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Back into the Swamp: 'House of Cards' returns minus star Spacey

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Jennie Matthew, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/entertainment/11/02/20181101-robin-wright.jpg"/><figcaption>Cast member Robin Wright poses at a premiere for the television series &quot;House of Cards&quot; in Los Angeles, California, U.S., October 22, 2018. Mario Anzuoni, Reuters</figcaption></figure></div>NEW YORK - A woman is finally in the Oval Office and Kevin Spacey&#x27;s murderous President Frank Underwood has been killed off -- &quot;House of Cards&quot; is back for one last time.Netflix on Friday dumped all 8 episodes in its customary binge-watching format, bringing to a close one of the streaming giant&#x27;s most successful series of all time.In the #MeToo world, its lead actor has been written out of the series, named in a series of international sexual assault allegations, and replaced by on-screen wife, Robyn Wright, as US president.In a sign of the times, its release comes with ABC airing new comedy &quot;The Conners,&quot; also stripped of its lead character, Roseanne Barr, following her own off-screen controversy -- in her case, a racist tweet.While Wright&#x27;s Claire Underwood had already succeeded her husband as president at the end of season 5, she now has new foils to contend with.Chief among them are Oscar-nominees Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear, who play brother-and-sister billionaire donors in the mold of the Koch brothers.As a reminder, out is her lover, writer Tom Yates, whom she poisoned during sex the end of season 5, just one in a slew of murders that may -- or may not -- come back to haunt her.Still on hand are Patricia Clarkson, who plays Underwood&#x27;s frenemy Jane Davis, and Campbell Scott as Mark Usher, now promoted to vice president.Another survivor is Michael Kelly, who plays the long-suffering Doug Stamper, who took the fall for the murder of newspaper reporter Zoe Barnes.<div>&#x27;TOXIC PRESENCE&#x27;</div>&quot;House of Cards&quot; became an international hit in a different world. When the first season of the drama, created by Beau Willimon and based on a 1990 British miniseries, it was 2013 and Barack Obama was president.The dark machinations of a Machiavellian politico in the vein of Spacey&#x27;s murderous, duplicitous and corrupt Frank Underwood was intoxicating escapism.The show elevated the streaming giant into the television annals, blazing a trail in original programming that has grown to include other shows such as &quot;Stranger Things&quot; and &quot;Orange is the New Black.&quot;But subsequent seasons descended into the silly, plot lines becoming ever more far-fetched until, in the eyes of liberal television watchers horrified by the presidency of Donald Trump, real life gave it a run for its money.Reviews are wanting. The Guardian gave season 6 a paltry 2 stars out of 5. &quot;&#x27;House of Cards&#x27; is free of the man who had become a toxic presence, but the awful truth is that without him, it&#x27;s weak,&quot; it sniped.Season 6 runs for only 8 episodes, rather than the customary 13. While that may imply &quot;pithiness... if you edited out the stagnant pauses and impotent staring matches, it would shrivel to 5 and a half.&quot;&quot;What&#x27;s left to say about the end of &#x27;House of Cards,&#x27; besides good riddance?&quot; headlined The Washington Post.Production for the season was already underway when the assault allegations torpedoed Spacey&#x27;s once-glittering career, leading to the hasty re-write.So far the series has received 53 Emmy nominations, with 7 wins. It remains unclear whether there will be any more in the offing.

NEW YORK - A woman is finally in the Oval Office and Kevin Spacey's murderous President Frank Underwood has been killed off -- "House of Cards" is back for one last time.

NEW YORK - A woman is finally in the Oval Office and Kevin Spacey's murderous President Frank Underwood has been killed off -- "House of Cards" is back for one last time.

Back into the Swamp: 'House of Cards' returns minus star Spacey

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Back into the Swamp: 'House of Cards' returns minus star Spacey

Jennie Matthew,

Agence France-Presse

Published Nov 03, 2018 05:05 AM PHT

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House of Cards

Netflix

Kevin Spacey

Robyn Wright

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