Peter Russo, "House of Cards"

Any fan of Netflix’s “House of Cards” knows that it is not for the faint of heart. If a character starts to become a moral compass, they’re probably going to die, and that is exactly what happened to Peter Russo, played by Corey Stoll in the very first season.

Although I myself am fortunate enough to have never had a problem with substance or alcohol abuse, but I have seen up close how it slowly eats away at someone who really could have been a great person.

I can’t help but love Peter Russo. When we meet him, he is a member of the House of Representatives, divorced but still affectionate father and secretly seeing his executive assistant Christina Gallagher. He and his wife Madalyn however do not appear to be on good terms. He’s bad, but not that bad.

Then, the manipulative House Majority Whip Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey enters his life and it’s all downhill from there.

Peter Russo was arrested for a DUI and soliciting a prostitute and Frank Underwood is able to cover up both charges by bribing the Chief of Police. After that, Peter Russo follows his direction and does not testify against the closing of a shipyard; this closure resulted in the loss of 1,200 jobs and alienation from Peter Russo’s hometown supporters.

He starts receiving angry letters and phone calls which drive him into depression and he thus falls back into his old self-destructive habits. He begins to neglect his children and Christina thus further isolating himself.

Peter Russo is able to pull himself together though and resumes his attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Frank Underwood then convinces him to run for governor as part of his “come back.”

Underwood then sends Rachel Posner, a prostitute to a fundraising party that Peter Russo is attending and she teases him into an all-night drinking binge. This results in Peter Russo botching a radio interview and effectively ending his campaign.

The drinking and erratic behavior continues until Peter Russo makes his way to the police station to atone for past crimes, until he is intercepted by Doug Stamper. Frank Underwood then drives him back to his apartment, waits for him to pass out drunk and then starts the ignition, shuts the garage door and leaves Peter Russo in the car to die.

The reason this character and his story pulls at my heartstrings so much is because most people don’t reach their full potential until they have gone through some sort of adversity. I would say alcoholism would do the trick.

Our initial exposure to Peter Russo is kind of heartwarming. Yes, he’s rough around the edges, but you can tell that he’s trying really hard to be a good person and he’s got a lot of love in his heart, especially for his kids.

We were watching him fall in love with Christina, be more of a presence in the lives of his children and really respond to his constituents. If it hadn’t been for Frank Underwood, I really believe this character could have pulled it together because he was so, so close.

That’s why this hits home for me. Sometimes all it takes is one manipulative person to outsmart you and destroy how much of yourself you were able to rebuild.

Although I think it is important for everyone to experience adversity, it is not without its pitfalls and Peter Russo certainly knew that. It is also not without the occasional relapse or residual struggles that pop up every now and then. Frank Underwood knew very well how to take advantage of a person in their weakest moments and he used Peter Russo’s to murder him.

It’s terrifying to me, to think that there are people out there that are both smart enough and cruel enough to pull something like this off, even if it doesn’t result in something as severe as the loss of a life.

What we can learn from Peter Russo is that although are most vulnerable self is sometimes our best self, it is imperative that we guard it closely and only show it to the people that deserve it. Peter Russo lacked the self-control to choose his moments of vulnerability and he punished in the most gruesome of ways for it.