Chapter 45
- Episode aired Mar 4, 2016
- TV-MA
- 47m
Claire clashes with the Secretary of State Durant over her involvement in negotiations with Russia. Dunbar must choose between her campaign and her ethics.Claire clashes with the Secretary of State Durant over her involvement in negotiations with Russia. Dunbar must choose between her campaign and her ethics.Claire clashes with the Secretary of State Durant over her involvement in negotiations with Russia. Dunbar must choose between her campaign and her ethics.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Mrs. Underwood is in the Roosevelt room, you can see a picture of Teddy Roosevelt in full "Rough Rider" attire. Typically under a Democratic President (as Underwood is) there is a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt hanging in the Roosevelt room, and a picture of Theodore Roosevelt under a Republican presidency.
- GoofsWhen Cathey and Claire arrive at Brandenburg there is a shot of their car led by a German police patrol car which has a Berlin plate. While it is possible that they would get a Berlin escort all the way from the airport (they most likely would have arrived at Berlin Tegel) the plate has letters after the initial B (for Berlin) and the registration seal sticker - Police cars in Berlin only show numbers after the sticker. On the plate above the registration seal there is a emissions test-sticker visible. These stickers aren't in use since 2010.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Francis Underwood: I said you were nothing, in the Oval, without me. It's the other way around.
Claire Underwood: It would have to be different.
Francis Underwood: I know. That's what I'm saying.
Claire Underwood: Come on. Let's see if you can make it to the end of the hall...
While not considering it a bad episode at all, for me it was pretty decent though patchy, "Chapter 45" was a disappointment compared to the previous two episodes (especially "Chapter 43", the incredible episode referred to) which had more intensity, more going on and felt more consistent. To me, it is one of Season 4's weaker episodes, despite being rated higher than most of the previous ones, and the weakest 'House of Cards' episode since "Chapter 32".
There are many great things. It is a very well made episode, with top-notch production values in particularly the photography providing a lot of unsettlement in the hallucinations. The music complements well without being intrusive and the direction has the right amount of tension when needed while not making things too rushed. The dialogue is taut and is thought-provoking though the cynical edge made more of an impression generally in previous (and some succeeding) episodes. All of the performances are first rate with no exception.
"Chapter 45" does have impressive moments in the story. The Zoe and Russo hallucinatory dream sequence was quite chilling and made for one of the most eerie scenes on the whole of 'House of Cards'. The battle of the titans chemistry between Claire and Petrov provided a good deal of tension, Heather Dunbar is the most interesting she's been in a while and Doug's storyline here is better than any of his material in Season 3, which was still interesting but there is much less of a dragged out feel here. What happens at least advances what happened before in the season, rather than being filler.
However, the story is not always eventful and could have done with more consistent momentum and less of a story with moments of brilliance but didn't always feel complete.
Some of it bordered on silly as well, really didn't buy how such a powerful character who showed frequently before to be even more malevolent and ruthless than Frank (something that one may consider nigh on difficult a feat to achieve) became the weaker one when initially being the dominant one without much warning too easily.
Concluding, decent but not 'House of Cards' or Season 4 at their best. 7/10
- TheLittleSongbird
- Oct 22, 2019
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
- 2.00 : 1