house-cards
To nearly everyone's surprise, Season 3 of "House of Cards," starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, apparently leaked on Netflix Wednesday. Netflix

Netflix gave “House of Cards” fans a major surprise when Season 3 dropped Wednesday. But the excitement didn’t last for long. The episodes were quickly removed, but one lucky International Business Times reporter was able to download Chapter 27 before it vanished from the streaming network. The series, which stars Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood and Robin Wright as his wife, Claire, left off with Underwood assuming his role as president of the United States.

The description for the first episode reads as follows: “Chapter 27: A rocky start for the Underwood presidency. Frank wants to introduce an ambitious jobs program, while Claire sets her sights on the United Nations.”

“HoC” fans have eagerly awaited the new season but thought it would be several more weeks until they would once again get to binge-watch. Originally, Netflix said “HoC” would premiere on Feb. 27. Netflix has not issued a statement, but the “House of Cards” Twitter account sent out a cheeky tweet.

“This is Washington. There’s always a leak. All 13 episodes will launch Feb. 27.” Within minutes, the message was shared more than 2,400 times and liked 1,200 times. It also was shared by Netflix.

So was it just a marketing ploy to get people amped up? If so, it definitely worked because “House of Cards Season 3” soon became a top-trending topic on Twitter. Some comments from fans are listed below.

Spoilers for the first episode of Season 3 are to come. In the meantime, check out the trailer for the latest season, which will be available to stream, as originally scheduled, on Friday, Feb. 27.

Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella

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