It was clear he was dead as soon as Frank asked him if he told anyone else about the thing a couple episodes before his death. I don't even remember what the thing was, but once Peter told him no, everything Frank did in dealing with him was purposely done in order to kill him.

I was disappointed that they chose to have Underwood kill Peter Russo. First, I know Underwood is conniving and ruins people's lives, but that's different from him being a killer. If Russo had just gone on an epic bender and killed himself in a DUI accident, fine, but having Underwood do the deed just felt like it was going too far. And second, I liked Russo. I think he was a great character, and I think it would have been much more interesting to watch everyone deal the aftermath of Russo's drunken radio interview than to simply have Russo eliminated. That felt like a misstep to me in an otherwise excellent season.

Why the **** are we putting everything in spoilers? I thought it an episode is aired its fair game to discuss? And BTW, you could see the Russo meltdown coming a mile away. And when he responded "no" to Spacey, he was the walking dead.

Russo's destruction was awful - I kept yelling at the screen DON'T GO IN THE ROOM! DON'T TAKE THE DRINK! GET OUT OF THERE! I actually had to leave the room when he botched the interview. However, I didn't have a problem with the way Underwood dealt with him - perfect chance to rid himself of an unstable timebomb that would have likely destroyed him dropped right in his lap. As Frank himself said in one of his Ferris Bueller moments, you don't let opportunities like that pass you by. But it was painful to watch.