A Matter of Motivation

We know what Kevin Spacey's character, Frank (Francis) Underwood, wants in House of Cards. But his wife's motivations are unclear. She is just as driven and merciless as her husband, neither of them are nice people, but she pours an awful lot of time and energy into her charity. Why?

Maybe its supposed to be a mystery, but I just find it odd. Odd to spend so much time watching Claire trying to expand her clean water empire. How is this tied in to her husband's vendettas?

Everyone else's motivations are fairly evident, just not hers, which makes time spent with her character seem... almost wasted. I'm sure it will all click into place eventually. Like when I finally figured out where I knew some of these faces from. That's the lead from Cabin in the Woods, there's that girl from Once a Thief (the TV show). It all clicks into place and you can't believe you didn't recognize them. I imagine that is how I will feel about Claire's storyline. About this whole show, really. It has the feeling of a puzzle box. A lovely, ornamented (ornamental?) puzzle box.

Seriously, this is a good looking show. About horrible people.

Is it just me, or:

• does Kevin Spacey kinda look like Russel Crowe?
• does Robin Wright have a really weird looking lower neck?
• was that Playstation Vita product placement really obvious?
• did the first shot of the second episode look out of place?
• does this show make you hungry for ribs?