House Of Cards Season 5 Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

6. The Horrifying Real-Life Parallels

House Of Cards Frank Underwood
David Giesbrecht/Netflix

There was a lot of pre-release discussion about how House of Cards' new season would parallel the mess that is the present American political climate, specifically the rise of Donald Trump.

While some have joked that real life has now become more absurd than the show could ever hope to be, it does an admirable job of incorporating real-life concerns into its sinewy drama all the same, such as Trump's deference towards racist no-fly lists and visa restrictions.

Frank himself meanwhile feels decidedly more Trump-like this season, and though the show thankfully never stops to overtly wink at this fact, there are many scenes that veer close to straight-up satire with how closely Frank's actions and mannerisms see him resembling the real-world POTUS.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.