A Reminder Of All The Sordid Manipulation On House Of Cards Ahead Of Season 6

Netflix’s House Of Cards season 6 is a whole new world after season 5 finale, “Chapter 65.” Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) is the president and a widow. Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey, who was outed as an alleged serial predator and let go from the series in 2017) is dead. The much buzzed about Shepherd siblings (Oscar nominees Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear) have descended on Washington intent on pulling all Claire’s strings. Even the antichrist himself, American Horror Story breakout devil spawn Cody Fern, has arrived as Annette Shepherd’s (Lane) son, Duncan Shepherd. Of course Duncan is a villain (just without all the supernatural powers of Fern’s Michael Langdon).

That’s why a character-by-character refresher course ahead of House Of Cards’ upcoming final season, premiering on Friday, November 2, is futile. Not only is the Cards game completely different in 2018, but when season 6 of the Netflix political drama begins, we’re about 100 days into Claire’s presidency, and countless people have exited and entered her White House.

So, we’re going to focus on the most important, backstabbing conversations of 2017 closer “Chapter 65.” That episode hinted which nefarious threads would become the bedrock of season 6. And, you really need to remember them amidst Cards’ last hurrah, which has too much ground to cover to hold your hand and explain every Machiavellian turn. Much like President Claire Underwood herself, this is a season of television that expects you to come correct.

What follows is a full rundown of the top five moments to know before pressing play on House Of Cards’ swan song.