Missing Mahershala: Remy Danton's Finest Moments On House Of Cards

Spoiler warning: Maybe don't read this if you haven't watched House of Cards. Related: Why haven't you watched House of Cards?

Bad news, folks. We've watched season 5 of House of Cards, and Mahershala Ali isn't in it. And before you start griping about spoilers, the newly minted Oscar winner confirmed last year that, after four seasons, he was done playing smooth operator Remy Danton. Still, this is House of Cards; if Zoe and Peter can rise from the dead and chill in the Oval Office, couldn't they have at least hung a portrait of D.C.'s sexiest former lobbyist in the West Wing? We've gotta go cold turkey on this?

As Frank Underwood's (Kevin Spacey) former Capitol Hill press secretary turned powerful lobbyist turned White House chief of staff turned disillusioned D.C. deal-maker, Danton was a key player in many of the past seasons' biggest story lines. He also had the advantage of being one of the few characters who didn't seem completely morally compromised; indeed, it was his conversation with journalist Tom Hammerschmidt (Boris McGiver) that set the ball rolling for a major Team Underwood takedown in the press. Eventually those demons have to catch up with Frank, right?

Politics aside, he was a French-speaking, tailored suit-wearing whiz with a conscience and a capacity for tending to Congresswoman Jackie Sharp's (Molly Parker) every sexual whim. Danton's time on the show ended with him and Sharp almost literally driving off into the sunset, no doubt congratulating themselves on being two rare examples of people who had dirt on Frank Underwood and weren't killed. We wouldn't have had it any other way.

So no, Danton won't be hanging out at the White House or negotiating deals with Raymond Tusk. To fill that emptiness, we're leaving you with some of his best quotes — and, of course, some dignified and not at all objectifying photos. Keep in touch, RD.