Two elements of “Chapter 12” stuck with me after watching, one of which was Frank’s story about tapping his ring on a surface twice. Frank basically explains that tapping his ring twice when he leaves a room comes from his father and is meant to represent “preparation” and “luck.” The tapping is meant to strengthen the hand in case of a fight, or preparation, and counts as a knock on wood, or luck. This habit formed by Frank is an ode to his father, someone he says didn’t have much luck, and in a way, reminds him where he came from. At the time Frank tells Raymond Tusk this, he still thinks he is trying to convince him to consider the Vice Presidency, so I’m not sure how true the story is, but there isn’t necessarily a reason for it not to be true. It’s interesting that Frank found out that President Walker and Tusk knew each other quite well because it seemed suspicious that the President would nominate someone he barely knows to be VP. I don’t really know how Tusk expected Frank to leave without finding out about what was actually going on, but that could be what he wanted. Since Tusk basically offered Frank the ultimatum of helping Frank secure VP in return for Frank granting him a “blank check,” Tusk could’ve waited for Frank to learn the truth just to get this offer on the table sooner.
The second important element of “Chapter 12” was Tusk’s anecdote, spoken while he and Frank are in his backyard woods, about the rational and irrational. Tusk says “Decisions based on emotion aren’t decisions at all. They’re instincts. Which can be of value. The rational and the irrational complement each other. Individually, they’re far less powerful.”¹ I think this idea can be applied to Frank particularly because many of the decisions Frank makes are based on his thirst for power, which can be seen as emotional, but become rational to him because he is so accustomed to that hunt for power that it has become his instinct. With “Chapter 12” jumping to a month after Peter’s death, a murder that was a calculated move based on a dangerous combination of the rational and irrational, nothing has changed in Frank and he is probably more determined than ever. Tusk stating this idea to him was interesting because the lines are so blurred with Frank, yet it’s a concept Tusk sees so clearly.
Review:
I would rate “Chapter 12” of House of Cards a 3.9/5 because I like the unpredictability of what will happen next, but with the plot line of Gillian and Claire’s fight, it just seems like a weird element to bring into the story with one episode left. So much seems unresolved right now that I can’t believe there’s only one episode left of season one, but I hope it makes some sense of what has been established in episode twelve.
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