I recently finished House of Cards‘ 13-episode season over three days, and I absolutely don’t know why. It’s soap opera television set to the wheelings and dealings in our nation’s capital. The show, which details the rise to power of Congressman Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) to President of the United States, is pure pulp. But I love it.

It could be the over-the-top acting of Spacey. Or it could be the dark and ominous camerawork that make Washington, D.C. look like Gotham City. Or perhaps the reason why I love this show is its characters, who all scream “Psychoanalyze me!”

All of the characters on the show could be poster children for any psychiatric disease (Doug Stamper and alcohol addiction, Meechum and dependency). But this latest season, more than any others, focused on the changing dynamics of its two main characters Frank and Claire Underwood.

The season finally detailed how the two came to be. The two struggle with Frank’s power as POTUS and Claire’s desire for more power. She refuses to be a shadow, a mere blip in the Frank Underwood biography. More importantly, it conveyed that marriages, even one built on Machiavellian principal, cannot be sustained.

Since the 1960s, marital relationships have changed dramatically (as portrayed in another great show Mad Men). Although more than 90% of the US population will marry at least once in their lifetime, it is anticipated that approximately 50% of first marriages will end in divorce. Depression is evident is 50% of female divorcees and 15% of male divorcees.

Psychologist John Gottman first highlighted the importance of communication problems within distressed relationships. Gottman also stressed how unskilled couples are at generating positive change in their relationship, a concept that the Underwoods seemingly have mastered before this season.

In the previous seasons, the Underwoods have had the strongest marriage ever detailed since Macbeth and his lady. Their marriage was strengthened by “a validation loop,” a sequence in which one partner expresses dissatisfaction and the other partner expresses either agreement or support.

But this season of House of Cards seemed poised to rattle the cages. By giving Claire responsibilities that would highlight her inexperience and weaknesses, the show’s writers created a conflict that would challenge even the strongest of marriages. Instead of the “validation loop,” the Underwoods had a “cross-complaining loop,” a sequence wherein both individuals describe areas of dissatisfaction yet fail to attend to the issue raised by their partner.

When Claire demanded to remain U.N. Ambassador, Frank refused to abide. When Frank demanded Claire campaign by his side, she refused to abide. This loop was the last image of the season as Claire walks out of the White House stating, “I’m leaving.”

It’s a fitting end to a season that was less preposterous than Season 2 and much more aligned to the modern marriage.