next season, but for me I didn't feel it reached the same heights as the previous season finale (knock knock).
