Why Season 2 of House of Cards is even better

Season 2 of House of Cards (Netflix 2013) continues in my view to be even better than the highly entertaining Season 1, as the two main characters, Kevin Spacey playing VP Frank Underwood and Robin Wright playing his wife, Claire, become even more devious and loathsome. What makes it better, in part, is that they're working side-by-side toward the same goal - the presidency, obviously - rather than apart and at cross-purposes in Season One. Though both seasons have focused on Spacey's careerist ambitions and his machinations in pursuit of same, Season 2, though episode 8, seems more focused and direct. The one element I miss is his manipulation of the media to achieve his ends - throwing Zoe Barnes under the train was a huge risk to the series, as she was such a strong character and was vital to Season 1 - but the series has moved along well without her - and of course her death hovers like a dark cloud over every moment in the plot: how long will it take before someone links her death to Underwood? The elaborate attempts by her ex-boyfriend, Post editor Lucas, have kind of foundered as a plot element; instead, a much stronger element has been the attempts to silence former call-girl Rachel who could tell a lot about Spacey's link to the death of Congressman Russo. But just as Spacey/Underwood tries to dig up dirt on everyone, at the end of episode 8 the story breaks in tabloids about sexual-romantic adventures of Claire (with that unctuous British photographer in Season 1). We can only imagine that the Underwoods will strike back big time - and will strike, somehow, at the next obstacle, the President. Claire, the most fake friend of all time, has persuaded the first couple to enter couples therapy - will she spill this info, will it damage the president, will it clear the pathway for Frank? The scenes of Wright/Claire with her fake earnestness as she pushes a vulnerable young woman to testify for a bill she's drafted on sexual assault in the military, are great and emblematic of her whole personality: a schemer, a poser, a fake who cares for nothing but herself and Frank, and maybe not even for him.