Your ‘House of Cards’ Season 5 Catch-Up Guide

With the latest season of Netflix‘s House of Cards now available to stream, you might have a few lingering questions – it’s hard to dive back into such a complex show after a long intermission. With four seasons under the show’s belt, it can be difficult to remember what scandal involves which characters and where all the loyalties lie – especially when it comes to Frank’s fickle dealings. Showrunner Beau Willimon may have departed the show for the latest season, but the madness is still in session. If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed as you start Season 5, don’t worry – we’ve got all the facts right here.

Frank & Claire Underwood

Your favorite fourth wall-breaker Frank (Kevin Spacey) has done a pretty bang-up job since becoming President of the United States at the end of Season 2, and Season 4 found our power-hungry leader desperate to move ahead of Heather Dunbar in the polls. Lucas Goodwin (Sebastian Arcelus), seeking revenge for the murder of Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara), attempts to assassinate Frank, which evidently leads to Meechum’s death and a long hospitalization for Frank. Meanwhile, First Lady-turned-running-mate Claire (Robin Wright) has certainly played her cards well over the last few seasons, having left Frank at the end of Season 3, attempted to run for local office and leaked damaging photos of Frank in Season 4, and evidently coerced him into allowing her to run for Vice President alongside him. She returns to his side after the assassination attempt, and after Claire’s mother dies, they use the public sympathy to ensure that they receive the Democratic nomination. (Dunbar is forced to drop out of the race after it’s revealed that she met with Lucas days before he shot Frank).

Now a united front (though certainly not without a few strings attached), the two manipulate their way through the campaign, though they are hit hard when Hammerschmidt releases his big exposé that tosses everything they’ve worked for into a spiral and potentially throws talk of impeachment into the mix. Before the piece drops, however, Frank allows charming Republican candidate Will Conway to negotiate with American extremists loyal to terrorist group Islamic Caliphate Organization (ICO) after they kidnap a suburban family and threaten to kill them. He initially makes Conway look like a hero, and then releases the NSA data that proves Conway has been illegally influencing Congress. Desperate to distract from this massive scandal in the wake of the exposé, Frank allows a hostage to be murdered for the country to see and declares war on ICO, creating a climate of fear (“we make the terror”) for the Underwoods to exploit as the election approaches.

(Oh, and Claire’s still sleeping with Tom, the sexy speechwriter (not Hammerschmidt), which Frank is totally cool with as long as no one finds out about their arrangement.)

Doug Stamper & LeAnn Harvey

Doug (Michael Kelly) continues to do Frank’s dirty work in Season 4, first by screwing up everything Claire tries to do on her own during their separation, and later putting her in her place to ensure that she’ll return to Frank’s side. Doug is also responsible for Frank getting bumped to the top of a liver donor list, which kills another man who was in dire need of a liver, and after the guilt overwhelms him, Doug starts shacking up with the dead guy’s wife. (Doug has never made a smart move in his love life. Ever.) Loyal to a fault, Doug also threatens to suffocate Communications Director Seth Grayson with a glass after he finds out Seth leaked a photo to Heather Dunbar, which strangely, hasn’t affected Seth and Doug’s working relationship all that much. As far as White House staffers are concerned, Doug just seems to be a stoic, intimidating dude who shouldn’t drink.

LeAnn (Neve Campbell) is brought on as Claire’s campaign manager early in Season 4 while Frank and Claire are separated, but Frank initially tries to scare her off when he learns about Claire’s plans. Because Claire likes her and she’s got a hookup with shady data scientist Aidan Macallan, however, they enlist her to stay on in the White House once they reunite and decide to run together. LeAnn blackmails Remy (Mahershala Ali) and Jackie to enlist Remy’s help, which evidently leads to them pretty much going AWOL and skipping out on D.C., so when (and if) we’ll ever see them again is up in the air. LeAnn is also behind the idea to use the threat of ICO to authorize domestic surveillance, and constantly ropes Macallan in to do their dirty work. Doug is still pretty shitty to LeAnn even after she continually proves herself, and the two have a fascinatingly contentious relationship that’s bound to go off the rails as the Underwoods’ position is put into jeopardy.

WHAT MATTERS IN SEASON 5

So now that you know where we left everyone, here’s what’s important to remember going into the new season. The scandals just keep on comin’ with this crew, whether it’s murder or voter manipulation. These are the things worth keeping track of.

James Miller’s Execution & The War on ICO

At the end of Season 4, two young American ICO loyalists take the Miller family hostage in Knoxville, and while Caroline and Melissa (the mother and daughter) are rescued, Frank basically allows the extremists to execute James Miller in a live video. They leverage this to strike fear in the hearts of the American people and tell them to prepare for a “total war” against ICO, much to the chagrin of Conway, who knows exactly what game Frank is playing. Frank needs to leverage the rest of the House and Senate to stand behind him in this declaration of war, which doesn’t seem likely unless they keep scaring people.

PollyHop & Aidan Macallan

Governor Conway uses a search engine called PollyHop to (illegally) pull voter data while campaigning and allows him to cater to these users to move ahead in the polls, so Frank hits back by using the NSA for the same thing. Aidan Macallan, quirky dancing data scientist, uses the domestic surveillance allowance to gather voter information to keep Underwood on top of everything election-related, but by the end of Season 4, Homeland Security takes over the surveillance program to track ICO and with it also take Macallan’s algorithm, which inevitably causes him to freak out a bit (and start looking for a way to escape from the Underwoods’ tangled web).

Cathy Durant’s Vengeance *probably not just Cathy

In Season 4, Claire undermines Secretary of State/Frank’s old friend Cathy Durant’s power by speaking to Petrov while in negotiations with Russia, and Frank evidently uses this against Cathy to ensure that Claire ends up being his running mate. Cathy, who had previously rejected offers from Vice President Donald Blythe to take down Frank, is piiiiissed and likely to turn her back on Frank now that she’s been betrayed. (Also, Cathy is far from the only person seeking revenge against Frank, and it’s likely that we’ll see other characters align with one another to take him down).

There are bound to be a few loose ends that seem confusing (like Frank’s consistent, complete abuse of power), but that’s nothing new. Don’t feel too bad if you have a hard time keeping track of all the grumpy white dudes and new characters standing in Frank’s way – most of them are just there for him to knock down later on. This bonkers political drama is more scandal-ridden than ever in Season 5, and it’s fascinating to behold the Underwoods and their quest for power.