NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — It appears that Frank Underwood, the evil politician from “House of Cards,” was up to something on Wednesday. Episodes for the highly anticipated third season of Netflix’s thriller “House of Cards” appeared out of nowhere on the streaming service late Wednesday afternoon.This was a shock to most fans considering that episodes arrived two weeks before the series’ scheduled release date.
“Due to a technical glitch some Frank Underwood fans got a sneak peek,” Netflix said in a statement. “He’ll be back on Netflix on Feb. 27.”
To the show’s credit, “House of Cards” had some fun with the accidental leak.
“This is Washington. There’s always a leak,” tweeted the official twitter account for the series.
The season three episodes (which “House of Cards” calls chapters) were ironically placed under a banner on the site that read “Watch Season 3 on February 27.”
Then the episodes disappeared as quickly as they arrived.
However, for a moment, fans on social media were excited, confused, and even trying to find a way out of work early to watch.
Some went as far as to compare the situation to when Beyonce released a surprise album on iTunes in 2013.
“So Netflix beyonce’d us,” Mashable’s senior tech analyst Christina Warren posted on Twitter.
Regardless, Twitter made sure to mention the cardinal rule of watching “House of Cards” during the leak.
“No spoilers,” tweeted New York Times tech reporter Mike Isaac.
