With this in mind, I've listed those most likely to be murdered in House of Cards season 3, which should find its way to Netflix around January 2015. While it’s extremely unlikely that all of these characters will be killed off, all of these characters should be a little bit apprehensive about hanging out on subway platforms if you know what I mean.

Raymond Tusk – There are certainly very few people who Frank Underwood would rather see six-feet-under than Tusk, his chief rival for President Walker’s loyalties. However, despite their antagonistic past, by the end of Season 2 Underwood and Tusk are no longer at cross purposes. Let’s face it – Underwood is a cold-hearted sociopath, but not a psychopath. He took no joy in murdering Peter Russo or Zoe Barnes. And, if he was prone to murdering people out of his own emotional responses rather than for political gain he would have murdered General Dalton McGinnis long before his wife had a chance to ruin the General’s career.

Claire Underwood – Claire came very close to making this list. I had a scenario in my head that Frank could take a page out of the playbook of “The Smiler” Gary Callahan (the villainous politician from Warren Ellis’ fantastic comic Transmetropolitan) and have his wife murdered in order to earn public sympathy and to distract from whatever scandals are threatening his public standing. In the end though, I decided that this was unlikely since Frank seems to have genuine affection for Claire (regardless of how odd their relationship may be). Also, though the world of House of Cards is one where a Vice President can shake off his security detail and go murder a woman in a subway it does strain credibility that Frank could have his wife murdered. Still…

5. Remy Danton/Jackie Sharp – I put Remy and Jackie together in one slot for a very simple reason – their personal relationship will likely cause the downfall of one or both of them in one way or another. While they each appear to view the relationship differently (Remy’s loyalty to Sharp makes him apprehensive about following his boss’s orders to discredit her – Jackie is offended that Remy didn’t reveal professional information despite insisting that they keep things “professional”), their relationship is a very exploitable weakness in a political landscape populated with vicious predators like Frank Underwood. I can see something very bad happening to one of them to send a message to the other.

4. Edward Meechum – Frank’s bodyguard Meechum is a target from multiple angles. On one hand, he’s very dedicated to the Underwoods, having become something of a trusted friend beyond simply being an employee after Frank saves his job. That dedication means that if someone tries to take a shot at Frank – and he has made many enemies over the course of the series – there’s a good chance Meechum will take the bullet. His other problem is that one magical evening, Frank, Claire and Meechum enjoyed a devil’s threesome. If Ed ever decides to make that public (unlikely given his loyalty, but who knows), Frank may take drastic means to ensure that he’s not outed as the first bisexual president in US history.

3. Rachel Posner – Former prostitute Rachel was swept away by Frank’s Chief of Staff, Doug Stamper, to keep prying eyes from connecting dots between Frank and Peter Russo. Last we saw Rachel she was repeatedly introducing a rock to Stamper’s face. With Doug likely dead (his eye twitched when we saw his body, which could be a clue or it could have been unintentional), Rachel is now truly on the run. If caught, her knowledge could become public. For that reason, Frank may make it a priority to find her and silence her permanently.

2. Gavin Orsay – Computer hacker Gavin possesses one of the most dangerous things in the world of House of Cards: information. Working for the FBI to entrap Lucas, Gavin certainly learned enough about the case that Lucas was trying to put together. But now, thanks to the sting, Gavin has access to the AT&T database. In other words, Gavin is likely the only person in the world capable of exposing the truth of the deaths of Peter Russo and Zoe Barnes. And that’s a dangerous position to be in.

1.5 Cashew – Gavin’s pet guinea pig has been threatened before. I have no evidence for this, but I can’t shake the feeling that someone’s going to follow through on the threat. It’s an easy plot device to drive Gavin into doing something extreme.

1. Frank Underwood – The very moment that Frank was sworn in as the Vice-President, I had a fair idea of how the series would progress: “if he gets sworn in as VP at the end of the first season, then he probably becomes President at the end of the second season and the third season will end with him either going to jail or being murdered.” So far, it’s on track. Frank has made so many enemies over the course of the series. Every house of cards eventually falls, and when it does Frank will end up being the one buried by it.