The Finale Season of ‘House of Cards’ Marks the End of Several Eras

When House of Cards first premiered in 2013, the world was a very different place. The political climate had been markedly different than the current constant barrage of alarmist news. Netflix had yet to become the streaming giant with a slew of original programming under its belt. Kevin Spacey was an actor Netflix knew people would probably watch politically scheme. A half-decade later, the world is a very different place. To talk about the final season of House of Cards, it is once again important to revisit the concept of kairos, or timeliness of media. We now know about Kevin Spacey’s sexual misconduct and that Netflix promptly cut all ties with him after the news broke. We live in a diametrically opposed political climate where known sexual assaulters have risen to position of power pretty much everywhere. Men’s rights activists and literal Nazis are things we have to deal with on a day to day to basis. All of this makes House of Cards such a weird show to watch in any capacity. It is eerily familiar in climate to our current timeline with the notable difference that Claire Underwood, as played by the charismatic Robin Wright, is president.

The Reign of Middle-Aged White Men is Over Season 5 of House of Cards was remembered for the even more convoluted political scheming than any other season before. Whereas the first four season had moments of incredulity, nothing really stacked up to the machinations that got Claire Underwood as vice president and the exceedingly comp…