it's been a while since i watched seasons 1 and 2 but i remember being a bit disappointed when he killed people because i liked the idea that we were watching a show about someone who has to politically manipulate everything, not someone who can just resort to saying "well ok, can't get this with psychological tactics, guess i'll just kill"
I couldn't put my finger on it but this is it. I'm usually a proponent of killing off your characters but this is why the show died to me even during S1, though I really gave it a good try for another two seasons.
I thought season one was totally fine and interesting because it was the buildup of the entire season, felt like it had gravity and consequences, everyone was careful, and the character was going to be playing cover up for the rest of his life.
The series was ruined in a few ways- first, when they got rid of consequences, and people could just kill whimsically. In season 1 they had to build this bullet proof background of alcoholism and depression. In season 2 they just walk past some security cameras, push someone into a train and hope the police never check her text messages. That one incident could've been sort of okay, and was a neat subversion of expextations, but they just kept getting zanier from there
Second, the whole series was predicated on the somehow special relationship between Frank and claire. In season 3 I think it was revealed they were just poor communicators, and that ruined any mystique that was left. It just became a normal drama ---
You did indeed stab me in the back. However, you are only level one, whilst I am level 50. That means I should remain uninjured.