SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers about the entirety of Season 4 of House of Cards.
The writers of House of Cards know one saying to be true: Life is stranger than fiction.
This year, the Netflix political drama borrows heavily from today's headlines to build its scandalous plot. From a KKK scandal to a familiar-sounding terrorist organization, here are seven ways this season mirrors real-world politics -- for better and worse.
1. The KKK scandal
Who knew there'd be a real Ku Klux Klan scandal in this year's election? Last month, Republican candidate Donald Trump received campaign approval from David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the KKK. In a CNN interview, Trump alleged he knew "nothing" about Duke, and would have to do research before deciding to "disavow" him.
In HoC, it's revealed that Frank Underwood's father went to a KKK meeting and took a photo with a Klan member. This bubbles up into a huge scandal, opening up the dark racist history in Underwood's home state South Carolina and ultimately losing him precious voters.
2. Emailgate
Last year, current presidential candidate Hillary Clinton decided to mitigate her email scandal by making her emails available for public access -- after it became known that she was using a personal email address on a private server, rather than a government-issued email address.
In the show, Republican candidate Will Conway (Joel Kinnaman) boldly decides to make the contents of his phone available to the public once they start questioning his work with Pollyhop. The Google-esque site has been collecting information on voters, so Conway tries to assuage nerves by being an open book.
3. ICO vs. ISIS
This season introduces a terrorist group known as the Islamic Caliphate Organization, or ICO for short. They're merciless and Internet-savvy, which makes them a clear analog for real life terror organization ISIS (right down to the similar org names). Both groups are also known for taking civilians hostage, ultimately making videos of crude and violent beheadings and sharing them online.
4. Gun drama
The memes would be out of control if Michelle Obama did something like this.
After Frank gets shot, Claire makes gun control laws her issue du jour. She holds a press conference to discuss the matter, dramatically picking up and wielding two different guns. The press conference also touches on victims who had been killed (RIP Meechum) by the lack of gun regulations.
In the real world, debate about gun laws has been raging for years. In 2015, there was reportedly one mass shooting per day in America.
In addition, Republican candidates this year have been playing up their affinity for gun culture as a means to appeal to the far right. Candidate Marco Rubio said he bought a gun in order to protect his family from an ISIS invasion or attack. And last month, former candidate Jeb(!) Bush sent out this tweet.
As expected, the memes soon came rolling in.
5. A surprise frontrunner with little experience
In a (carefully plotted) turn of events, Claire Underwood becomes the frontrunner to be Frank Underwood's vice president. Though we as an audience know she's a clever, political-minded leader, she's had minimal professional experience for the job.
Enter Donald Trump, who's seen a quick and sudden rise to the forefront of the GOP. The businessman, who's never actually held office and has zero legitimate political experience, is the current frontrunner for the Republican party's presidential nomination.
6. An open seat in Supreme Court
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died on Feb. 13 at the age of 79. Now President Obama faces the task of nominating a replacement during an election year, which presents a difficult challenge.
Similarly, a seat on the Supreme Court is now empty in House of Cards, and Underwood has an opportunity to fill it -- though he's also battling for re-election and faces challenges of his own. It's not much of a plot point this season, but could be huge next season.
7. A power couple in the running
Much has been made of the similarities between Frank and Claire Underwood and Bill and Hillary Clinton. The comparisons are more obvious than ever this season, considering Hillary's run for president, and Claire's run for VP. In addition, Claire makes it her mission to be an active, effective First Lady, much like Hillary was during Bill's time in office.
Bonus: The president really drew a hand outline on a White House wall
Just kidding!
But, like, we don't know for sure if it's never happened.
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