TV Guide reported today on the new House of Cards trailer that was released this morning.
The trailer’s release had some unique build up, with the official House of Cards Twitter account posting that a message from the Underwood administration would be coming shortly. Over the years, one of the exciting aspects of being a fan of the series is watching how each season is advertised – last year, Netflix created an “official campaign site” for Frank Underwood’s presidential campaign, and this year, the advertising strategy is steeped in reality, with the first trailer premiering by Netflix sending out emails to its subscribers with the subject line reading “A Message from President Underwood” and a link to the trailer inside.
At 11a.m, the time of the supposed Underwood administration message, the House of Cards Facebook page launched a live video that was in actuality, the premiere of the chilling new trailer. The trailer includes no new footage; instead, it provides some thematic foreshadowing as to what fans can expect from the Underwoods this season. It is merely comprised of a close-up on Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) as she speaks with deep concern to the American citizens. “The President and I have a simple request. Tell us what you see,” she urges. The fictional First Lady also encourages the need for American citizens to not only look out for one another, but to watch each other.
These Big Brother overtones link to the closing moments of the Season 4 House of Cards finale, in which Frank and Claire Underwood decide to encourage tensions between the terrorist organization within the show’s universe, ICO, and the United States in order to cultivate fear within the American nation and lead the country to war in order to distract headlines away from concerning allegations against President Frank Underwood (played by Kevin Spacey) that shed light on his past corrupt deeds. Season 4 ended with Frank breaking the fourth wall in a chilling tone, telling his audience, “We don’t submit to terror. We make the terror.” The new trailer seems to represent such efforts by the Underwoods to encourage an atmosphere of anxiety, fear, and terror within the United States.
In addition to leads Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey, House of Cards stars Michael Kelly as Douglas Stamper, Mahershala Ali as Remy Danton, Paul Sparks as Tom Yates, and Joel Kinnaman as Will Conway, Republican candidate and Frank’s opposition in the race to become President of the United States.
House of Cards Season 5 will premiere May 30 on Netflix.