SPOILERS sorry forgot to include in the title, most important detail is tagged as spoiler tho

I'm late to the hype train and enjoying my time greatly thus far, at this point I've finished watching season 1.

This episode is still lingering in my mind though. I havent read the source material, but Frank was a complete shock to me.

I know they are trying to show that Frank is a man that is 110% committed to his goals and will let nothing get in the way, but I was also under the impression that he trusted a lot more in his own abillities of persuation and connections to never resort to something this extreme. This is a fairly complex show at times so I may be missing something key, but this move seems incredibly unrealistic for me in a show that otherwise tries to do the opposite, showing the true colours of politics and whatnot.

I'm looking to see your own thoughts and explanations to clear this up for me, since I'm assuming this isn't necessarily the popular opinion (I couldnt find the episode discussion to check..).