Surprise! House of Cards just dealt NZ a hand

Too late. With the Under­woods at war, "House of Cards" opens the doors on its most diabolical season yet.

"The show is an absolute masterpiece and it will be a pleasure to see Kevin Spacey resume the role of Frank Underwood for another season".

For an all new season of "House of Cards" is just around the corner. Leading up to season four, Frank relied heavily on others to do his dirty work for him. The majority of viewers have had to wait almost a year after binge-watching the previous season on Netflix - a grueling ordeal revealing the virtue of extreme patience. But actress Robin Wright has proven to be just as much Spacey's equal as Claire is to Frank. With their partnership fractured and Frank's fortunes in jeopardy, the Texas native Claire begins to let her suppressed grand ambitions for office take hold.

As the show comes into its fourth season this weekend, it's clear that while some of those struts are firm and able to bear Underwood's burden, an ever-increasing amount are threatening to snap under the weight if they haven't already.

The battle of power has engulfed the Underwoods and Spacey's character struggled during his presidential campaign in season 3. Frank is on his way to New Hampshire, where he trails his chief rival for the nomination, Heather Dunbar (Elizabeth Marvel), by double digits in the polls.

Studies add more evidence of Zika's risk to pregnant women
The cells died or failed to divide normally, which in a fetus would stall brain development - the hallmark of microcephaly. They sent the cells and a pair of experienced graduate students to Florida and then to Emory to assist in the research.

Also getting into the mix is Jackie Sharp, though she always seems one or two steps behind the rest of the pack.

The episode finally revved up the real entertainment engine of House of Cards halfway through when Claire and Frank and their operatives got down to the business of dealmaking.

Cast your minds back to season two; former Washington Herald reporter Lucas Goodwin (Sebastian Arcelus) spent the majority of his episode count attempting to expose Underwood's corruption, taking over from the murdered Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara). "'"House of Cards" is as trashy and over-the-top as "Scandal" without the restrictions of network television".

The first few episodes of season four are split between Frank's re-election and Claire forming a strategy for life post-FLOTUS. Claire Underwood is still a bit shaken up from her trip to Russian Federation to rescue political prisoner and LGBT activist Michael Corrigan.