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| Rachel Matheson | |
| Portrayed by | Elizabeth Mitchell |
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Appearances | 42 |
| Biographical information | |
| Status | Deceased |
| Residence | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Monroe Republic |
| Affiliation | Matheson family |
| Family members |
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| [Source] | |
| “ | "It's my fault, dad. The bombs. I broke everything." | ” |
— Rachel to her dad in Born in the U.S.A.
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Rachel Matheson (née Porter) was the wife of Ben Matheson, and the mother of Charlie Matheson and Danny Matheson. In the comic series, she was killed in Bradbury, Idaho when she sacrificed herself in an attempt to atone for her mistakes.
Biography
Pre-Blackout
Rachel Matheson was born in 1984. At some point she married Ben Matheson. Rachel and Ben had their daughter Charlie Matheson in 2007. Three years later in 2010 their son Danny Matheson was born.
Rachel was at home with Charlie and Danny when Ben returned in a rush. She was on the phone with her mother when Ben told her that the power was going to turn off and never turn back on again.
Post-Blackout
Rachel and Ben allowed Charlie to eat all the ice cream she wanted as there was no longer any way to preserve it.
After getting Charlie back from the man stealing their food, Rachel shot the unknown man after her husband Ben was unable to do so.
Seven years after the Blackout, Rachel turned herself in as a prisoner to her brother-in-law, Miles, who was at that time Commanding General of the Militia and second to Sebastian Monroe. Four years after that, she was confined to a storeroom under Independence Hall as punishment for her slow progress at getting the power back on. It is unknown why she surrendered at this time. After that she stayed and was Sebastian's prisoner for the next eight years.
She was thought to have been dead after she left in 2019 by Charlie, Danny, Miles, Aaron and many others. Ben told Charlie that she would end up dead like her if she ever decides to go out beyond their community.
For approximately eight years, Rachel is kept prisoner of the Monroe Republic being held personally by Bass Monroe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is told by Bass that Ben is dead, though she doesn't believe him. She asks if he did it, he replies with an apology, saying he didn't want to kill him. Bass also says that he has her son, which shocks her. He demands to know what Ben was working on (a conversation it seems they have had countless times over the years), to which she denies knowing anything about. Monroe has Rachel tortured for the information but she won't talk.
When she is reunited with Danny, to prevent Monroe from harming her son, Rachel draws a picture of The Pendant, and tells Monroe that these devices are key to turning the power back on.
In flashbacks Rachel's pregnancy with Danny is jeopardized and his life is in danger. It is shown that Rachel and Ben both worked for a company in an effort to create clean energy but an unexpected by-product was a device that took away power. At first Rachel and Ben want nothing to do with it but when offered access to experimental pre-natal treatment to save Danny they agree to continue work on the project.
Monroe's threats against Danny prompt Rachel to tell Monroe about the limitations of The Pendant and that it requires an amplifier to run equipment. He demands she build one. When Monroe suspects Rachel of foul play and it is revealed that she is really building a bomb to kill him he declares that Danny and her "are dead". With tears and remorse, desperate to save Danny, she kills the only other person who can build the amplifier, thus ensuring Monroe keep Danny alive to use as leverage against her.
Rachel and Charlie are reunited and Rachel is impressed with how mature Charlie has become. Monroe, frustrated with Rachel, orders one of the children killed at which point she finally gives in and agrees to make a real amplifier. She finishes the amplifier. When Strausser, the man who tortured her and repeatedly threatened the kids' lives, starts touching her with intent to rape her, she is able to kill him saying "that's for what you did to me you sick bastard." Upon seeing Miles again Rachel slaps him hard in the face for leaving her a prisoner. With Miles' help she and the kids are able to escape the power plant where they were being held.
After they escape they go back to Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where once again they were attacked by Monroe's Militia.
Rachel Miles and the others run from Monroes Helicopters they later manage to hide from the copter by hiding in an abandoned diner.
Later she and Miles head over to John Sanborn's house where there is weapons to destroy the Helicopter's that are attacking the Rebels. John tells Rachel that Randall Flynn got to him and proceeds to knock them consciously out
Rachel and Miles wake up tied up and Miles is able to beat John and take the weapons and leave his house
Miles and Rachel arrive at the Rebel base with the weapons and the rebels are battling the copters a bomb explodes on Miles and knocked out Rachel rushes to him to see if he aright just the Danny sacrifices himself and grabs the missile launcher and shoots one of the helicopters down but the second one fires wildly and hits Danny in the abdomen several times and falls to the ground.
later Rachel cuts open Danny's body to reveal a pill shaped with a blue flashing light she then gives Danny one last kiss.
