House Of Cards Season 5 Episode 9 Cast

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Houseof Cards is an American political thriller television series created by Beau Willimon. It is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Michael Dobbs and an adaptation of the 1990 British series of the same name by Andrew Davies, also from the novel. The first 13-episode season was released on February 1, 2013, on the streaming service Netflix. House of Cards is the first TV series to have been produced by a studio for Netflix.

House of Cards is set in Washington, D.C., and is the story of Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey), an amoral politician and Democrat from South Carolina's 5th congressional district and his equally ambitious wife Claire Underwood (Robin Wright). Frank is passed over for appointment as Secretary of State but remains House Majority Whip so he initiates an elaborate plan to attain power, aided by Claire. The series deals with themes of ruthless pragmatism,[2] manipulation, betrayal, and power.[3]

In 2017, following allegations of sexual misconduct against Spacey, Netflix terminated their relationship with the actor. The sixth and final season was produced and released in 2018 without his involvement.

Frank Underwood, a power-hungry Democratic congressman from South Carolina and House majority whip, celebrates the 2012 election of President Garrett Walker, who had agreed to appoint him Secretary of State in exchange for his support. However, Underwood learns that the President wants him to promote his agenda in Congress and will not honor their agreement. Inwardly seething, Underwood presents himself as a helpful lieutenant to Walker. In reality, Underwood begins an elaborate plan behind the President's back. Frank's wife Claire runs an NGO, the Clean Water Initiative, which she uses to cultivate her own power; she seeks to expand its scope to the international stage, often using Frank's connections. Claire shares her husband's cold-hearted, ruthless pragmatism and lust for power, and they frequently scheme together to ensure the success of each other's ventures. They both work with Remy Danton, a corporate lobbyist and former Underwood staffer, to secure funds for their operations and expand their influence.

Zoe and two colleagues, Lucas Goodwin and Janine Skorsky, continue investigating Frank and ultimately locate Rachel. As a protective measure, Frank's aide Doug Stamper brings Rachel to a safe house while Frank lures Zoe to a Metro station and, unseen by witnesses or security cameras, pushes her in front of an oncoming train. Zoe's death compels Janine to abandon the investigation, but Lucas continues the search alone. He solicits the help of a hacker to retrieve Frank's text history. However, the hacker, Gavin Orsay, actually works for Doug and frames Lucas for cyberterrorism. Later, Gavin uses Rachel to extort Doug. Rachel, fearing potential harm and Doug's growing obsession with her, ambushes Doug and leaves him for dead, fleeing into hiding.

After Frank begins his vice presidential duties, Claire becomes close with the First Lady and learns Walker's marriage is strained. Meanwhile, Frank aims to drive a wedge between Walker and Tusk. He meets Xander Feng, a Chinese businessman and ally of Tusk's, to engage in back-channel negotiations that Frank intentionally scuttles at the expense of Tusk's credibility. In the resulting trade war with China, Tusk opposes Walker's efforts to deal with the crisis and begins having a tribal casino funnel money into Republican PACs in retaliation. When Frank discovers that Feng is the source of the donations, he gets Feng to end his partnership with Tusk in exchange for a lucrative contract for a bridge over Long Island Sound.

The Justice Department investigates the White House's ties to Feng and Tusk. Frank manipulates Walker into volunteering his travel records, which reveal his visits to a marriage counselor and raise questions about whether the donations were discussed. Wishing to avoid public disclosure of his personal issues, Walker has the White House Counsel coach the counselor, which the special prosecutor interprets as witness tampering. As the House Judiciary Committee begins drafting articles of impeachment, both Walker and Frank offer Tusk a presidential pardon in exchange for implicating the other. Tusk sides with Walker at first, leaving Frank no other option than to regain the president's trust as a friend. Walker then calls off his deal with Tusk, who testifies against him. With Walker forced to resign, Frank is sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.

Six months into his presidency, Frank 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.

Claire relocates to Dallas and runs for Congress in her home district. The incumbent, Doris Jones, plans to retire and endorse her daughter Celia as her successor. Claire offers them federal funding for a key Planned Parenthood clinic in exchange for stepping down, but they refuse the offer. Frank wins back Claire's support by promising not to sabotage her campaign in Texas, but he later publicly endorses Celia in his State of the Union address. Frank and Claire travel to South Carolina for a primary, but a series of scandals causes Frank to narrowly lose the state to Dunbar. Frank discovers that Claire had been leaking information to Dunbar, and she threatens to continue unless he names her as his running mate. Frank refuses.

Lucas Goodwin is released from prison, and seeks revenge against Frank for having him framed and Zoe Barnes killed. He explains his story to Dunbar, but she turns him away. Desperate, he attempts to assassinate Frank, severely wounding the president in the abdomen and killing bodyguard Edward Meechum, but not before Meechum fatally wounds Lucas. While Frank remains comatose, Donald Blythe is sworn in as Acting President of the United States. Blythe is indecisive during a military crisis involving Russia, and turns to Claire for guidance. Claire goes against Frank's wishes by convincing Blythe to involve China and secure a meeting with Petrov, where she brokers an ambitious peace deal. Doug leaks information about Dunbar's secret meeting with Lucas and forces her to suspend her campaign. Frank recovers and resumes his position as president, agreeing to put Claire on the ticket for the upcoming election.

Tom Hammerschmidt, Zoe and Lucas's former news editor, digs deeper into the latter's claims of Frank's misdeeds. He approaches Remy and, with his help, starts to piece together Frank's corruption. Tom also meets with Walker, convincing him to help by appealing to his anger for being forced to resign. Remy Danton and Jackie Sharp also decide to go on the record against Frank to lend credibility to the story. An American family is kidnapped in Tennessee by two supporters of a radical Islamist group called the Islamic Caliphate Organization (ICO), who agree to negotiate only with the ambitious Republican nominee, Governor Will Conway. Frank invites Conway to the White House to assist in the negotiations as a publicity stunt, and Conway helps buy critical time in locating the suspects. However, tensions between the Conways and Underwoods lead to the governor ending his role in the crisis.

Frank and Claire allow the kidnappers to speak to the deposed leader of ICO, Yusuf al Ahmadi, after successfully obtaining the release of two of the hostages. Instead of defusing the situation as he agreed, al Ahmadi urges the kidnappers to kill the remaining hostage and broadcast the killing to the public. Meanwhile, Hammerschmidt publishes his story and threatens to end Frank's campaign weeks before the election. Claire urges Frank to use a heavier hand in the situation, and they decide to fight back by creating chaos. Frank addresses the public declaring that the nation is at total war, ordering the full force of the military be used to combat global terrorism regardless of the cost. The season ends with Frank and Claire watching the live execution of the hostage together, and Claire breaking the fourth wall for the first time by looking into the camera along with Frank.

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