| "Holden's Manifesto" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | SVU, Episode 16.04 | → |
| Production number: 16004 First aired (US): 15 October 2014 First aired (UK): 9 November 2014 First aired (CAN): 15 October 2014 First aired (AUS): 2 March 2015 | ||
 | ||
| Teleplay By Julie Martin & Warren Leight Story By Kevin Fox Directed By Jean de Segonzac | ||
A young man leaves behind his manifesto before embarking on a crime spree.
Summary[]
New York City bike messenger Holden March creates a video diary of his troubles with women. Talk soon escalates to action, and the SVU scrambles to find his manifesto before he commits another violent act. When Rollins and Amaro come face to face with Holden, they find out just how dangerous a desperate man can be. Meanwhile, as Benson balances the responsibilities of motherhood and career, the new Deputy Chief of SVU calls her leadership into question.
Plot[]
Bike messenger Holden March creates a video diary of his troubles with women, lamenting how attractive women always choose jerks, and never notice him. Talk escalates to action when Holden unleashes his rage and frustration by stabbing Gwen Salinger 11 times in Central Park, but she survives.
And then Holden stabs Haley Lennon 15 times, and William Dodds, the new Deputy Chief, starts throwing his weight around the precinct, and announces that he's setting up a press conference to alert the public. Benson begs him to hold off to let them find Holden, before terrifying the city.
Rollins and Amaro learn that Holden was bullied a lot while growing up, and he has major social issues. He feels slighted by society, and he hasn't been able to stay in school or hold a job, so his parents, Adriana March and Thomas Eldridge, have been paying for his apartment in the city. The SVU finds that Holden is not in his apartment, but he did leave a manifesto, cases for two guns and some ammo, and a video message on his computer threatening more women. The SVU scrambles to find him before he commits another violent act, and they learn exactly how dangerous such a desperate man can be.
After learning that Holden has killed his former English teacher's husband in a classroom, Amaro and Rollins search the school, and find Holden armed and holding four girls hostage in a classroom. He forces Rollins to cuff Amaro. Rollins convinces him to let Amaro and the hostages go, and now she's left alone in the room with Holden. But Dodds has snipers waiting for a shot. Rollins keeps Holden calm, but an NYPD sniper still fires a fatal shot into Holden's head, and blood spatters all over a horrified Rollins. An utterly devastated Adriana, who was outside the building, screams in agony -- Benson had promised Adriana that they wouldn't hurt Holden, but it was out of Benson's hands when Dodds took over.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Mariska Hargitay as Sergeant Olivia Benson
- Danny Pino as Detective Nick Amaro
- Kelli Giddish as Detective Amanda Rollins
- Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola
- Raúl Esparza as A.D.A. Rafael Barba (credit only)
Recurring Cast[]
- Bronwyn Reed as Lucy Huston
- Peter Gallagher as Deputy Chief William Dodds
- Christine Toy Johnson as Dr. Celia Lee
- Thedra Porter as Chantal Jackson
Guest Cast[]
- John Karna as Holden March
- Joe Urla as Thomas Eldridge
- Antoinette LaVecchia as Adriana March
- Nicole Balsam as Haley Morton
- Sarah Clements as Gwen Young
- Katie Henney as Jean Asher
- Migs Govea as Catignano's Manager
- Emilie Miller as Mrs. Synchovich
- Ann Arvia as Principal
- Daniel Morgan Shelley as ESU Officer
- Charlë Web as Janelle
- Elanna White as Betty
- Katie Hayek as Leah Simms
- Max Elk as John Brewer
- Charlotte Durkee as Student
References[]
- Rollins compares Holden March to the character of Boo Radley, a reference to a character from To Kill a Mockingbird.
- Eric Garner
- Melinda Warner
Quotes[]
- Holden March: Hi, Holden March here. Look at them. Look at all those beautiful girls. All of them out on dates, having fun, flirting, kissing. It's Saturday afternoon and everybody is out and about with their lovers, except for me. It is not fair. Why do these girls only go out with jerks, while I, despite having so much to offer, am alone?
- [as the ambulance takes a victim to the hospital]
- Holden March: Idiots. I'm right there and no one even notices me. No one ever notices me, but that is all going to change.
- Holden March: [about his neighbors] Listen to them, rutting like animals, taunting me with what I cannot have. All of you women who will not look at me or kiss me, giving yourselves to other men, giving sex to men who do not love you, who use your bodies. I would know how to take care of you, to worship you, but all of you beautiful girls, you throw yourselves at men who are mean and selfish. Sweating, grunting brutes. You reject me: a nice guy, smart, superb, clean. I dress well, I take care of myself. I would have taken care of you, been gentle, but those days are gone. You had your chance. You do not deserve me anymore. You do not deserve to live.
- William Dodds: Sergeant Benson!
- Benson: Chief Dodds, I didn't realize that you were waiting.
- William Dodds: If you'd been here, I wouldn't have to wait.
- Dodds: [to Amaro and Olivia about Holden] You two had him yesterday and you let him go?
- Benson: 'Cause at that time, nobody had I.D.'d him yet. He was smart enough to know that we couldn't compel him to come in, and there wasn't probable cause for an arrest.
- Dodds: You create probable cause. You push him around, you provoke him!
- Amaro: After Eric Garner and the stop-and-frisk lawsuits, One PP's been very clear: "Don't make a scene."
- Dodds: Then why are you opening your mouth right now?
- Benson: Miss Jackson, yes. So sorry.
- Chantal Jackson: That's not what you should be sorry about. I'm in the hospital where your foster child is in a step-down unit with a babysitter.
- Benson: Yes, I know. I was there all night and Mrs. Amaro is not a sitter. She's actually a family friend.
- Chantal Jackson: And I just spoke to Noah's doctor.
- Benson: So did I.
- Chantal Jackson: She called me after finding the child's fractured ribs.
- Benson: Yes, then you know that those injuries happened before I took custody of Noah and that they've healed now.
- Chantal Jackson: I'm not suggesting that you caused the injuries. I am troubled that you chose to go to work while your foster child remained in the hospital.
- Benson: I was called away for an emergency and I'm doing everything that I can to get back there as soon as possible, believe me.
- Chantal Jackson: I hope so. You do understand that your absence will be included in my report.
- Benson: Yeah, I do.
- [to Noah]
- Benson: You gave Mommy a scare, didn't you, Noah? But you're my big boy. You're my little fighter, aren't you? You're so strong. You had to be, huh? You got a long life ahead of you. You got places to see, things to do and people who will love you.
- [Holden March's last video before the school shooting]
- Holden March: All of you beautiful, blonde, unobtainable girls, I forgive you. If it were not for you, I would not be here on the edge of greatness. I could have spent my whole life in the shadows, but I choose instead to fight back, to make sure people remember me because I know one thing: It is better to die in infamy than to live a life of obscurity.
Background information and notes[]
- Noah Porter-Benson was taken to the ER in the previous episode and remains in the hospital all this episode.
- This episode marks the first appearance of Deputy Chief William Dodds.
- Benson asks how many of these unknown attack patterns have they investigated this year. Rollins says they are up to "lucky 13". Later in the year, they investigate "Pattern Seventeen".
- Holden is named after the main character in The Catcher in the Rye, the book that inspired Mark David Chapman to murder John Lennon.
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mercy Hospital |
Catignano's |
Residence of |
St. Francis High School |
| Previous episode: "Producer's Backend" |
"Holden's Manifesto" Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 16 |
Next episode: "Pornstar's Requiem" |