House of Cards Season 3 Episode 12 Review: Top 5 Spoilers

It’s down to a two-horse race in the Democrat nomination battle and Heather’s ahead in the polls. But it’s all about to get down and dirty – just the way Frank likes it.

The big question now is whether Claire is happy with the way everything’s heading. She helped Frank get to the White House and she knows where all the skeletons are buried. So why does she look so damned miserable the whole time?

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Here’s what you need to know:

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1. Heather is Offered Spot on The Supreme Court

A spanner could be thrown in the works when Heather gets an offer to replace a parting Supreme Court Justice. She says she’s not interested but you get the feeling it’s not the last we’ll hear about this. She asks Jackie to try and entice Remi onto the team but he turns her down.

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2. It’s Still Frosty Between Frank and Claire

All is not well between Frank and Claire. She’s definitely giving him the cold shoulder and both decide after seeing the first chapter of Tom’s book that they have to stop him writing any more. The author has decided the story is all about the First Couple, not just Frank.

The President calls in Tom to tell him the book deal is scrapped but the writer doesn’t take it so well. He tries to get the story published by reporter girlfriend Kate Baldwin but she doesn’t want to know. Clearly, this is a plot line heating up for the finale. Let’s hope the rest of the story heats up as well. It’s still a tad slow.

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3. Heather Wants to Buy Dirt From Doug

Heather can’t stay above the fray any longer. She’s getting dragged down to Frank’s level. Desperate for some dirt on Claire, who is more popular than her husband on the campaign trail, Heather calls Doug and offers him hard cash – $2 million as it turns out – for the journal he was supposed to have destroyed that proved Claire was lying about the abortion.

Doug appears to be going for the deal and Heather meets face-to-face with Frank to deliver the ultimatum – quit the race or the journal is made public. Frank calls her bluff but he’s worried. When Claire hears she falls apart and begs Frank to deal with it.

The problem with the coldness between Frank and Claire is that their plotting is one of the most interesting and intriguing facets of the series. Without it, the relationship is not so interesting.

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4. Jackie And Remi Get Hot And Heavy

So if the two leads aren’t going to get steamy – and let’s face it, that’s never really been their thing – it’s down to Jackie and Remi to warm up the screen a little. Not sure really what this does for the story but it’s nice to see some passion where nobody is shouting at anybody.

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5. Doug’s Back

Doug is taken to the Oval Office for a confrontation with Frank. It seems Claire had nothing to panic about, after all. Loyal Doug was never going to hand over the journal to Heather and he burns it to prove his point.

Frank delights in calling Heather and telling her: “I only have one thing to say to you – go fuck yourself!” Good to see him enjoying himself again.

Doug’s been sober 87 days and now he wants to be Chief of Staff. Frank agrees, to the annoyance of his wife.

Frank isn’t particularly worried about the Jordan Valley Operation and he believes Kate Baldwin’s latest story on the issue doesn’t have legs. We’ll see.

Just when things seem to be heading back Frank’s way, blank-faced Claire tells him they have been lying to each other. Duh, says Frank. That’s what President’s do. No, she says, we’ve been lying to ourselves

So where’s all this leading to in the finale. Is it splitsville for the Underwoods? We’re about to find about.