House of Cards is easily the best-written show on television. Period. There is no argument, no close seconds, not even a glimmer of competition. It blows everything else out of the water to a point where there really is no valid contender. This fact (yes, fact) is accompanied by serenely beautiful camera work and acting of such a high caliber that the majority of Hollywood is put to shame.

Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright slip almost too comfortably into the identities of Washington D.C.’s most brilliant political masterminds, Frank and Claire Underwood. As the third season turns up the heat, the couple repeatedly find themselves at odds with one another. Beau Willimon, House of Card’s creator and show runner, opts to use Season 3 as a canvas to delve deeper into the underbelly of the Underwood’s personal lives, in which there is plenty to be found.

Starting with the season opener, Frank Underwood, now President of the United States (see previous seasons), travels to his home town of Gaffney, South Carolina in order to pay his respects to his late father. The visit looks nothing short of sentimental until Underwood is alone at the gravesite, in which he reveals (in typical fourth wall breaking fashion) that he has never had much respect for his father. He continues to tell us that his only reason for visiting the grave at all was to make him appear more human.

“Oh I wouldn’t be here if I had a choice,” Frank says. “But, I have to do these sorts of things now. Makes me seem a little more human. And you have to be a little human when you’re president.”

More than anything, this lets viewers know that the Underwoods have not changed. The scheming, exuberant lying, melodramatic attitudes, and love for theatrics still remains within the couple during their time at the White House.

A great deal of what makes Season 3 so stunning lies in Robin Wright’s performance as Claire. Up until now, she mirrored her husband as an equally scheming, cold, and power-craving political monster. Throughout the season, Claire begins to see the moral flaws in her husband’s ambitions and starts to question her own. This only gives viewers a deeper insight into the Underwood’s personal history, making the third season of House of Card’s it’s absolute best to date.