Can anyone explain the intrigue between Frank, Raymond Tusk, and Xander Feng in season 2 of HoC? I have no idea what’s going on or what each party is trying to achieve.
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Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society.
The whole details are a little complicated. The whole season is like a giant spider web. But basically Feng and Tusk stand to get rich if the White House will back their project(s), a bridge and rare earth materials from China used in power generation. Frank wants to separate the President from Tusk’s influence and money (in order to undermine the President’s position), so he decides it will also be effective to separate Feng and Tusk from each other as well, thereby making it harder for the President to know what to do. He does this by acting as the go-between from the President to Feng, but then lying about what is said so that Feng looks unreliable and dishonest. Feng and Tusk respond with a couple of counter-offensive strategies, including funneling money through Indian gaming casinos to PACs opposed to the current administration, and also by declaring a sort of energy war against the White House via the nuclear power plants that Tusk owns and that may not be able to get the rare earth materials he needs. Tusk also goes after Frank’s connections, including attacks on his wife (via her affair with the photographer) and the BBQ guy (who has a criminal background himself and a felon son stupid enough to pull guns on reporters).
In fact, Feng’s long been part of a Drop-Chinese-Money-At-Lanigan’s-Indian-Casino operation, which Lanigan has then spent in support of whichever candidates Tusk secretly designates; a lot of Dems got into power without even knowing who was really bankrolling the crucial ads in question.
As soon as Tusk figures the Dems are suddenly bad for business (specifically, his business with China), he directs that said money dry up for the Dems and go GOP. Also, Feng’s a bit of a wild card, in that his entrepreneurial schemes occasionally put him at odds with The Powers That Be back home – they want the US to drop a particular he sees a chance to personally make some money off us keeping it up – but the details are unimportant, so long as you realize that’s also part of what’s muddying his back-channel negotiations with the VP et al.
This season struck me as way more contrived and happy-coincidence-driven than the first, and that’s saying something.
Still fun, though.
I binge watched my way through this season and now am left empty and cold at the prospect of no more episodes until February 2015. That’s going to be a long wait…dammit.
Love the show.
Have you watched the British episodes as well? That might ease the pain some.
Excellent idea. I’ve been wondering what to watch next. Thanks!