‘House Of Cards’ Star Boris McGiver On Why His Character Wants Justice For Zoe Barnes

Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) died at the hands of her lover, Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey), during the start of “House of Cards” Season 2, but the ghost of her death still hounds her killer even after several seasons later.

This Season 5, journalist Tom Hammerschmidt (Boris McGiver) is fighting the powerful Underwood couple in order to give Zoe’s death some justice.

READ: Is this character gone for good in ‘House of Cards’ Season 5?

When The Hollywood Reporter asked McGiver why it was so important for his character to bring the Underwoods down, he answered that it was because of the relationship his character shared with Zoe. “Zoe was sort of under his wing and care. There was a parental, child thing and he felt that he [expletive] up, he didn’t treat her properly and he didn’t take care of that relationship,” he explained.

McGiver suspects Hammerschmidt feels guilty and lonely and that he does not care that he is the only one going against the Underwoods. In the end, his determination forced Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly) to take the fall for his boss. But Hammerschmidt is not buying it, and McGiver believes he is still going to cause some trouble for the Underwoods.

“I think we would all love them to pay a just due for their crime. But there’s presidential pardons and a bunch of ways to get around that,” he said. “The hope is certainly, in Tom’s mind, that I take them down and [Frank] pays for it and he goes to jail. Will they actually pay for it? I’m going to leave that up to the writers. It would send a great message because this show hits some deep chords with people across all spectrums, including the political spectrum.”

Frank has definitely killed a lot of people throughout all five seasons of “House of Cards,” but his wife Claire (Robin Wright) committed her first one this season. While they were making love, she surprisingly murdered her confidante, Tom Yates (Paul Sparks).

This move meant that Claire was willing to take things to the next level in her quest for power. When Season 6 comes, Wright said her character will take on more and more challenges just like her husband. “All I can tell you is after Season 5, things are complicated and interesting for Frank. And things are going to become very interesting for Claire,” she teased.

“House of Cards” Season 5 premiered on May 30 on Netflix.