While the second season of Netflix’s hit original series “House of Cards” fell short in its storyline, the third season came roaring back for fans Feb. 27 with the same focus that it began with two years ago: the ruthlessness of part-time politician and full-time tyrant Francis J. Underwood.

Underwood, who is played by Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey, has always been a tyrant. Through countless undercuts to both colleagues and superiors, he’s knocked them down (or murdered them) episode after episode to claim the Oval Office, which he so devilishly does at the end of season two’s finale with two quick fists on the Resolute desk.

As a fan of many hit TV dramas that have passed through my apartment in the past few years (i.e. “Breaking Bad,” “True Detective,” “The Walking Dead,” “Game of Thrones,” etc.), I’d like to think I know character development when I see it, and that’s all I saw during my weekend binge of “House of Cards”— which was completely and utterly thunderous, both in its execution and in the emotion it drug out of me. With hair now gray, a heart at subzero temperatures and blood still clotting under his nails, Underwood has never been so, well, evil. We see him square off in a manner of an entirely different scale, though not alone this time.

Claire (Robin Wright)—now first lady—has always been a fan-favorite, though I’m eager to see her popularity grow tenfold as viewers and critics have the chance to see her as the powerful woman she is, more so in season three than in season two when she was an inarguably feminist figure openly discussing rape, abortion and other social issues facing women today.

Now we see her transcend above and beyond her past role as a businesswoman and novice politician; we see her as human—stripped bare of all other responsibilities and focused on her fears, her doubts about her marriage and her appetite for more than both she and her husband bargain for.

While Frank and Claire’s relationship unravels up to a terrifying cliffhanger, Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly), Gavin Orsay (Jimmi Simpson), Heather Dunbar (Elizabeth Marvel), Jackie Sharp (Molly Parker)—a personal favorite from season two—and a slew of other characters give proof that an underlying storyline can, in fact, work to a show’s advantage. This season shows a perfect balance of main and supporting characters, and I ate it up. Season three focuses on President Underwood’s “America Works” program—a controversial initiative mirroring Roosevelt’s “New Deal” that would incinerate programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in order to build a surplus of billions of dollars to make an equal amount of jobs nationwide.

The plan is not supported by most, but Underwood’s blind desire to get it running drags him and his wife through the mud and the blood like they’ve never experienced—all of which is chronicled by Underwood’s biographer Thomas Yates (Paul Sparks), who quickly became my season favorite after his brutally profound monologue in episode 10.

All three critically acclaimed “House of Cards” seasons are available for streaming on Netflix.