I agree, I was disappointed with the season as well.

I don't think it stems from Frank already having the power that drove him so far, I think
the main feature of the show is him being a (borderline criminal) mastermind which
plays everyone including the viewers. I just loved the plays in the 2nd season, we saw
nearly none in this one.

I think I have some post in this thread saying that the show isn't at all about the
narrative, it's the meta stuff like how ruthless the characters are and so on. But
this season, it's just... some things happen.

I also agree that Claire is wtf mode; that being said, Robin Wright was *amazing*.

There is one thing I think this season got really really well: there's a LOT of
really cool symbolism. I'll give you two examples.

When Dunbar meets Frank through the back door she thinks she's the one in charge,
tricking him into seeing her and obv she thinks she has the upper hand. But Frank is
literally looking down on her, posing authoritative from the top of the ladder. This is
in stark contrast with the other powerfull scene set in the same place, where him
and Putin, ahem, Viktor discuss as equals.

The other one I can remember right now is when Claire is reading the story about
the spider and she asks the kids whether to let her out or not. This is where I think
the actress is simply brilliant: her face, smiling because the situation asks for it,
her struggle inside which poses the exact same question; it seemed to me that in her
desperation this wasn't a rhetorical question, she ran out of people to come to for
advice and was asking the kids for help. When an actor can tell so much in a couple of
seconds it's just amazing.