The first season of the American

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

series ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

'' premiered exclusively via

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's web streaming service on February 1, 2013. The season was produced by

Media Rights Capital MRC II Distribution Company, L.P., doing business as MRC (formerly Media Rights Capital), is an American film and television production company founded by Mordecai (Modi) Wiczyk and Asif Satchu in 2006. Based in West Hollywood, California, the c ...

, and the executive producers are

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. Known for Kevin Spacey on screen and stage, his work on stage and screen, he List of awards and nominations received by Kevin Spacey, has received numerous accolades, including two ...

, Eric Roth, Joshua Donen, Dana Brunetti, Andrew Davies, Michael Dobbs, John Melfi, and

Beau Willimon Pack Beauregard Willimon (born October 26, 1977) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He developed the American version of the series '' House of Cards'', serving as showrunner for the first four seasons. In 2018, Willimon created the dram ...

. ''House of Cards'' was created for television by

. It is an adaptation of a previous

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

miniseries of the same name by Andrew Davies, which was based on the novel by Michael Dobbs. Set in present-day

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, ''House of Cards'' is the story of Frank Underwood (

), a Democrat from

South Carolina's 5th congressional district South Carolina's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in northern South Carolina bordering North Carolina. The district includes all of Cherokee County, South Carolina, Cherokee, Chester County, South Carolina, Chester, Fairfi ...

and the

House Majority Whip Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are el ...

, who, after getting passed over for appointment as Secretary of State, decides to exact his revenge on those who betrayed him. The series also stars

Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress, producer and director. She has received accolades including a Golden Globe Award, and nominations for eight Primetime Emmy Awards. Wright first gained attention for her role ...

Kate Mara Kate Rooney Mara ( ; born February 27, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for her work in television, playing reporter Zoe Barnes in the Netflix political drama '' House of Cards'' (2013–2014; 2016), computer analyst Shari Rothenber ...

, and

Corey Stoll Corey Daniel Stoll (born March 14, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Congressman Peter Russo on the Netflix political thriller series ''House of Cards'' (2013–2016), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination in ...

in lead roles. The fifth and sixth episodes of this season marked the final directing work of

Joel Schumacher Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939 – June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designe ...

Cast

as Francis J. Underwood, a U.S. Congressman from

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and the

. *

Claire Underwood Claire Underwood (née Hale) is a fictional character in '' House of Cards'', played by Robin Wright. She is the wife of the show's protagonist Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and the main protagonist in the final season. She is a lobbyist and ...

, Frank Underwood's wife and the CEO of the Clean Water Initiative, a non-profit organization devoted to environmental awareness. *

as Zoe Barnes, an ambitious young journalist working for the ''Washington Herald'' and eventual lover of Frank Underwood. *

as Peter Russo, a U.S. Congressman from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and eventual candidate for

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. * Michael Kelly as Douglas "Doug" Stamper, Frank Underwood's loyal Chief of Staff. * Kristen Connolly as Christina Gallagher, Peter Russo's Chief of Staff and girlfriend. * Sakina Jaffrey as Linda Vasquez, the

White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...

in the Walker Administration. *

Sandrine Holt Sandrine Claire Holt (born Sandrine Vanessa Ho; 19 November 1972) is a Canadian actress. She was born in London and raised in Toronto. Early life Holt was born Sandrine Vanessa Ho in Croydon. Her middle name was later changed to Claire. Her fa ...

as Gillian Cole, a respected charity worker and eventual employee of Claire Underwood at the CWI. *

Constance Zimmer Constance Zimmer (born October 11, 1970) is an American actress. She rose to prominence playing Dana Gordon on the HBO series ''Entourage (American TV series), Entourage'' (2005–11) and List of Boston Legal characters#Claire Simms, Claire Sim ...

as Janine Skorsky, a veteran political reporter at the ''Washington Herald'' and their White House correspondent. * Michel Gill as Garrett Walker, the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

and former

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

from

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. * Sebastian Arcelus as Lucas Goodwin, a senior political reporter at the ''Washington Herald''. *

Mahershala Ali Mahershala Ali ( ; born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore on February 16, 1974) is an American actor. He has received multiple accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Fi ...

as Remy Danton, a lobbyist at law firm Glendon Hill who represents SanCorp, a powerful natural gas company. *

Ben Daniels Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964) is an English actor. Initially a stage actor, Daniels was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Never the Sinner'' (1991), the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for ''900 Oneonta'' ...

as Adam Galloway, a world-renowned photographer and occasional lover of Claire Underwood. *

Boris McGiver Boris McGiver (born January 23, 1962) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in projects such as ''Lincoln'', ''House of Cards'', ''The Wire'', '' Killing Kennedy'', and ''Person of Interest''. Biography McGiver was born in Cobles ...

as Tom Hammerschmidt, the editor-in-chief of the ''Washington Herald''. * Dan Ziskie as Jim Matthews, the

