Holly Schneider (Law & Order: SVU)

Holly Schneider (Gayle Rankin) is the hidden main villainess of "Theatre Tricks", episode 13.11 of Law & Order: SVU (airdate January 11, 2012). She was initially best friends with Meghan Weller, and also became her roommate when the girls moved to New York City from Hennepin, Minnesota, in order to pursue their shared dream of becoming actresses. To pay for the rent of the apartment they were living in, Holly began working as a prostitute on the website Sugar Babyz.
Eventually, Holly was able to use her connections from Sugar Babyz to land an audition for Nine Circles, a play whose director was also one of her clients, Ted Scott. However, when Meghan came with her friend to the audition in order to help her run lines, Ted instead decided to cast her as Francesca (a villainous adulteress) rather than Holly. Furious and also having always been envious of her friend, Holly began formulating a disturbing plot in order to exact vengeance on both Meghan and Ted.
Holly began her villainous plan by creating a fake profile for Meghan on Sugar Babyz and then using it to begin messaging one of her other clients, Judge Gerald Crane. Knowing that Crane had fantasies about role playing a rape with someone in a public place, Holly arranged for the judge to actually rape Meghan on the opening night of Nine Circles, making Crane believe that Meghan would be a consenting participant in making his fantasy come true. She also added the detail that the "safety word" for their sexual act would be Dixie, the name of Ted Scott’s first play, as a way to frame him as being the mastermind behind the setup. In the opening minutes of the episode, it was shown that Holly’s plan worked, with the audience believing that Gerald raping Meghan while he wore a goat mask was all part of the performance just as she expected them to do. Afterwards, as SVU Detectives Olivia Benson and Nick Amaro interviewed Meghan at their apartment, Holly effortlessly put on an act of a concerned and caring friend to the trio, hiding her malicious true self for most of the episode.
The detectives ultimately uncovered Holly’s actions, and Detective Amanda Rollins went with Amaro to confront the manipulative villainess at the episode’s climax, entering as she and Meghan are packing up their things; by that point, Holly had already convinced Meghan to return to Minnesota with her. As the detectives feigned believing that Ted had orchestrated Meghan’s rape before then revealing all the subtle connections Holly had to the plot, the villainess finally snapped and confessed to everything. Holly then went on to reveal her hidden hatred for Meghan due to her sheltered life and because of the fact that in her mind, she had always outshined her. The villainess also disclosed that her motive for masterminding her friend’s tragic onstage predicament was because she wanted her to know exactly how she felt: “...dirty, and used,” along with also “...[wanting to] give up.” When a heartbroken Meghan broke down in tears after learning of how her friend was responsible for her rape the whole time, the callous mastermind coldly told Meghan that it was about time that something bad happened in her life. Holly was subsequently handcuffed and led away by Rollins before being incarcerated offscreen.
== Trivia ==
* Holly is similar to fellow Law & Order: SVU villainess Heather Parcell. Both set up women to be raped by posing as them online and by claiming that they wanted to participate in a fantasy rape, with both villainesses being motivated primarily by jealousy.
== Quotes ==
* “You don’t get it! You’re like Meghan. How long have you been in New York... and you’re already a detective? You’re just like her. Everything just handed to you: guys jumping up to help you, nice apartments, upgrades to first class. All you have to do is show up! (Amaro: “And you get the part.”) It was MY audition! She just came to help me run lines, and as soon as Ted saw her... he wanted her. And you didn’t say no. Did you know what I had to do for that audition? Down on my knees with that... with that pig, and with... Crane, and all those guys... and I am so... so tired... of being the ugly duckling! And I wanted you to know what it felt like. To feel dirty, and used. To wanna give up. (Meghan: “Holly... I thought you were my friend. You had someone rape me!”) It’s about time something bad happened in your life. Don’t you think?” (Holly’s villainous rant to Rollins, Amaro, and Meghan prior to her arrest)
Category:2010s
Category:Assisted Rape
Category:Bondage Used On Villainess
Category:Brunette
Category:Callous
Category:Conspirator
Category:Deceiver
Category:Devious
Category:Hero's Friend
Category:Humiliator
Category:Jealous
Category:Live Action Villainess
Category:Master Manipulator
Category:Ponytail Hairstyle
Category:Prostitute
Category:Sociopath
Category:Vengeful
Category:Villainous Reveal
Category:Fate: Arrested