I managed to finish the latest season last night and, like most I've spoken to or read, am getting seriously diminishing returns out of the show, largely because it seems to have fallen into the trap of so many initially successful series that start out with a clear focus and then begin to meander once the creators realize they have something of value that they may be able to extend beyond its natural lifespan.

In this case, the most frustrating part of the show is that it seems to want you to forget for long stretches the fact that its protagonist is a ruthless, murdering sociopath and instead invest yourself in the turbulence of his marriage or whether his policy initiatives are failing or succeeding, when really we're all watching to a) see him ever more savagely scratch and claw his way to ever greater power and b) see how it all comes crashing down. There's a slim chance that what we saw in the last three episodes of this season - Underwood ever more isolated and (needlessly) aggressive to even his close allies - is the beginning of b), but I have a hard time believing Netflix will actually allow their flagship show to come to an end next season, as dramatically appropriate as that might be. And while the few glimpses of a) we got were entertaining, it's far less interesting than when he was an underdog (as much as the majority whip of the US Senate can be an underdog). Even in the White House, Underwood never seemed to bring the full force of the presidency to bear on his many antagonists, which could have been really fun to watch. For example, it would have been ridiculously ballsy for the show to do, but I was honestly hoping that when Petrov/Putin demanded his wife's resignation that Underwood would literally start a war with Russia instead of dumping her as ambassador.

And also, is he willing to state publicly that he is a better president than Frank Underwood?

I especially enjoyed how events from the first and second seasons came full circle, with nearly every character from those seasons making an appearance. The show is reminding me more and more of Breaking Bad albeit Frank doesn't get more evil as the show progresses, but in regards to the theme that all actions have consequences and his actions continue to rise to new extremes. After the finale, I don't see how he can go any farther than this.

Who else thinks it was staged?

It crossed my mind once the family was taken hostage, and it snowballed until the end.

A more pressing question is if that scene also means Claire will be speaking to us as well.

Frank vs. Frank