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

and former

. *

Jayne Atkinson Jayne Atkinson (born 18 February 1959) is a British-American actress. She is best known for the role of Karen Hayes on '' 24'', as well as her Tony Award–nominated roles in '' The Rainmaker'' and '' Enchanted April''. She has also appeared in ...

as Catherine Durant, the

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

and former

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from Louisiana. *

Nathan Darrow Nathan Darrow (born ) is an American actor known for his role as Secret Service agent Edward Meechum in ''House of Cards'', John Custer in ''Preacher'', Mick Danzig in '' Billions'', Andrew Madoff in '' The Wizard of Lies'', and as Victor Frie ...

as Edward Meechum, a member of the Capitol Police and former U.S. Marine who serves as the new bodyguard for Frank and Claire Underwood. * Elizabeth Norment as Nancy Kaufberger, secretary for House Majority Whip Frank Underwood. * Reg E. Cathey as Freddy Hayes, the owner of a BBQ restaurant that is frequented by Frank Underwood. *

Rachel Brosnahan Rachel Brosnahan (born July 12, 1990) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Midge Maisel, an aspiring stand-up comedian in the Amazon Prime Video period comedy series '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' (2017–2023), for which sh ...

as Rachel Posner, a prostitute desiring to escape her position in life. *

Larry Pine Larry Pine (born March 3, 1945) is an American actor. A veteran of the Broadway stage, he began his career playing the role of Fop in the 1968 production of ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. He has since starred in film and television, with recurring role ...

as Speaker of the House of Representatives Bob Birch. *

Tawny Cypress Tawny Cypress is an American actress. She has appeared in various television and stage plays. She starred as art dealer Simone Deveaux on the NBC superhero series ''Heroes''. She previously held roles on several TV series, including Fox's drama ...

as Carly Heath, the editor-in-chief of news blog Slugline. * Karl Kenzler as Charles Holburn, a U.S. senator, friend of the Underwoods and husband of Felicity Holburn. * Francie Swift as Felicity Holburn, a friend of the Underwoods and wife of Charles Holburn. * Chance Kelly as Steve, a bodyguard and driver for Frank Underwood. *

Al Sapienza Al Sapienza is an American actor who has had numerous roles in television, stage and film productions. He is best known for his role as Mikey Palmice on the HBO series ''The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, cr ...

as Marty Spinella, the Head Lobbyist for the associated teacher's unions. *

Kathleen Chalfant Kathleen Ann Chalfant (née Bishop) is an American actress. She has appeared in many stage plays, both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, as well as making guest appearances on television series, including the ''Law & Order'' franchise. Early life C ...

as Margaret Tilden, the owner of ''Washington Herald''. * Chuck Cooper as Barney Hull, chief of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC). * Wass Stevens as Paul Capra, a senior union official in South Philadelphia and a friend of Peter Russo's. *

Gerald McRaney Gerald Lee McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows ''Simon & Simon'', '' Major Dad'', ''Promised Land'' and '' House of Cards''. He most recently s ...

as Raymond Tusk, a billionaire entrepreneur with holdings in the field of nuclear energy. * Reed Birney as Donald Blythe, a respected and long-serving Representative from

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

who has many years experience on education. *

Kevin Kilner Kevin Kilner (born May 3, 1958) is an American television and film actor. Life and career Kilner was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Dorothea, a kindergarten teacher, and Edward Kilner, who worked in advertising sales and insurance. He w ...

as Michael Kern, a Senator from

and candidate for the post of Secretary of State. *

Maryann Plunkett Maryann Plunkett is an American actress and singer. Plunkett made her Broadway debut playing Sister Agnes in '' Agnes of God''. In 1987, she won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as Sally Smith in ''Me and ...

as Evelyn Baxter, business associate of Claire Underwood and a former office manager at the Clean Water Initiative. *

Michael Siberry Michael Siberry (born 1956) is an Australian stage and screen actor. Life and career Siberry was born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia and began his career in Adelai ...

as David Rasmussen, the House Majority Leader. *

Kenneth Tigar Kenneth Tigar (born September 24, 1942) is an Americans, American actor, primarily on United States, American television, and translator. Life Kenneth Leslie Tigar was born into a Jewish family in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and raised in the Great ...

as Walter Doyle, an associate of Frank Underwood's. * David Andrews as Tim Corbett, a former friend of Frank Underwood who owns a rafting company. *

Phyllis Somerville Phyllis Jeanne Somerville (December 12, 1943 – July 16, 2020) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is best known for her roles in '' Little Children'' (2006), '' The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' (2008), '' Surviving Fami ...

as Mrs. Russo, Peter Russo's mother. * Michael Warner as Oliver Spence, Claire Underwood's attorney.

