Tom (Paul Sparks) continues to bring some sexual tension to the mix when "House of Cards" returns for its fifth season this summer.
Season 4 left off with Frank (Kevin Spacey) and his first lady Claire (Robin Wright) plotting against the ICO, a major terrorist group on the show. The morally corrupt president and his wife are determined to take them down to distract the public from an article that reveals their deepest and darkest secret.
Tom had an affair with the first lady last season, and executive producer Melissa James Gibson recently confirmed that he will be back. "I think that energy cannot be denied," Gibson told Entertainment Weekly with a laugh. "This season does not resist it."
The upcoming installment was written before the results of the 2016 election. Although the series revolves on a fictional storyline, producers admit that some parts of the show might mirror the current political climate in the United States. Some viewers even compared Frank to Donald Trump, but Gibson was quick to separate the similarities between the two.
"Sure, the resonance sometimes feels eerie," she stated, "but Trump is an outsider who's trying to blow up the system, and Francis is the opposite. . . . The battlefield for season five is the American psyche. That may be one parallel with our real world."
Netflix revealed the first-look photos from season 5 this week, giving some hints on where the characters may be when the show picks up. One of the photos shows Frank and Claire on the campaign trail as they try to take the two highest positions in the country. Another image shows the pair in a room by themselves as they do a toast. The photo hints that they are planning on their next move to win the election.
The fifth season of "House of Cards" premieres on Tuesday, May 30, on Netflix.
