Fans felt like "House of Cards" season 3 did not have all the action the first two seasons had and showrunner Beau Willimon admitted to E! Online that they "took a lot of risks" with it as they wanted to explore the emotional aspect of the series.
Season 3 of the Netflix series focused on Claire and Frank's collapsing relationship. By the end of the run, "House of Cards" fans are left to wonder if Frank Underwood can function without his wife, who called it quits at the end of the season.
"We wanted to delve deeper into the emotional story. We wanted a little less political intrigue and a little more of the emotional flux. We wanted to tell the story of the marriage," Willimon said.
In a separate interview, this time with The Hollywood Reporter, the showrunner acknowledged that much of the strength from "House of Cards" stems to the marriage and digging into it meant that "there's no turning back."
"We also realized we'd laid the groundwork in the previous two seasons for this conflict between Francis and Claire, and the more we began exploring it, the more inevitable it became. And the more exciting it was for us to travel that emotional terrain."
Willimon is well aware of the divided reception to season 3 of "House of Cards" and revealed that he is "interested in what [fans] have to say." Although he emphasized that they would not deliver a season fashioned by fans' responses, Willimon is very much willing to take into consideration their views.
"I think there were a lot of fans that really appreciated that. And for a lot of them, this turn that we took made it their favorite season," he went on to say but admitted that "there were people who wanted to see the Underwoods kick butt in their usual fashion."
Fans are now left to wonder how different things will be now that Doug is back and Claire has walked out. For now though, Willimon says that "that's what [they] want people sucking on like a lozenge for however many months until [they] release the next season."
"House of Cards" season 4 will begin production next month.