On their way to the Tower, Rachel and Aaron try to bargain with a man for food. When he refuses, they steal it and are later caught by him. He tells them there is only one punishment for any crime, death, and he aims his gun at them but before he can pull the trigger, Rachel pulls out a gun and kills him. They leave before anyone else can get to them.
On the run from the people trying to catch them, Rachel takes a wrong step while they are being chased and tumbles down a hill, causing her to break her leg badly. She and Aaron make it to a truck where they take shelter for a while. The men from the town eventually find them, but Rachel and Aaron manage to kill them.
Rachel and Aaron have made it to the Tower. However Monroe and his team got there first.
Monroe and his men are camping in the woods, while Rachel plan's later that night she will go to Monroe and kill him, then she and Aaron will make a run for it.Add more story in Season 2
A year after the Season 2 finale, Rachel continues to work on the Pendant and is able to get it working again, and shows it to Aaron and Priscilla. When Grace shows up, she told Rachel to go to Bradbury, Idaho, to destroy the Nano, but Grace dies in the next morning. Rachel Matheson hatches a plan to defeat the Nanites , and tries to recruit Charlie, Miles and even Monroe. When Charlie, Miles and Monroe found Rachel, Aaron, and Priscilla, Rachel tries to enlist their help, but Miles and Monroe initially refuse to help Rachel. Charlie decides to help, causing them to join in. After weeks of traveling to Bradbury, they managed to find the town. While Aaron and Priscilla attempt to upload the virus, Rachel, Charlie, Miles, and Monroe encounter Tom Neville, who tells them he initially wanted to kill them in revenge for Jason, but the nanotech showed him that true power is forgiveness, and is flanked by Truman and President Davis. Tom then gives them two options: join the town, or die. When Connor appears with Aaron and Priscilla hostage, Monroe shoots Tom in the head, causing the town to attack. While Charlie kills President Davis, Aaron and Priscilla are about to activate the virus, but Truman kills them. Truman is then killed by Monroe.
Death
Rachel's death
Rachel's burial
Personality
Beliefs
Rachel was a kind, nice, and caring person in the past, but Danny's death caused her to become selfish, arrogant, and delusional. In the Revolution (DC Comics series), she became an unlikely hero when she sacrificed herself to disable the Nanites and save her family, at the cost of her own life. (The Stand, Ghosts, Children of Men, The Love Boat, Nobody's Fault But Mine, The Dark Tower)
Skills
Relationships
- Ben Matheson - Rachel's husband. Rachel cheated on Ben only once in their relationship; that was with Ben's brother, Miles Matheson. Together, she and Ben were team leaders on a government D.O.D. project that lead to the Black Out. Ben believed that his wife, Rachel was dead after she left her family to join Miles to protect her family. Rachel was very upset to hear of Ben's death.
- Miles Matheson - Rachel's brother-in-law. She and Miles had an affair, but it quickly ended. After the Black Out, Miles ordered Ben to help him turn the power back on, but Rachel came in his place. Despite their previous romance, Miles held Rachel hostage and it is hinted that Miles tortured her. Miles had no idea that Rachel was still alive after he left the Monroe Militia. They reconciled after sharing a passionate kiss before Rachel left to go turn the power back on.
- Sebastian Monroe - Bass claims that he and Rachel used to be friends. For four years, Monroe kept Rachel hostage; upgrading her from a dank prison to luxury rooms. Monroe allowed Strausser to question to no avail. Only when Monroe brought Danny Matheson, Rachel's son to Philadelphia that Rachel told him about the pendants and built him an amplifier. Rachel blames Monroe for Ben and Danny's death.
- Charlie Matheson - Rachel's daughter. Rachel and Charlie have a very complicated relationship. When Charlie was younger the two were of course very close. Charlie was clearly devastated when her mother left crying for her as she was walking away which mad Rachel cry, but she still left never returning making Charlie and the rest of the family think she was dead. Later when Charlie reunited with her mom, she is shocked and angry at her mom because she left her and Danny. When Danny dies Charlie is still resentful of her mom, until one night when Charlie confides in her mother how much she's hurting that "she'll never see Danny again." She starts crying and Charlie runs over to her mother and hugs her, shocking Rachel but of course making her happy. When Rachel leaves Nora to die in order to turn the power back on Charlie gets mad at her and she leaves the group, coming back months later with Sebastian Monroe to save her mother from patriots. After some time they become close again with Charlie comforting Rachel hugging her when Rachel finds out her dad's a spy, and in the mid season finale when the two say "I love you" to each other.
Trivia
- The role was originally played by Andrea Roth in "Pilot", though it was later recast on June 30, 2012. Mitchell and Roth both appeared in the Lost episode "The Other Woman," in which Mitchell's character was having an affair with Roth's husband.