And the hits just keep on coming.

After a series of wildly disturbing allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct came to light over the last week or so, Kevin Spacey has been "suspended" from his lead role as President Frank Underwood in Netflix's House of Cards. The news came late last night from Media Rights Capital, a lead producer on the series, and is thought to be a legally necessary first step toward eventually terminating Spacey form the series wholesale, according to sources that spoke to Variety. One has to imagine that Ridley Scott and company are thanking their lucky stars that Spacey is in heavy-duty makeup in the upcoming All the Money in the World, and that his role is seemingly limited in the film's narrative.

We'll have to wait to see how all these allegations land but the more immediate question is just how this will affect the production on House of Cards' sixth season. The upcoming season has been suspended from productions in light of the allegations and much of the news that has followed has suggested that the show should open with Frank Underwood's assassination and continue on with Robin Wright, who plays Claire Underwood, in the lead role. Another far more obvious choice would be that the show simply end with the season finale to the last season and just let the show, which hasn't even been entertaining for three seasons now,

I'm more on the side of seeing what a season with Wright in the lead role would look like and if they would take any steps to confront the tumultuous behind-the-scenes drama in the narrative. That's mostly just my personal curiosity though. There is absolutely no reason that this narrative should continue on past where it has arrived, with Claire and Frank holding court over the country...still. And in the age of Trump, a series like Veep, for all its own narrative repetition and lack of distinct style, is far more insightful about the nonsensical, hugely wasteful, and merciless mechanics that drive Washington D.C.'s power elite than House of Cards has ever been. Either way, it's unlikely that we'll be seeing much of Spacey's Underwood again and it's a similar long shot that we'll be seeing much of Spacey himself in films in general in the near future.