confession
Every time I've spoken to you, you've never spoken back.
Although given our mutual disdain,
I can't blame you for the silent treatment.
Perhaps I'm speaking to the wrong audience.
Can you hear me?
Are you even capable of language,
or do you only understand depravity?
Peter, is that you?
Stop hiding in my thoughts and come out.
Have the courage in death that you never had in life.
Come out, look me in the eye and say what you need to say.
There is no solace above or below.
Only us... Small, solitary,
striving, battling one another.
I pray to myself, for myself.
Zoe investigation
All I'm trying to do is find her.
I've got an arrest record from April 2012,
and I know she was pulled over with a client in January.
That girl. She had so much potential.
Why did she drop out?
Like I said, it's an ethical breach for me
to discuss anything that has to do...
I spoke to her parents.
Her father was very combative.
Was there trouble at home?
The father... did he...
I won't speak about Rachel.
Can you talk to me about your job in general,
the sorts of cases you deal with in an abstract way?
When I'm concerned about a student,
especially if there's possible criminal activity involved,
it's my duty to contact the D.A.'s office.
Now, if the D.A. pursues charges,
the student has to testify against their own parent.
That's a difficult decision for a young person to make.
Extremely difficult.
It could be easier to run away.
Frank’s action
It's set for tomorrow.
Tusk lands at 7:30 and then heads straight to the White House
for dinner with the President.
- Is it on the official schedule? - No.
- We need it to be. - Well, I can't do that.
The President specifically asked that I leave it off.
Actually, that's good. We can make that work.
Can you set up a meeting between Birch and the President?
About what?
So he can give him his two cents about who he will nominate.
I don't think we want Birch getting involved.
- He'll never get the chance. - What are you planning?
Can you set up a meeting for later today? Yes or no?
I'm sure I can squeeze it in.
Good. I'll talk to Birch. Get him on the phone.
This has to stay off the books, just like the dinner with Tusk.
- Okay. - And finally,
do you have a scheduler that you can fire?
Claire’s crisis III
My lawyer said I shouldn't be talking to you.
Mine said the same thing.
I'm not gonna change my mind, Claire.
I made a mistake. I got upset, and I acted impulsively.
I was the one who made the mistake
by partnering with you in the first place.
Well, then, can we please both admit
that it wasn't meant to be, and we can find an amicable way...
- No, we can't. - What do you want?
To send a message.
Organizations like yours get 90% of the grant money,
then cozy up to corporate sponsors who destroy the environment.
The things you're claiming are lies.
I never mentioned your pregnancy.
I got in touch with Evelyn Baxter.
Remember her? We had a long conversation.
It seems that you have a history of axing people who disagree with you.
She'll be testifying on my behalf.
So will eight of the people that you made her fire.
If you want an apology, I'm here to offer you one,
and to give you whatever you think is fair.
This case is gonna get national attention
because of who you're married to.
I'll have a platform to say what I want to say.
That's worth more than anything you could offer.
Listen, I know we have different philosophies,
but what we're trying to achieve is exactly the same thing.
We shouldn't be fighting each other.
Do you feel that? The kicking?
I won't let people like you
fuck up the world my child has to live in.
If I have to tell a few lies to do that...
At least I learned one valuable thing from you.
Locate Rachel
Have you ever been published?
Many times.
I guess that's a stupid question.
You don't seem like a starving artist.
Don't judge a book by its cover.
You have a nice laugh.
- Really? - It's very attractive.
Are you staying at the hotel?
You want to come up to my room?
That depends.
Well, how much would that cost me?
That seems about right.
Close your eyes.
Put out your hands.
Now open them up.
I'm trying to find this woman.
If you make me pull out my badge,
I have to take you in.
But I don't want to do that.
Let's not make a scene.
I used to see her around.
She left the business, though. We haven't really kept in touch.
Any idea where she might be?
A friend of mine saw her waiting tables
at a restaurant in Georgetown.
Zoe meet with Rachel
How much do you know?
That you were with him when he was pulled over.
- Who else knows? - Just me.
