Dhruv Sharma
We love shows that have great production values and breathtaking visuals like ‘Game of Thrones‘ and ‘The Walking Dead’. But we cannot deny that there are some shows out there that offer none of these and are still epic. ‘House of Cards’ is one such show that has no jaw-dropping imagery or heavy makeup effects. It is exactly what you see on your screen and the things that keep you attached to it are just the dark thrills and heavy character build up. On the surface, ‘House of Cards’ appears to be a political drama just like the 1990s mini-series it has been adapted from, and it certainly is that, but also a lot more. It’s a thriller, satire, romance story and also apart with all of this, it gives some good lessons in politics. The creator Beau Willimon apparently worked for Hillary Clinton, Bill Bradley and Howard Dean during their campaigns and his experience in politics clearly reflects in the show.
Politics has a lot to do with power and so does sex. That’s why it’s pretty obvious that sex scenes would be a big part of this show. Some shows like ‘Girls’ portray a more modern un-sexy side of sex but ‘House of Cards’ uses it to send messages across through awkward sex scenes and uneasy relationships. When you actually know the psychology behind the sex scenes and the hunger for power that is in the mind of the protagonist, that’s when you feel its true intensity. That’s exactly how it is in this show, as it makes the sex scenes much sexier than most other shows out there. It does a great job in proving that sex doesn’t necessarily have to be something that is shown in a new never-shown-before way and even if it’s kept normal, it can reveal a lot more about the characters than weird awkward sex can. With all that said, here’s the list of top steamy scenes from ‘House of Cards’:
8. Father’s Day (Season 1, Episode 7)
This scene is between the main character Frank and Zoe, a reporter with whom he’s in an affair. It’s been days since Frank has contacted Zoey and she tries to reach him by calling him all the time but there is absolutely no response from his side. Frank only gets in touch with her when he has some urgent work and otherwise just chooses to ignore her. In this instance, he wants her to write a profile about a man named Peter but she balks and instead gets her former editor drunk to later convince her to write.
Frank gets a little suspicious about Zoe’s recent behavior and to reward himself or just to get a better idea, he visits Zoe’s apartment unannounced. His expression suddenly changes when he finds Zoe’s former colleague trying to kiss her. Maybe he’s jealous or maybe he’s afraid that he will lose his only source. Even then he shows up at her door and pops open a bottle of wine. What follows is a nasty uncomfortable scene that is weirdly watchable and you won’t be able to get your eyes off. Incidentally, it was Father’s Day and Zoe talks to her Dad while Frank goes down on her. Thank you, Netflix, for this awkward yet steamy sex scene.
7. Three is a Magic Number (Season 2, Episode 11)
By the 11th episode of the second season, the brooding hunger for power is absolutely palpable. Claire and Frank have an open marriage that does bring some weird sexual twists and turns throughout the show. Meechum is another character in the second season who plays the major role of Frank’s bodyguard and his loyalty towards Frank and his wife is unshakable. The Secret Service Agent does everything in his power to make sure that the two are safe and sound and that’s where his involvement in their life goes way beyond professional.
In this particular scene, Meechum shares a drink with Claire and this slowly turns into a drunken threesome with Frank involved. There is much to say about this one because it just comes out of nowhere as a complete surprise. But there’s no doubt that the scene is hot as hell and will skyrocket your arousal. The scene only lasts for three minutes and the rest of it is just left to you and your imagination. A lot of fans were hoping they would get to see more of this threeway action in the later seasons, but no, it was just a one-time thing obviously.
6. An Unexpected Sexy Encounter (Season 2, Episode 10)
While the image of the threeway between Frank, Claire, and Meechum is still lurking in the back of our heads, further ahead in the season we get something steamier and less weird. Congresswoman Jackie had already been hooking up her lobby man Remy Danton prior to this but this is where things get a lot sexier between them. The duo has some amazing sex which marks this scene as one of the steamiest scenes in the entire series. As Remy goes ahead and pleasures Jackie, the camera focuses on her expressions, which are enough to turn you on. Jackie single-handedly manages to add some steamy spice to this episode.
Later in the episode, Jackie suffers the consequences of her actions when Claire approaches her for sponsoring her anti-sexual assault bill. But Jackie does not seem to be too impressed by it and refuses to sponsor it. This really pisses off Frank who then goes and threatens her about the fact that he knows about her relationship with her lobbyist Remy Danton. From the scene, it looked like Jackie had a really good time but only she knows whether it was worth all this trouble or not. At least for us, we know that this episode was totally worth watching because of all the politics around Jackie’s affair and sex life.
