Online this summer, you may have seen a sun-streaked video thumbnail of Elliot Rodger, a boy in his mid-20s who went on a killing spree near the University of California, Santa Barbara. Leaving behind his video and lengthy manuscript, Rodger murdered six people and injured 13 more before taking his own life.
So what did SVU do? It took the Rodger case’s major storyline and turned it in to the best “ripped-from-the-headlines” case yet!
The episode begins with a very monotone Holden March telling audiences about all the girls who taunted and rejected him throughout his life. Soon after, Benson rushes from Noah’s bedside at the hospital to meet Amaro and Rollins at a park where they interview Gwen, an assault victim. Gwen mentions that her attacker called her an old nickname, “Gigi,” and counted the number of times he stabbed her, stopping promptly after 11.
Holden March in his first video. Some nice literary references throughout the episode: Holden is the name of the main character in Catcher in the Rye and Rollins comments that Holden is a “total Boo Radley,” in a little shout-out to To Kill a Mockingbird.
Later, the detectives find several other attack victims who describe the same scenario as the first girl: the assailant calls them a nickname and counts his stabs. The third victim leads the detectives to a restaurant where they figure out that Holden might fit the description of the attacker.
Victim that points detectives to the restaurant where Holden worked
Amaro and Benson head to speak with Holden. After pressing him with questions for a few minutes, he begins video-taping them and claims that they are illegally restraining him. Back at the precinct, several victims identify Holden as their attacker, and the detectives head back out to pick him up.
Holden video-tapes Benson and Amaro
When they arrive at Holden’s apartment, he is nowhere to be found. Instead, Rollins finds a long manifesto and a video in the kitchen, and Benson discovers that Holden has murdered his neighbors. Benson then orders a search across New York City, reminding officers to keep their bullet-proof vests on—no one “needs to be a hero.”
Finding the video and manifesto
As the squad heads out, Benson receives a call from Noah’s case worker at the hospital who cannot believe she left Noah there with a babysitter. Benson explains that she was called away for work, but the case worker says she will be making a note of the absence in her files.
Benson explains her absence
Trying to determine where Holden might go, the detectives bring Holden’s parents to the precinct. Holden’s mother looks at a list from Holden’s manifesto and identifies a past teacher as a possibility.
Through a sequence of events, the detective go to the teacher’s husband’s school, where they find that Holden has killed him and is holding four students hostage. Rollins then engages in an intense negotiation scene where she is in the process of masterfully persuading Holden to drop his weapon when a sniper guns him down. The episode ends with another video of Holden in which he creepily laughs and proclaims his fame as the screen fades to black.
Rollins claims that she “understands” Holden in a different way than young girls
Holden is not moved
The sniper hits Holden
John Karna totally nailed the Elliot Rodger role, and Kelli Giddish gave an overall stunning performance! I was quite pleased with the episode 🙂
Thoughts on this case? How did you like Karna and Giddish’s frightening scene?
I Ride With Detective Benson 