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

The first season received positive reviews from critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the season received a

weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score of 76 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, which translates to "generally positive reception." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the season received a score of 87% with an average rating of 8.1 out of 10 based on 47 reviews; the site's consensus reads, "Bolstered by strong performances — especially from Kevin Spacey — and surehanded direction, ''House of Cards'' is a slick, engrossing drama that may redefine how television is produced." ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' critic Robert Bianco praised the series, particularly Spacey and Wright's lead performances, stating "If you think network executives are nervous, imagine the actors who have to go up against that pair in the

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

." Tom Gilatto of ''

People Weekly ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the la ...

'' lauded the first two episodes, calling them "cinematically rich, full of sleek, oily pools of darkness." In her review for ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...

'', Joanne Ostrow said the series is "Deeply cynical about human beings as well as politics and almost gleeful in its portrayal of limitless ambition." She added: "''House of Cards'' is a wonderfully sour take on power and corruption."

Awards

On July 18, 2013, ''House of Cards'' became the first

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

nominated series for original online only

web television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable te ...

for the

65th Primetime Emmy Awards The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, honoring the best in prime time television programming from June 1, 2012, until May 31, 2013, were held on Sunday, September 22, 2013, at the Peacock Theater, Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, California. CBS ...

. Among those nine nominations were Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Kevin Spacey, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Robin Wright, and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for David Fincher. The first season was also nominated for Casting, Cinematography, Editing, Music, and Main Title Music at the

65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The 65th Annual Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 15, 2013, at the Microsoft Theater, Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. The ceremony was held in conjunction with the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, annual Prim ...

. On September 15, the series became the first

series and the first

webisode A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cab ...

to be Primetime Emmy Awarded with two wins at the

: Eigil Bryld for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series and Laray Mayfield and Julie Schubert for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series. On September 22, Netflix made history with a total three wins including Fincher's Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for directing the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

"Chapter 1" in addition to the pair of Creative Arts Emmy Awards, making "Chapter 1" the first Primetime Emmy-awarded

. None of the Emmy awards were considered to be in major categories, however. Spacey received best actor nominations at the 20th Screen Actors Guild Awards,

71st Golden Globe Awards The 71st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and American television of 2013, was broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on January 12, 2014, by NBC, as part of the 2013-14 film awards season. The ...

, and 18th Satellite Awards. Wright won best actress at both the 71st Golden Globe Awards and 18th Satellite Awards, while Stoll was nominated at both for supporting actor and the series was nominated at both for best drama. Wright's

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama is a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The award honors the best performance by an actress in a drama ...

for her portrayal of Claire Underwood made her the first actress to win a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

for an online-only

series. The show won a 2013

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

for Area of Excellence. At the

3rd Critics' Choice Television Awards The 3rd Critics' Choice Television Awards ceremony, presented by the Critics Choice Association#Broadcast Television Journalists Association, Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), honored the best in primetime television programming ...

, Kevin Spacey and Corey Stoll were nominated for Best Drama Actor and Best Drama Supporting Actor, respectively. The show has also been nominated at the

29th TCA Awards The nominees for the 29th TCA Awards were announced by the Television Critics Association on June 10, 2013. Winners were announced on August 3, 2013, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in a ceremony hosted by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele Jord ...

for the Outstanding New Program and the Program of the Year. The show was also nominated at the

40th People's Choice Awards The 40th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2013, was held January 8, 2014, at the Microsoft Theater, Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and was broadcast live on CBS at 9:00 pm Eastern Time Zone, EST. The ce ...

for Favorite Streaming Series,Glee, Katy Perry Lead People's Choice Award Nominations, 2 Broke Girls' Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs to Host
E! Online, Retrieved November 5, 2013 at the Producers Guild of America Awards 2013 for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama, at the 66th Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series, at the

Writers Guild of America Awards 2013 The 66th Writers Guild of America Awards honor the best film, television, radio and video-game writers of 2013. The television and radio nominees were announced on December 5, 2013. Film nominees were announced on January 3, 2014. All winners w ...

for Television: Dramatic Series, Television: New Series and Television: Episodic Drama, winning new series. In addition, the success of ''House of Cards'' and popularity of ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'', both of which are only available in the United Kingdom online has caused a rule change for the

British Academy Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in ...

and

British Academy Television Craft Awards The British Academy Television Craft Awards is an accolade presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), a charitable organisation established in 1947, which: "supports, promotes and develops the art forms of the moving ima ...

beginning with the ceremonies for the 2013 calendar year on May 18, 2014, and April 27, 2014, respectively. At the 2014 British Academy Television Awards the show was nominated for Best International Programme.

Home media

The first season was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

1 on June 11, 2013, in region 2 on June 10, 2013, and in region 4 on June 27, 2013. Director's commentaries for all of the first-season episodes premiered on Netflix on January 3, 2014. They had not been included on the home video release.

References

External links

* * * {{House of Cards 2013 American television seasons House of Cards (American TV series) seasons