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The subject of this article appeared in the U.S. TV series.



Rachel Posner was a former prostitute who had a relationship with Doug Stamper.

Biography[]

Rachel is from just outside Lynchburg, Virginia. She dropped out of Lorimer High School during her sophomore year and ran away from home after refusing to testify against her physically abusive father. She was arrested in April 2012 by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia for loitering at the District Grand Hotel, 2460 Connecticut Avenue.

Season 1[]

Peter Russo hired Rachel for a night in early January 2013, where he was arrested for DUI with her in the passenger seat. Doug Stamper later met up with Rachel, and gave her $10,000 cash to keep quiet about Russo. During this encounter he pays Rachel separately for her to sleep with him.

Later, Doug and Rachel met again. Rachel revealed that she was having hard times, so Doug asked Nancy Kaufberger if Rachel could move in with her. Nancy consented.

Stamper defends Rachel against a sleazy boss who tried to approach her sexually. The boss had fired Rachel after she refused his advance. Doug then threatens the boss by saying he will have him convicted of felonies for using undocumented workers if he does not hire Rachel back. 

Stamper later gives Posner a new lease on life, setting her up with a new apartment and job as a waitress in an upmarket Georgetown restaurant. It is later revealed that this was the precursor to them asking one last favor of her: seduce Peter Russo one last time. Rachel seduces Russo the night before he is to have an important radio interview. She encourages him to drink alcohol into the early morning, leading to a poor performance on the radio. This causes Russo's chances of being governor to end, and he spirals out of control until he is eventually killed by Frank Underwood.

Season 2[]

Rachel is moved by Doug Stamper out of Washington DC, to an apartment in Joppa, Maryland, a significant enough distance from the D.C. area. Rachel is intentionally isolated by Stamper, and he begins to develop an infatuation with her. In AA, he admits he's addicted to her like he was to alcohol. He often stops by her apartment, making sure she develops no relationships, and asks her to read to him A Tale of Two Cities.

Rachelmeetslisa

Rachel meets Lisa.

Despite Stamper's efforts, Rachel develops a friendship with a woman she meets on a city bus named Lisa Williams. She also begins attending Lisa's church, the Fellowship. Lisa moves out of her home when her roommate starts smoking meth and she moves in with Rachel. They start having an intimate relationship when they discover they trust and care deeply for each other. Stamper finds out about the relationship and orders Rachel to end it, because he wants to be the only person Rachel needs. She breaks up with Lisa for her safety. He then gets her from bed in the middle of the night and drives her out to nowhere, not saying anything. She jumps out of the car and runs into the woods. Doug follows and Rachel ambushes him and beats him unconscious with a rock, then steals Doug's car.

Season 3[]

Rachel is absent most of Season 3, appearing only in flashbacks and photos as Doug, still infuriated that she attacked and left him for dead, goes out of his way to find her. Doug enlists the help of Gavin Orsay, a highly skilled computer hacker, to search for Rachel. Gavin initially leads Doug to believe that Rachel was murdered and presents Doug with falsified documents in order to pass Rachel's alleged murder as authentic. Later, wanting his friend freed of the FBI's grasp and having fled himself, Gavin tells Doug that Rachel is in fact still alive and that he has found her but the only way he will give Doug her location is if he clears his friend of the charges against him. Doug eventually finds and attacks Gavin and obtains Rachel's whereabouts, traveling to New Mexico and stalking her before kidnapping her.

Having started a new life in New Mexico, Rachel, now going by the name of Lisa, works odd jobs and keeps a relatively low profile. It is revealed that she plans on changing identities once more after she is seen purchasing a false identity with the pseudonym Cassie Lockhart. One night, after a shift, she is kidnapped by Doug. During their drive out to the middle of nowhere, Rachel pleads with Doug to let her go and tells him that she was honestly relieved when she heard the news that he had survived her attack and that she is taking on the new identity. Doug lets her go. However, Doug seems to change his mind minutes later and kills her. It is implied that he runs her over with his van.

Rachel Posner dead

Rachel being buried by Doug.

Though her death isn't seen, Doug refills the grave he dug for her and returns to Washington, telling Frank he killed her.

Behind the Scenes[]

  • Rachel Posner was portrayed by Rachel Brosnahan in Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of House of Cards.
  • According to commentary in Season 1, they did not initially expect to have her role expanded beyond the first episode and did not have a proper name for her character, hence why they gave her the same first name as her actress.

Appearances[]

Season 1
"Chapter 1" "Chapter 2" "Chapter 3" "Chapter 4" "Chapter 5"
"Chapter 6" "Chapter 7" "Chapter 8" "Chapter 9" "Chapter 10"
"Chapter 11" "Chapter 12" "Chapter 13"
Season 2
"Chapter 14" "Chapter 15" "Chapter 16" "Chapter 17" "Chapter 18"
"Chapter 19" "Chapter 20" "Chapter 21" "Chapter 22" "Chapter 23"
"Chapter 24" "Chapter 25" "Chapter 26"
Season 3
"Chapter 27" "Chapter 28" "Chapter 29" "Chapter 30" "Chapter 31"
"Chapter 32" "Chapter 33" "Chapter 34" "Chapter 35" "Chapter 36"
"Chapter 37" "Chapter 38" "Chapter 39"
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