"House of Cards| season 4 momentarily saw the return of Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) but only as a hallucination while Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) was sedated for his liver transplant. According to Ecumenical News, it may be an indication that these hallucinations will continue on to haunt Frank in season 5.
According to the report, it is possible that Frank will continue to be haunted by these hallucinations of Zoe due to his own guilt and regrets over all the things he had done in the past four seasons. This may lead to Frank eventually succumbing to depression or making a crucial mistake in season 5, leading to his eventual death.
It was previously reported that Frank may be killed off this upcoming fifth season in order to mirror how the original U.K. series ended and because season 5 will no longer have Beau Willimon as the showrunner. If this goes as planned then Frank will be assassinated by the end of season 5 and the hallucinations may be leading toward this end.
The character of Zoe Barnes was prominent in season 1 as an ambitious reporter working with Frank behind the shadows to get good political scoops. However, the character later pieced together how Frank may have killed Peter Russo (Corey Stoll) and this forced Frank to kill her, pushing her in front of a train.
According to the report, Frank will have much more to deal with other than his own guilt and thoughts about Zoe Barnes. Frank's wife Claire (Robin Wright) has now successfully garnered her position as the vice president of the United States and she may be aiming to take him down in order to take his position.
Netflix has yet to announce whether or not this rumor has any grain of truth to it but it will become clearer once casting for the fifth season is revealed.
"House of Cards" season 5 is expected to launch on Netflix in early 2017.