5. Racheal and Lisa Hooking Up (Season 2, Episode 11)
There had been some past build up between Racheal and Lisa but this was totally unexpected. For some strange reason, a lot of filmmakers are drawn towards lesbian romances and that’s probably because it is something their viewers want as well. Even a survey had once concluded that the most searched porn on popular porn websites is lesbian porn. So it should come as no surprise that sometimes lesbian sex scenes are even forcefully placed in show and movies and here in this scene, that is definitely the case.
Placed randomly or on purpose with a hidden agenda, we don’t really care. Here, Racheal, too, finally seems to be happy in the show and we are happy for her. We don’t understand how human sexuality works and why so many men enjoy watching women who are not even interested in men, but we are loving it — that’s all we know.
4. Claire’s Surprise (Season 1, Episode 6)
Claire (Robin Wright) discovers that their former bodyguard, whose name is Steve (Chance Kelly), has cancer and is dying in the hospital. Claire decides to go visit him in the hospital and then the two get talking about everything in general. That’s when Steve confesses to Claire that he has always been in love with her and it’s something he has always wanted to let out but just couldn’t. Claire instantly reciprocates to this and slowly slips her hand under the sheets. She gives him a handjob right there at the hospital.
Like the Father’s Day scene, this one too comes as a shock and is equally disturbing. But here is what we understand from this one: we already saw the dark side of Frank in the Father’s Day scene. This is where we get to see Claire’s darker side and it makes us understand that Claire and Frank are no different. In fact, they’re so similar they almost play the perfect couple. We’ve seen some great chemistry and romances on screen between various TV couples but this one is just something out of this world.
3. The Grand Entry of Xander Feng (Season 2, Episode 5)
The second season of ‘House of Cards’ was just too much to handle, so this crazy scene has surely been forgotten by most. The fifth episode of season 2 opens up with a scene where Chinese businessman Xander Feng (Terry Chen) shows that he has some weird kinky sexual fetishes. He is strapped up to a bed with a plastic bag covering his face while he is receiving oral sex from a man or a woman. His fetishes or anything related to this scene are never really brought up later in the show, but an intro like this is enough to make the presence of the man, who would later go on to play an unwitting role in the downfall of the President, felt. Politics is surely a dirty business but it’s really hard to wrap our heads around the fact that the president has a trade partner who enjoys asphyxiation during sex.
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2. Awkward Love Making (Season 3, Episode 2)
Apart from the threesome with their bodyguard, we don’t really see Frank and Claire “making love” in the series except for this one instance. Claire comes back home from work and finds Frank in his office where he is in the middle of all shambles. Claire just awkwardly unzips her pants and climbs on top of him to have sex. After this awkward sex they have, Frank kisses Claire and then just rushes back to his office with a new sense of purpose.
This was clearly something that both of them needed at a time when they were both losing followers and their lives were completely messed up. From this scene, it’s clear why both of them look for others to satisfy their sexual desires and also how Frank is completely unstable on the inside. He’s never really able to act properly without others having his back all the time and in their marriage, where sex almost did not exist, it is the only thing that could bring hope in not just Frank’s life but Claire’s as well. Throughout the show, it was Claire who offered Frank help and it was never the other way around. It is pretty much the same in this scene where a dynamic shift in power can be observed in their marriage. But that does not make this scene any less disturbing.
1. Claire Demands Rough Sex (Season 3, Episode 13)
In the last episode of season 3, Claire walks into Frank’s room and demands rough sex. Prior to this, Claire does not even show up for his victory speech because their marriage was completely in the rocks. She starts slapping him, not taking no for an answer and Frank almost chokes her out, which fulfills both of their intentions at that moment. Right from the beginning of the show, it is made clear that for both Frank and Claire, sex is nothing but a symbol of power. Even during the bodyguard scene, they never really let him be on top. When Frank was at his absolute lowest, Claire had managed to rejuvenate him through sex and now she expects him to do the same because Frank, now, is at his absolute peak. She tries to dominate Frank by imposing a sense of power over him but this leaves her even more disappointed than ever.
Frank may be in power at the moment but when Claire asks him to have rough sex while looking into her eyes, he backs off. This is when he realizes that they are both equals and he still respects her way too much. He also realizes that he cannot treat her the way she demands to be treated. By the end of this, it becomes clear to Frank and to her that she could still be something without him, but he is absolutely nothing without her. Claire shows up minutes later and tells him that she’s leaving. It was clear from the beginning itself that their marriage was loveless all along but who knew it would boil down to something like this?!
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