Netflix accidentally laid all its cards on the table a little early. The streaming service mistakenly posted the highly anticipated third season of its acclaimed original series House of Cards on Wednesday, Feb. 11, a full two weeks and two days before its scheduled Feb. 27 premiere date.
For a few brief but glorious minutes on Wednesday afternoon, 10 episodes from season three were available to watch via the website. And then, just as suddenly as they appeared, they disappeared.
Before they vanished, though, sites including Mashable and Gizmodo nabbed screenshots of the episode summaries, which should give fans plenty to obsess about for the next 350 hours or so, until Frank and Claire Underwood (Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, respectively) return to their rightful places in our lives.
A rep for Netflix tells Us Weekly that the early release was the result of a bug in the system. "Due to a technical glitch, some Frank Underwood fans got a sneak peek," the rep says. "He'll be back on Netlix on Feb. 27."
The Twitter account for House of Cards, meanwhile, explained away the accidental posting with this clever tweet:
This is Washington. There's always a leak. All 13 episodes will launch February 27.
— House of Cards (@HouseofCards) February 11, 2015
