For its first five seasons, House of Cards was a dark, scary — and mostly warped — version of the American political system, what with all that murdering and corruption. Season 6, on the other hand, is looking a little bit like a fantasy version of the presidency. Well, there's probably still going to be plenty of murdering and corruption, but there will also be President Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) declaring: "The reign of the middle-aged white man is over."
Last year, after Kevin Spacey got the ax following sexual assault allegations against him, his Frank Underwood character was removed the show. Earlier this month, a teaser trailer of Claire speaking to Frank's gravestone revealed a bit of how he was written out of the picture. (He died.) But it wasn't until the full season 6 trailer dropped on Thursday that we got the sense of just how much House of Cards seemed to be relishing his demise.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
"Here's the thing: Whatever Francis told you in the last five years, don’t believe a word of it," the new president says, addressing the army in a speech. (Side note, that blue suit she wears in all these scenes is making us seriously consider adopting it as a uniform.)
The trailer also shows Claire looking disheveled and tear-streamed, presumably after learning of her husband's death. She doesn't seem all that sad, however, as she looks knowingly at the camera. We also see two new characters, industrial conglomerate owners Annette and Bill Shepard, played by Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear, who expect Claire to live up to a promise that her husband made to them. She's not so amenable.
"I'm not going to be told what to do anymore," she says in another scene. But as the short glimpses of fighting, violence, and threats indicate, things won't be smooth-sailing for this first female president, either. This chilling glimpse is enough to make us wish that season 6, which premieres on Netflix on November 2, weren't the last season of the show.