Motherhood, and Claire's opposition to it, has been a recurring theme in the show, though less so in season 4. Not having children is a decision both she and Frank made, but it's Claire who takes on the burden of that choice. We learn about her three abortions, one of which she tried to pass off as a response to a rape (it was actually Frank's). We hear her tell a pregnant colleague that she is "willing to let that child wither and die inside you." What we don't get is a fuller explanation of exactly why she chose to not be a mother, besides the fact that she's presented as icy, ruthless, and about as good with kids as Joan Crawford.

This season's interactions between Claire and her mother, Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn), did shed some light on the fractures in her family life. Was that tense mother-daughter relationship a factor in her decision, supported by marrying the kind of guy who pisses on his father's grave? Claire and Elizabeth's relationship softens at the end, with the two women reminiscing about Claire's baby teeth. Still, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what she's feeling.

Ultimately, Claire Underwood is an iceberg. She's frosty, yes, but with hidden depths that can be both terrifying and surprising. She has no children, but she has "mothered" a variety of schemes. Some of them, such as her background check bill, ended up being terminated. Others (the Michael Corrigan deal) were lost through no fault of her own.

Claire is not cold because she's not a mother. She's not not a mother simply because she's cold. There must be more to it. Will season 5 pursue it?