When season 3 of "House of Cards" airs later this month, fans will see Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood as President of the United States. But one person missing in action will be his trusted chief of staff, Doug Stamper.
The last we saw of Doug, he was left bleeding following the violent confrontation with Rachel, and since then fans have been guessing whether he will survive. However, fans who had watched the BBC version of "House of Cards" were aware that the character wouldn't survive long, as Doug's counterpart in the original version died at the end of the show's second season.
And now, Starcasm has confirmed that Doug is indeed dead, pointing out a tweet by showrunner Beau Willimon that said it was "pretty evident" that the character wouldn't be coming back.
The fact that Michael Kelly, the actor who portrays Doug in the political drama, filmed two movies while "House of Cards" was filming its third season is yet another proof of the character's departure from the show, the outlet noted.
The big questions fans will now have to ask if how Doug's death is going to affect Frank Underwood and his presidency. Starcasm noted that it is going to raise a lot of questions of what the chief of staff was doing with Rachel Posner, an ex-prostitute.
Last year, showrunner Willimon spoke about Rachel to the Washington Post, saying the prostitute was not supposed to have a full-fledged story.
"Rachel Posner was never intended to be a big character. She was listed as "call girl" in her first two episodes," he said. "But Corey Stoll was doing such a fantastic job as Peter Russo, I wanted to expand his story. As part of that process, the call girl came back into the story, got a name and became a fully-fledged character. And as a result, this very complex dynamic between her and Doug Stamper started to form," Willimon said.
"House of Cards" season 3 will air on Friday, 27 February.
