House Of Cards Series Final Review: President Claire Hale Takes No Prisoners

Season 6 wraps up the NetFlix series. Gone is Kevin Spacey due to his sexual harassment scandal. Before the season began, cast/crew of "House Of Cards" were quick to point out that: A. This was already meant to be the final season of "House Of Cards" anyway; and B. Claire was already set up to take center stage this season. So I'm not sure what all the ruckus is about. At the beginning of the season, Claire turns to the audience and says "Are you still there? Do you miss Frank Underwood?" Claire doesnt miss him and neither do I.

When we last caught up with "HoC", Frank has resigned making his Vice President (Claire) the new President. The plan was for Claire would pardon Frank. They both would shape policy with her serving as the figure head. But Claire started ignoring Frank's calls. He threatens to kill her if she doesnt comply. If we know anything about Claire, she is not one to be trifled with.

We learn at the beginning of season 6 that Frank died from a heart attack while in bed in the White House next to Claire. Hmmm, this is highly suspicious (especially since the two didnt often sleep together) but more on Frank's demise later.

Claire continues to prove she's as ruthless as Frank (if not more so). She has enemies at every turn. Chief among them are her one time school buddy Annette (Diane Lane) and brother Bill Shepherd (Greg Kinnear). Annette later tells Claire she slept with Frank. Claire doesnt seem the care.

The Shepherds are in cohoots with VP Usher (Annette is sleeping with him too). Annette's son Duncan is head of a media empire that continues to hammer away at the President. Seth Grayson has gone to work for them. Remember, he previously worked in the White House with Doug. The Shepherds also own various judges, senators and congressmen.

Doug Stamper has been released from his posh psychiatric facility. He still hates Claire and is still obsessed with dead Frank. Doug has some serious mental issues. Frank can do no wrong is his eyes (despite the fact he killed multiple people).

Tom Hammerschmidt from the "Washington Herald" newspaper is still trying to uncover the truth about Frank, Doug and Claire. Good luck with that. Doug informs the press that Frank left everyone in his will to Doug. He also releases parts of Frank's secret audio tapes (which reveal that Claire knew everything he was up to).

It looks like the Shepherds have a good chance at impeaching Claire. But she's not down for the count. First she walks in on everyone signing her letter. She fires them all. Then she replaces them with an all female cabinet.

Next Claire surprises them by revealing she is pregnant with Frank's baby. Say what? Those two didnt even have sex that often. But remember that quick scene where Claire visits the doctor? I suspect she had some of Franks sperm on ice. Otherwise I would think it was Tom Yate's baby. Speaking of which, Usher has had him on ice this whole time (after Claire killed him). When Claire doesnt comply with the Shepherd's wishes, he drags out Tom's body to blackmail her.

Claire consolidates her power by ordering the deaths of: Cathy Durant (she successfully hidden away for a while), Jane Davis and Tom Hammerschmidt. She also gets Usher removed as VP by planting intel that he was conspiring with the Russians.

When they can't have her impeached, the Shepherd's decide to kill her. Let's face it. Some people cant deal with women in powerful positions no matter what the circumstances. The group sends Doug in to do the deed. But Doug is very unstable. In the finale scenes, he leaves notes for Janine as to the coordinates of Rachel Posner's body and a few other items. Doesnt look like Frank is planning to come back. He confronts Claire in the Oval Office and picks up the letter opener. It was the parting present Frank gave Doug (before Doug took the heat for Zoe Barne's death). Will he kill her? Surely Frank wouldn't kill a pregnant woman, or would he?

Then we learn that Doug is the one that killed Frank. Doug tearfully says Frank was planning to kill Claire so he had to do it. Doug says "I couldn't let him destroy everything we built. I had to protect the legacy from the man". It's hard for me to believe that Doug would hurt Frank for ANY reason bu whatev.

He stabs Claire in the throat but its not fatal. She then take the later opener and stabs Frank in the stomach. And just to make sure he's a goner, she suffocates him saying "No more pain". Wow, that's one way to do.

I do understand Claire's position. Doug was going to be a threat as long as he's alive (even if he did give her the list of everyone conspiring against her). Hopefully the assassination attempt will distract Claire so she doesnt launch a nuclear attack against ICO (a terrorist group). She tells they public they're are building a nuclear bomb and must be stopped.

Is the final scene remotely realistic? Nope, but who cares.

Death Count: I count 13 total in the series. They are:

Zoe Barnes- killed by Frank. She was pushed in front of a subway car. Doug takes the fall though.
Peter Russo- killed by Frank in what was made to look like a suicide by running car.
Tom Yates- Claire's clandestine lover was poisoned by her after they had sexy times.
LeAnn Harvey- Doug's brief love interest was killed in what was supposed to look like a car accident. She had vital intel on the Underwoods from Aiden. Frank most likely ordered her death.
Lucas Goodwin- Worked with Zoe and Janine at the newspaper. He was jailed as part of a hacker story line. Lucas later attempts to shoot Frank. Instead he kills trusted secret service agent (and sometimes three-way-participant) Meechum. Lucas is then killed.
Rachel Posner- the object of Doug's obsession. She was able to escape and badly injure him once-- only to have Dough come after her years later on a deserted road.
Elizabeth Hale- Claire's mom was near death when Claire helped her along. Not counting this one since it was really assisted suicide.
Aiden Macallan- data scientist extraordinaire- He helps the Underwoods win an election and fake an ISO attack. For his trouble he gets kidnapped by Russians and later gets a bullet in the head. Not saying the Underwoods did it for sure but odds are good.
Catherine Durant- pushed down the steps by Frank. She was near death but recovered, only to die on the way to the doctor. This later turned out to be false and she has taken to a safe location... where she was later shot to death anyway.
Tom Hammershmidt- I'm surprised Tom lasted as long as he did. We all knew when he was shot in a store robbery who was really behind it.
Jane Davis- I could never figure out if she really hated Claire or loved her or both. I think she also had a thing for VP Usher. Claire sent Jane out of the country for a while. But in the end she also was disposable. The official story is she died of a migraine.
Frank Underwood- turns out he was accidentally killed by Doug (who gave him too much medicine). Dough tells Claire Frank as about to kill her so he stopped him.
Doug Stamper- the last death is the show he is stabbed and suffocated by a very pregnant President Claire Hale.
And let's not forget the poor dog Frank put out of it's misery in the premiere.

Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). Some say they are disappointed in the last season of "House Of Cards" due to the absence of Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey). While I definitely enjoyed watching Francis Underwood, this season still had all the political intrigue we're used to. Yes, it is completely preposterous. Who can get away with killing 13 people? Yes, season 6 (and the series as a whole) is very dialogue heavy (but that's what happens when people are scheming). Robin Wright does an excellent job as a stone cold b#$%^ that no one should mess with. I also think the shorter eight episode season (instead of the usual 13) is a great improvement. The one thing "House Of Cards" has taught me if that I NEVER EVER want to go into politics.