HouseofCardsis a show that explores the dark and cynical side of politics. The characters are ruthless in their ambition to achieve their goals. From audacious blackmails and manipulation, to chilling threats and murder in cold blood, Frank Underwood’s (Kevin Spacey) political world is messy and noisy. While there are numerous moments of cruelty inHouse of Cards, the darkest is still Doug Stamper’s (Michael Kelly) harrowing killing of Rachel Posner (Rachel Brosnahan).
Yes, Doug is as cold as any of the show’s darkest characters can be and as Frank Underwood’s right-hand man, he is a signatory to many deaths. But what makes Rachel’s death the stand-out darkest scene inHouse of Cardsis not just the end itself, but the harrowing journey that culminates in the demise of one of the unluckiest, if not the unluckiest, characters on the show.
‘House of Cards’ Aces the Eerie Ambiance
House of Cardsbrims with grim scenes. For a show with a tally of 27 deaths at the hands of the Underwoods, this might not come as a surprise. What’s alarming, however, is the sheer darkness of the fatalities. Peter Russo’s death, staged as suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, is orchestrated by Frank Underwood. He perished believing he was in the company of a caring friend. Journalists Zoe Barnes and LeAnn Harvey are suddenly gone, portrayed as accidents under Frank Underwood’s watch. Frank’s trusted security detail member, Edward Meechum, meets his end in broad daylight during an assassination attempt. Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) poisons Tom Yates and watches him perish during a sexual encounter!
Even instances that do not culminate in death evoke an eerie sensation. Frank Underwood’s threat to Catherine Durant where he tells her that he killed both Zoe Barnes and Peter Russo, while devoid of physical violence, is torturous — even though she eventually got shot dead onClaire’s order after ascending to the presidency.Doug turning Seth upside down while on the couch as a warning is scary. These are just some of the many dark scenes inHouse of Cards. But it isThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s titular star actressin Brosnahan, whose character’s death is the most chilling in the Netflix series.
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Rachel Posner’s Unlucky Streaks in Life
Rachel Posner’s life is a series of unlucky streaks. She drops out of high school to run away from testifying against her father’s abuse. She lives on the streets and was once arrested for loitering. Her circumstances force her to take up commercial sex to survive. Rachel is fired by a boss whose sexual advances she refused. She has no friends. She is simply star-crossed. When she thinks she lucked out by meetingMichael Kelly’s Doug, who gives her $10,000 for her silence about Congressional representative Peter Russo’s DUI arrest, her troubles worsen. It is her involvement with Russo that would haunt her life up to her death. Doug provides her an apartment, seemingly a fresh start, but it only entangles her in another sordid affair — keeping Russo drunk the night before a crucial radio interview about his forthcoming election, which he subsequently loses. Frank Underwood later kills Russo, and from that moment on, Rachel’s life spirals further downwards. Doug just doesn’t let her alone.
Doug drives Rachel out of Washington, and gets her an apartment in Maryland, isolating her from any meaningful relationships she had developed.To make matters worse for Brosnahan’s Rachel, Doug often visits her to ensure she doesn’t make any friends. He is infatuated with her — admitting in AA that he was addicted to her like he was to alcohol. He eerily asks her to read himA Tale of Two Cities, and when he discovers that she has developed an intimate relationship with her roommate, Lisa, he demands that she ends it. Not yet satisfied, on one of his ghastly visits, Doug bundles her out of bed in the middle of the night and coerces her to leave with him to an unspecified place. En route, Rachel strikes Doug with a rock, leaving him for dead, and disappears.
Rachel runs to live in a small town in New Mexico where she is wary of everything. She goes under the alias Lisa and has even acquired documents with a new identity, Cassie Lockhart. She intends to bury Rachel Posner for good — a fact she confirms when she later tells Doug that if he kills her, he would be killing Cassie Lockhart because Rachel is already dead. But even her life in New Mexico is far from ideal. She works double shifts and lives in a dingy place while constantly avoiding CCTV cameras. Yet, this fragile semblance of normalcy for her is short-lived. In the Season 3 Finale, which marked the end ofRachel Brosnahan’s run onHouse of Cards, Doug first tracks down hacker Gavin, whom he beats up to extract Rachel’s location.
Rachel Posner’s Death Scene Was Horrifying
Rachel’s death scene is haunting. Doug throws her, trembling, limbs restricted and tongue-tied, into a van he acquired for this purpose. He drives miles to a desolate wilderness. On the way to her final destination, Rachel comes face-to-face with the tools that announce her fate — a spade and other paraphernalia. It is a horrifying sight. She pleads with Doug who hears none of it. He employs the tools to dig her grave, while she sits in the van aware of her impending doom. The idea that she knows death is imminent, listening as Doug scoops soil for her final resting place, is chilling. When Doug initially decides to spare her, her newly acquired documents fall, and she persuades him to let her go. But as he drives off, he reconsiders it and, in a grim twist, completes his plan — culminating in the end for one of television’s most unfortunate characters.
The screens often mirror the complexities of our own lives. Rachel Posner’s journey inHouse of Cardscaptures how storytelling reflects and amplifies both the relationship between circumstance and choice — prompting us to contemplate the fragility of human existence. It reminds us of real lives in our midst, where some characters have long streaks of misfortune and others are incredibly lucky. But it is her tragedy, where she looks death in the eye for so long before it consumes her, that takes the cake for the darkest scene inHouse of Cards.
