No she was elected in 2000. She ran while still First Lady. And actually was sworn in while still First Lady, since Congress convenes two weeks before Inauguration.

I feel like there's too much of an age gap to make that work (unless she was a student of his or something) but that would be an interesting twist

I sort of took the comment as a PTSD allusion. That having another child may make Alison and Cole very nervous, given whatever happened to their older one, and perhaps they will need the help.

I don't think Alicia's an awful person. I think she's a lonely person. And we see this now in her dealings with Cary—she's unable to trust his judgment, trust HIM on anything because everyone else in the series she has trusted has eventually betrayed her or let her down in some way. (On the other hand—that's life! No…

I think the problem is Alicia doesn't wear her feminism on her sleeve the way Diane does. And honestly, a lot of the attitudes Alicia has had towards women in this series are a little anti-feminist. Think about "Marthas and Caitlins"—she wants to hire the quiet, unassuming one, not the bubbly blonde who she thinks…

I'm not a religious person by any means, but as a lawyer, I found the idea of religious arbitration fascinating. But I thought the best part was showing how the lawyers and witnesses transferred the trial to the new setting—word for word. So many times trials are portrayed as venues for totally spontaneous…

Ha, I didn't know that. That's so perfect

I agree he tipped cartoonishly into Villain-Land here. But I'm trying to figure out how this looks through his eyes. What was his background before he became the state's attorney? Was he in private practice or already working in the SA's office? Either way, he watches Peter, then Glenn Childs, then Peter again, make a…

If the show was just Catherine and Mary sitting in thrones, sniping at each other, I would watch the hell out of it

I do not. But I do find it odd that Lemond "I'm just here to discuss my business holdings" Bishop apparently had a conversation with Cary, however veiled it may have been, in front of several of his associates. If so, I don't think attorney-client privilege would attach to the conversation. Bishop's way more careful…

I love "Chandelier" but I read the lyrics the opposite way from you—she doesn't really want to be the party girl, but that's how everyone knows her and how she knows herself, so it's easiest to just keep drinking.

I agree. I stopped watching midway through this season when I realized I didn't actually like any of the characters, except probably Mellie and David Rosen. I read the recaps to see where the storyline went, which saves me the trouble of fast-forwarding through Huck/Quinn and Olivia/Fitz scenes.

Depends on your clearance. So yeah, I'm guessing that by now someone has found a way to get Olivia top-level clearance. For me, this wasn't as bad as the scene in Homeland where Brody was allowed to have his cell phone on him in the secure room in the Pentagon.

That's a good point, I'd forgotten Finn just walked out of her bedroom.

I agree that the Peter-Alicia scene was tonally off. To me, it read more that the writers decided on an outcome and worked backwards. Peter's a bastard, sure, and he's always suspected Alicia has loved Will more than him, which is why I can see him reacting badly to her mourning Will. But that comment at the end about…

Bahhh, this. Totally this.

So tangential that Underwood's not even a senator, he's a member of the House :) (I'm agreeing with you by the way, not only trying to be a smartass.) I would enjoy House of Cards much more if it stopped trying to pretend this is how Congress "really" works.

I don't really see how or why it matters if Fitz shot down the plane (that's not so much a question for you as it is for Shonda). Was he supposed to ask for a passenger manifest first?

I'm loving the character but I can't shake the feeling Kudrow was miscast. It's just her voice. I hear it and immediately think of Phoebe. She looks the part and her acting is great but the tone of her voice will always be "ditzy" to me.

I assumed he had more time added to his sentence after he escaped and went to the tropical island.