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House of Cards Season 5 Episode 1: Declare War on Caliphate

James Foley
James Foley
Director
David Fincher
David Fincher
Director
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey
Francis Underwood
Robin Wright
Robin Wright
Claire Underwood
Michael Joseph Kelly
Michael Joseph Kelly
Doug Stamper
Plot Summary: Following the hostage tragedy, Claire uses the media to urge public attention to national security. Her intention is nothing more than to divert public attention from Frank's illegal activities during his vice presidency to fighting terrorism. Meanwhile, Frank is also busy. He forcefully enters the House of Representatives, greatly displeasing the Republicans who are applying to form a presidential investigation committee. What irks them even more is that Majority Leader Bob blatantly supports Frank's disrespectful behavior, completely disregarding Republican opposition. Frank seizes this opportunity to successfully shift the bill from investigating presidential misconduct to declaring war on the Caliphate. Amidst Republican protests and Democratic applause, Frank is escorted out of the House of Representatives. The farce finally ends, and Frank barely escapes a crisis. In addition, Frank and Claire attend a memorial service at a church for the hostage victims. However, the victims' families have a very poor impression of Frank; if Frank hadn't refused negotiations, the kidnapped father would not have been killed. The victim's daughter is even more emotional, publicly accusing Frank of killing her father and wishing him to hell, with Claire becoming president. What is said unintentionally is heard intentionally, and a seed of suspicion is sown in Frank's heart. That night, Claire engages in a war of wits with Tom, an independent journalist who consistently opposes Frank. Arranged by a TV host, the two debate in front of tens of thousands of viewers. Tom strives to prove that Heather Dunbar's withdrawal from the election is related to Frank, while Claire repeatedly tries to shift the topic to the capture of the terrorist Joshua. When she can no longer avoid it, Claire resolutely denies this unproven claim and announces on behalf of her husband that he will fully suspend campaign activities to focus on fighting the Caliphate. Frank's decision leaves his opponent William somewhat at a loss. He cannot continue to attack Frank at this time to gain momentum for himself, otherwise it might backfire. So he discusses with his campaign team how to bring public opinion back to Frank's crimes. Unexpectedly, trouble erupts at home: the mother of one of the terrorists who carried out the beheading, Joshua Masterson, has her house vandalized. And William's wife, Hannah, unseasonably releases a video defending the terrorist's mother. Campaign manager LeAnn keenly catches Hannah's video. In the video, Hannah describes the two terrorists as confused young people, and Claire sees an opportunity. Through the Department of Justice, Claire meets Joshua's mother. This poor woman, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, insists on not believing her son could do such terrible things. At Claire's request, she reluctantly stands before a battery of reporters, pleading for her son to surrender. In the matter of Mrs. Masterson, Claire certainly has the upper hand over Hannah. Fortunately, Thomas also returns to the White House; having a wordsmith by her side brings her some peace of mind. Meanwhile, LeAnn also persuades Aidan to find a way to enter the NSA, as only by helping Frank come to power will no one pursue the public opinion control program Aidan developed. Aidan risks returning to the NSA control center and adds a backdoor to his program. Through this backdoor program, he can now access popular social networking sites at any time, understand what netizens are thinking, and then publish any information Frank wants them to know. An explosion occurs in North Carolina, and Claire rushes to the scene. Ostensibly to soothe public emotions, it is actually to link an accidental event to a terrorist attack, increasing public panic. Unexpectedly, Claire is splashed with paint by anti-war protesters, indicating that Frank's declaration of war on the Caliphate is not supported by all the people. Frank then decides to play his last card: Joshua. In fact, Joshua has always been in Frank's hands; the FBI's arrest operation was merely a show. But Frank is disappointed: Joshua was indeed temporarily misled by extremist ideologies and had not organized the large-scale terrorist attack network within the United States that Frank had imagined. In that case, Joshua no longer has any interrogation value. Under the planning of FBI Deputy Director Green, who is in charge of counter-terrorism, the FBI carries out an “arrest” operation: the “fugitive” terrorist Joshua is captured but killed for resisting arrest. At the White House press conference the next day, Frank announces this latest development and thanks Director Green and Secretary of State Cathy for their support. He also claims that intelligence indicates Joshua had ties to the Caliphate and had developed a vast terrorist organization network domestically. With this sensational news, Frank urges Congress to quickly vote on the resolution to go to war with the Caliphate. Frank seems to have the upper hand, but William is no ordinary opponent. Frank's disturbance in the House of Representatives caused the bill to establish a presidential investigation committee to fail. Now William uses the war committee Frank formed, under the pretext of investigating the necessity of war, to continue secretly investigating Frank and his close associates. White House Chief of Staff Doug is shocked to receive this news and quickly rushes to the Oval Office to report the situation. At this moment, Frank and Claire are shaking hands with their supporters through the White House fence; people are beginning to believe Frank can protect them, which is precisely Frank's goal. His joyful expression stands in stark contrast to Doug's anxious look not far behind him.

House of Cards Season 5

United States
2017
13Complete Series

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