‘House of Cards’ Season 6: Series Canceled Or Renewed By Netflix?

House of Cards Season 6 has yet to be confirmed by Netflix, but it looks highly unlikely that the 13-episode Season 5, released on May 30, might end up being the show’s swansong season.

The fifth installment of the award-winning series ended with the new President Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) staring at the camera and saying, “My turn.” She became the President after Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) resigned. The final episode of House of Cards Season 5 also saw her sending an indirect message to her husband that she was not going to pardon him.

The developments of Season 5, especially the final episode, have provided enough unresolved conflicts that could power the show for another season, as well as beyond House of Cards Season 6. Also, the Underwood couple has yet to get their comeuppance for the gruesome crimes they continue to commit. The final season would probably explore the couple’s spectacular downfall, which did not happen in Season 5.

Moreover, House of Cards‘ new showrunners Melissa James Gibson and Frank Pugliese, who took over the reins of the show from creator Beau Willimon post-Season 4, seem to be positive about Season 6. In their interviews, they have been talking about what is next and the questions that the new season will answer.

When TV Line asked Gibson and Pugliese whether LeAnn Harvey(Neve Campbell) was indeed dead, Pugliese refused to confirm, saying “We don’t need to confirm that. Who knows? [House of Cards] Season 6 will tell us.”

The House of Cards Season 5 finale showed LeAnn’s wrecked car, but her dead body was not shown. The missing body has set off speculation about her surviving the accident, although Frank Underwood commented, “Sometimes you don’t have to watch the whole movie to know how it ends.”

The new season is also set to answer the question what happened to Catherine Durant (Jayne Atkinson). Frank Underwood pushed her down a flight of stairs to stop her from testifying in a special committee. House of Cards Season 5 did not reveal her condition. Pugliese said that they would answer what happened to her in Season 6.

“She’s injured enough where she can’t testify, which was [Frank’s] goal. Or she’s injured enough that she realizes if she testified something worse could happen to her. But we’ll find out how bad off she is [in Season 6].”

Also, Pugliese said that Zoe’s (Kate Mara) murder case was not completely closed after Doug (Michael Kelly) falsely confessed to killing her. He said that there was doubt in Hammerschmidt’s [Boris McGiver] mind that would not go away.

Pugliese said that Doug had no clue how the rest of his confession was going to play out.

“Doug has been haunted by what he’s done [to Rachel], and Frank and Claire take advantage of this and set him up in a way. He still doesn’t know what happened to Leann. He still doesn’t know how the rest of his so-called confession is going to play out. These are all open questions.”

House of Cards Season 6 is likely to explore the new power dynamics. Frank Underwood is not going to stop being power hungry or shed his desire to be in control of the White House. Pugliese told Entertainment Weekly (EW) that he would never let go his relationship with the White House, adding that it was something he would want his hands on.

Gibson said that Frank Underwood told Claire that his resignation and her Presidency would enable them to control all of it, from the outside and the inside.”That’s his vision of it, and what she will be willing or not willing to do in that regard will be one of the questions we will dig into,” Gibson told EW.

The new season’s theme is likely to revolve around where does the real power lie when it comes to American politics. Also, Frank Underwood and Claire Underwood are expected to continue with their Machiavellian stratagems — in Season 6, it may be to outsmart each other and show who is in control.

House of Cards Season 6, which in all probability may get renewed by Netflix, might premiere sometime in the first half of 2018.

[Featured Image by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Netflix]