Rachel Posner, House of Cards

Rachel Posner (Rachel Brosnahan)

In political drama House of Cards, Rachel Posner was a former prostitute who had a relationship with cutthroat political advisor Doug Stamper. She was a main character in the first and second seasons and a recurring character in third season.

Season 1

Congressman Peter Russo hired Rachel for a night of wild partying, before he was arrested for DUI with her in the passenger seat. In an attempt to cover up the Congressman’s drug problems, Stamper later met up with Rachel and gave her $10,000 cash to keep quiet about Russo. During this encounter, he also separately paid Rachel to sleep with him.

Season 2

Still under Stamper’s control, Rachel was ordered to move out of Washington DC, to an apartment in Joppa, Maryland, a significant enough distance from the D.C. area. Rachel was intentionally isolated by him, and he began to develop an infatuation with her. In AA, he admitted he was addicted to her like he was to alcohol. Under the guise of keeping track of her so she didn’t expose Russo’s secrets, Stamper often stopped by her apartment, made sure she developed no close relationships, and asked her to read to him A Tale of Two Cities like his mother once did.

Despite Stamper’s efforts, Rachel developed a friendship with a woman she met on a city bus named Lisa Williams. She also began attending Lisa’s church, the Fellowship. Lisa moved out of her home when her roommate started smoking meth and she moved in with Rachel. They started having an intimate relationship when they discovered they trusted and cared deeply for each other, and were shown being loving and intimate on-screen.

Stamper found out about the relationship, and furious, ordered Rachel to end it because he wanted to be the only person Rachel needed. Fearing for her safety, Rachel broke up with Lisa, telling her she didn’t care about her, though obviously heartbroken. Still threatened, Stamper pulled Rachel from bed in the middle of the night and drove her out to nowhere, not saying anything.

Fearing for her life, she jumped out of the car and ran into the woods. Stamper followed and Rachel ambushed him and beat him unconscious with a rock, before she stole Doug’s car to flee.

Season 3

Rachel had started new life in New Mexico under the name Lisa, but Doug eventually found her and kidnapped her. Rachel pleaded with Doug to let her go, and told him that she was honestly relieved when she heard the news that he had survived her attack, and that she was taking on a new identity and would forget all the secrets she knew.

In an unexpected act of mercy, Doug let her go, and she started walking down the road, relieved. However, Doug seemed to change his mind minutes later, and ran her over with his van before burying her body in a field.

Appearances:

• 19 episodes. Main cast S1-S2 Recurring S3

Female love interests:

• Lisa Williams (Kate Lyn Sheil, recurring, 9 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a woman: Yes

Male love interests:

• Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly, main cast, 51 episodes)

Relationship story arc with a man: Yes

Filter Relationship Arc:

• Female (Recurring), Male (Regular)

Storyline during sweeps? No

[1] A relationship story arc is defined as explicit, developed on screen, and lasting more than 3 episodes. It is listed as questionable or subtext if romance is only implied, mentioned instead of shown on screen, part of a dream sequence, or otherwise not explicit for the viewer.
[2] Sweeps episodes air in February, May, July and November, the periods when advertising rates are set. A character is marked as "sweeps" when there is a very limited number of episodes that address their sexuality, all air during sweeps period, and the storyline is otherwise ignore/dropped.