Entertainment

Rachel Posner Takes New Mexico

by Casey Rackham

The plotlines of Netflix's House of Cards and WGN's new series Manhattan might be separated by 70 years of history, but what they share is a fabulously doe-eyed star: Rachel Brosnahan. The actress plays the shit-out-of-luck Rachel Posner in House of Cards and, if you've been watching Manhattan, the new World War II-inspired drama set in New Mexico, then you've probably noticed that Brosnahan also plays Massachusetts sweetheart Abby Isaacs. (Don't worry — Brosnahan's new role shouldn't get in the way of her returning to Frank Underwood's personal battle field... for now, at least.)

At first glance, the two characters couldn't be more different. Rachel is an ex-sex worker who got herself into deep shit with Underwood and his trusty (and seriously creepy) sidekick, Doug Stamper. She's in the middle of a mess she wants nothing to be a part of, and [spoiler] she potentially made things worse for herself at the end of Season 2 by killing Stamper (you go, girl!). As for Abby, well, she's a Boston girl at heart. From pearl earrings to daddy's trust fund, she's a little princess who's going to have to learn how to get down and dirty real quick.

However, although the two characters come from extremely different backgrounds, let alone decades, they share quite a few of the same life predicaments. Check out some of the things Manhattan's Abby and House of Card's Rachel have in common:

1. They were both taken away from their homes.

Rachel: Yeah, sure she's going to have a blast with no friends and white walls.

Abby: Cambridge to New Mexico in the 1940s? She definitely got the short end of the stick.

2. They're both scared.

Rachel: Uh, well duh Rachel is scared. She knows Underwood's a murderer, freakin' Stamper spent all of his energy being a creep and stalking her, she was taken away from her friends and family, and she wasn't even allowed to go to church to hangout with her new best friend/girlfriend.

Abby: Okay, so Abby doesn't have the threat of a presidential murderer looming over her, but she's in an unfamiliar place surrounded by explosions, mean housewives, and soldiers. No thanks.

3. They're both doe-eyed.

Rachel: I love Rachel to death, but man does she need to throw that naivety out the door. (Kudos for bashing Stamper's head in and potentially killing him.)

Abby: Poor, little Abby. In her mind, the world's a perfect place where her daddy can fix anything. Too bad she's surrounded by scientists trying to create a murderous weapon.

4. They're both in a situation they desperately want to get out of.

Rachel: Either Rachel made everything way worse by possibly killing Stamper, or she's officially taken the upper hand. (Fingers crossed for the latter.)

Abby: I've got a feeling Abby's going to write to her dad every day until she figures a way to get the hell out of New Mexico.

5. They both know too much.

Rachel: Man, oh, man does Rachel know too much. I would not want to be in her pair of Converses.

Abby: It's unclear whether or not her husband actually told her the truth about what he's working on, but if she does know, then she might one day be in some serious trouble with the government. (At the party she told the other wives what her husband told her, but I have a feeling she's smart enough to lie to them to protect her husband.)

6. They both just want friends.

Rachel: Ugh, Stamper should have just let her be happy with her girlfriend. That girl is seriously lonely and just needs someone to love her and tell her everything is going to be okay.

Abby: Housewives can be mean, especially when there's nothing else to do but gossip about each other. Hopefully Abby will befriend Liza Winter (Olivia Williams) and they can be badass, empowering women together.

Images: WGN America (2); Netflix; WGN America; Netflix; WGN America; Nathaniel Bell/Netflix