House of Cards Season 5 is well into production, but the show faces a unique problem nearly unimaginable a few short years ago: The election of a president even more unexpected than Underwood himself. Whether you like President-elect Trump or hate him, you have to admit his election is unprecedented and the 2016 campaign was deeply unusual. And all those real, over-the-top politics impinge on the ability of House of Cards to entertain as it used to do.

Why Trump Endangers House Of Cards

House of Cards has always trafficked in a version of American politics that’s totally over-the-top: Laden with conspiracy theories, small foibles that destroy politicians’ entire career, as well as murders and gaslighting games that propel other politicians right to the top. More than that, it’s a show where most politicians are conducting business as usual—except for those who change the system to get ahead, namely President Underwood.

House of Cards is a fantasy and not a terribly realistic portrayal of Washington politics (Veep, on the other hand, is often singled out as quite realistic), but it’s still a show about insiders navigating the delicate canals and deep waters of the capital’s politics. And because of the Underwoods themselves, both Southern Democrats with presidential aspirations, the show is rooted in the era that started with Bill Clinton’s election—and ended with Hillary Clinton’s defeat.

The entire political era in which House of Cards is set came to a sudden and unexpected end in November when a complete political outsider won the presidential election. President-elect Trump is not business as usual; he’s the most unusual American politician in any of our lifetimes. And that’s a big problem for the show.

Many commentators said if the 2016 campaign season were a television show or a movie, nobody would ever believe it. It was just too much, too unusual. So when reality itself is stranger and features more gasp-inducing plot twists than political television, where does that leave shows like House of Cards? Quite possibly in the dust.

Oh, don’t get me wrong: We’ll be watching House of Cards season 5 when it premieres in 2017. But the machinations of the Underwoods seem antiquated now, of another time, now that real-life politics have moved in such a new direction. The show’s only hope is to embrace the change—double down. Make House of Cards more over-the-top, more dramatic, more unbelievable and shocking than ever before. Only thusly can it top reality itself.