'House of Cards' Season 4: Frank Underwood Is Most Fascinating Facing a Great Foe [REVIEW]

Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood, at times a one-sided villain who will literally even kill puppies (which he did in the very first scene of the series), had two seasons working his way up in the U.S. government, and then a more flat one where he was already in the top office. For Season 4 of House of Cards, Frank finds a worthy foe in wife Claire (Robin Wright) ... and, once again, he thrives.

The third season of Netflix's flagship drama, House of Cards, wasn't as much the critics' darling as its two predecessors, with a 77 percent in Rotten Tomatoes, quite a difference from the 85 percent of season 1 and the 88 percent Fresh rating from the show's second outing on the same film review aggregator site. By the start of Season 3, Frank had already achieved everything in life, as he held the Oval Office for his own: his main goal was leaving a legacy and staying in power.

Frank's big enemy last season was the fictionalized version of Vladimir Putin, Viktor Petrov (Lars Mikkelsen), the Russian President with keen intellect and an even bigger desire to cause mayhem while upholding the dignity of his nation. As a character, Petrov was fascinating, but he failed to become a true nemesis for Underwood: sure, he could make things difficult, but real destruction? He didn't have that kind of power.

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He wasn't season two's Raymund Tusk (Gerald McRaney), Frank's great enemy, a powerful and ambitions billionaire who's been controlling the White House from behind the scenes for a while. Once he was politically immobilized, Frank hadn't faced a real threat ... until Claire switched sides.

By the end of Season 3, Underwood's wife, Claire, a well-educated woman who has put her own political ambitions aside to work towards her husband's, has had enough being left out of major political moves. Claire set out to do her own thing by the start of Season 4, directly standing against her husband by trying to ruin him out of the election -- and making Frank put some of his best work.

As a character, Frank Underwood can, at times, seem a little cartoonish. This is a man who hates children, dogs, probably all things cute; a ruthless politician who has no moral compass beyond his own ambition, and a man who's literally capable of committing murder to advance himself.

With very few redeeming qualities and even fewer humane moments, Frank Underwood is a political force of nature, but as a character, he doesn't stand on his own very well: he needs an enemy, a true opponent, to become interesting. In Claire, the person who knows him best than any other on the face of the planet, he finds exactly that.

Of course, Season 4 of House of Cards, like all three behind it, is filled with contrived intrigue, from Claire switching sides, to a new appearance of fake Putin and even a lone shooter, plus a fairly interesting array of returning characters from previous seasons. But, rest assured, Frank Underwood has found his center once again: this season isn't about political intrigue, it's about holding on as tight as possible and running over anyone who dares to come in his way -- just like ol' times.

House of Cards season 4 has been available for streaming on Netflix since March 4.

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