I can keep it that way, but I need more.
- There is no more. - You're lying.
Yeah, I was with him when he got pulled over.
They took him away and let me go.
I don't know what happened to him.
He was never charged.
You know more than me, then.
No one ever came to talk to you?
- About what? - To keep you quiet.
You don't kiss and tell in that business.
Not even when it's a congressman?
Especially when it's a congressman.
Frank Underwood never approached you?
Who's that?
You're too smart to play dumb, Rachel.
You know who that is.
Name rings a bell.
I try not to follow the news.
Too many familiar faces.
How about Douglas Stamper?
Never heard of him.
I've told you everything I know.
I know about what your father did.
If you don't help me, I'll write about Russo.
I'll write that you were a prostitute,
and I'll write about why you left home.
Go to town, bitch.
So?
She mentioned both you and your boss.
- What exactly? - She didn't say.
All she seemed to know was that
I was in the car with him when he got pulled over.
And you didn't admit to more than that?
No. I said everything exactly like you told me to.
- You really think I'd spill my guts? - Calm down.
Why didn't you tell me he was gonna hurt himself?
I never would've done it.
How could I have known?
- I just want all this to go away. - It will.
All of it.
I promise.
encounter
Do you want me to order you dinner?
- Where's Doug at? - I don't know. He left early.
- Call him for me, will you? - Yes, sir.
Thirteen minutes from now,
Tusk will meet with the President,
if he isn't there already.
You've never been an ally, have you?
Pressing on with your slow, incessant march.
Time would've killed Russo if I hadn't,
just as it will kill me someday.
Kill us all.
Sir, I just got Doug's voicemail.
I wonder where he's at.
Well, maybe this is him.
Freddy?
Sorry, Frank. I had to trade up.
Sancorp's a big fish, but Raymond Tusk is a whale.
Can I get you something, Frank?
Nothing right now. Thank you, Freddy.
I'll leave y'all to it.
I hope you don't mind that
Remy told me about this little secret of yours.
I wanted a place where you'd feel comfortable.
Shouldn't you be at the White House?
How could I pass up the chance to eat the best ribs in Washington?
Remy told you about Sancorp.
As of closing bell today, I own 3%.
By the end of next week, I'll own over ten.
Enough to make sure they can't cause me any trouble.
A valiant effort, though. I respect that.
So why are we here?
I told you I'd give you until today to think things over.
- I'm a man who keeps my word. - And I'm still not interested.
You wanted me to be more specific back in St. Louis.
That would be a good start.
Why did Britain go to war with China 150 years ago?
I'm in no mood for riddles.
Humor me a moment.
- Opium. - It was bigger than opium, Frank.
That was simply the excuse.
Peking wanted to call the shots instead of the west.
It's the same problem we're facing now.
But nobody wants a trade war, much less a military one.
And what's your opium?
Samarium-149. I need it for my reactors.
China controls 95% of the world's supply.
And you're worried about
the imbalance in our currency, our foreign debt...
- All of it. - You already have the President's ear.
Trade tariffs are controlled by congress.
You have a lot more influence there than Garrett does.
It's the reason I wanted you to stay there in the first place.
And what exactly would you want me to do?
Well, that part I don't know yet.
We'll have to wait and see how things play out with the Chinese.
I've already told you I will not do a blank check.
I must say I'm surprised, Frank.
You have a reputation for pragmatism.
And I also have avoided a reputation for indentured servitude.
I never make an offer more than twice, Frank.
Tell me now if I can count on your cooperation.
You're not offering cooperation. You're demanding tutelage.
So let me make you a proposal.
I am absolutely willing to work together as equals.
I will take your opinions seriously, just as the President does.
But I will not bind myself to them in advance.
If that doesn't interest you, fair enough.
Good luck finding a vice President in the next four days
who will prove as pragmatic as I.
You can't purchase loyalty, Raymond.
Not the sort I have in mind.
If you want to earn my loyalty,
then you have to offer yours in return.
And if we can agree to that...
Well,
you're a man with imagination.
Wait.