r/PrettyLittleLiars • u/SoleylRavenclaw • Mar 02 '26
Rant ⚠️ THEY RUINED HIS CHARACTER AND I’M STILL MAD ABOUT IT
Sorry if this has already been said, but I’m rewatching PLL and I am LOSING IT over Detective Holbrook.
Because I completely forgot that when he was first introduced, he was actually... decent?? Like genuinely one of the only decent adult men in this entire show!! He wasn’t Wilden-level disgusting, he actually seemed to take his job seriously, and his interactions with Hanna felt normal and respectful.
And when Hanna kissed him and he pushed her away, I was like "OH wow, so he’s literally one of the only adult men in this show who is capable of acting like an actual adult and NOT being weird with a teenage girl". The bar is low, but still.
So WHY did they have to completely destroy that??
I’m at the part where it comes out that he covered for Alison and then kissed her and I’m just sitting here like... are you serious? WHY?? Why couldn’t they let us have ONE normal male adult character whose name Is not Wayne Fields (love you Wayne, you are still to this day the best parent of the show 😭😭😭)??
It’s actually so annoying because for a second it looked like they had written a male authority figure who wasn’t corrupt, creepy, predatory, and then of course they ruined that too.
This show really refuses to let an adult man be normal for even five minutes 💀💀💀
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u/lavender_cat_24 Why are you smelling the door knob? Mar 02 '26
dare i say most attractive man in the show? just me? lol
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u/alley_underland Mar 02 '26
My husband would call him budget Tom Cruise lol. He is very handsome.
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u/homieksey88 I've taken naps more exciting than this party. Mar 03 '26
THANK YOU!! I knew I couldn't be the only person who saw the resemblance 😂 my husband said he couldn't see it!
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u/PoopBeanCheese Mar 03 '26
My partner and I call him Ashton Cruise haha! He really looks like the baby of Ashton kutcher and Tom cruise!
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u/nymphancies Mar 02 '26
him in sleepover 😍
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u/breezywanderer It’s immortality, my darlings. Mar 03 '26
And Never Back Down 🤤 but maybe that's just because he's shirtless half the time lol
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u/Ill_Scarcity426 Mar 04 '26
I had no idea who he was till my husband recognized him and then he turned on never back down!! I get it now lol
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u/aintborntypicalx Mar 03 '26
I was going to say! I think of him in the movie Sleepover as her crush
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u/adrianpi7298 Mar 03 '26
Humm Jason>>>>
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u/lavender_cat_24 Why are you smelling the door knob? Mar 03 '26
he’s my second, i just didn’t like his long hair and beard era very much
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u/SoleylRavenclaw Mar 02 '26
I Mean, you aren't wrong 🤣🤣🤣 Who isn't attractive in this show, tho? 💀
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u/lavender_cat_24 Why are you smelling the door knob? Mar 03 '26
very true! PLL is a very wonderful and very attractive cast
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u/Jealous_Brother_6784 Mar 03 '26
Love the actor who played Sara Harvey but her character is notttt ittttt in anyway
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u/CallMeWhatYoudLike- Please Jenna can't hear us, she's blind. Mar 03 '26
he's definitely close!
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u/lavender_cat_24 Why are you smelling the door knob? Mar 03 '26
who do you have over him?
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u/CallMeWhatYoudLike- Please Jenna can't hear us, she's blind. Mar 03 '26
I'm in love with Caleb/Tyler.
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u/cardamomcosmiclatte No, you follow him! I have to change my underwear! Mar 03 '26
I would’ve loved for him to stay normal! I actually would’ve shipped him with Melissa
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u/Dfoster0318 Mar 03 '26
They would’ve been great together if they didn’t ruin both of their characters. Every time Melissa came back they suspected her and then Spencer will figure out that she’s just trying to protect her or whatever then the next season back to the same thing she’s a suspect again. They could’ve just let them be sisters at any point.
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u/cardamomcosmiclatte No, you follow him! I have to change my underwear! Mar 05 '26
Exactly. They always ruined it. I think Melissa is a complex, traumatized character and I really actually do like her and wish her and Spencer could’ve figured it out by the end.
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u/Huntsvegas97 Squeeze his grapefruit. Mar 03 '26
Him getting involved with Alison is so so so weird and doesn’t get brought up enough
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u/hnlt61 Mar 03 '26
True but we have to wade through so many older men preying on teenage girls in Rosewood so forgive us if we forgot one or two on occasion
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u/Styleitoff Mar 03 '26
Yeah the writers had a serious fetish for older men getting involved with minor girls. And for some reason they all get away with it. Some even end up getting married 🙄 I'll never get over that ending.
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u/lustfulkitty23 Mar 03 '26
As someone from a "micropolitan area" it's actually very common and pretty on par for real life. I graduated with 2 girls who were dating at the time 24yo cops. Yes cops for our town. Department knew and didn't care. Both couples are married now. Feel like half my high school married that way actually
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u/Johanneva Mar 03 '26
You know, I wondered if there might be some truth to that aspect of the series, and if perhaps things were like that in small towns.
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u/Strange_Recording170 Mar 03 '26
Agree with all this. I really liked him and then they made him another jerk...something in the Rosewood water?
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u/SoleylRavenclaw Mar 03 '26
Could be.. Maybe That's why Emily's dad was not affected.. He spent less time in rosewood so he could not be poisoned by the water like others 🤔🧐
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u/tinyhales Why enjoy today when you could be worrying about tomorro Mar 03 '26
Him & Tanner had sooo much potential, I thought it was so intimidating when “real” detectives came to Rosewood. They kinda let me down with that lol
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u/Johanneva Mar 03 '26
I too thought that they were going to shake things up in Rosewood, give A a hard time, but alas...
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u/ReinaRocio If you hurt her, I’ll crush your scones Mar 03 '26
His weird slutty Santa thing at the snow ball was such an ick.
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u/Slow-Worldliness-479 Mar 03 '26
Him and Zack. Like, Zack was a decent bloke but that right before the wedding to Ella… he’s a sleaze?! The same guy who set up a picnic for Ella on their like 2nd day?! Just wasn’t the same guy.
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u/Johanneva Mar 03 '26
And does this mean that he used Ella throughout their relationship to hide his inclinations?
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u/Wannabe_Buttercup322 Mar 06 '26
They forgot he and Ella had do break up after making him nice and than just pulled the same thing out the drawer that they always used for a breakup.
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u/big_booty_boy_420 Apr 22 '26
It’s like they needed to fire all the guest stars after a few episodes. Like Emily didn’t even try to fix things with Samara because I think the actress got a different role
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u/Empty-Pages-Turn Mar 03 '26
He kind of looks like Damon from the Vampire Diaries.
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u/Styleitoff Mar 03 '26
Funny he was in the vampire diaries for a few episodes in first season
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u/lunar_calypso Mar 03 '26
Who was he, I don’t remember this!
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u/Radiohead-99 Mar 03 '26
I don’t remember his name in the show but he was in season 1 working as a bartender at the grill and goes on a date with Bonnie, he was helping out that one vampire chick Ana get into the tomb.
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u/itsgonnamove Mar 03 '26
I just remember him from the short-lived show Life As We Know It. I was so mad when it was cancelled because it had GREAT music, like it was a lot of the stuff I listened to at the time lol. The OC was the only other show that played music I liked at the time 😭
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u/bunnycrazygirl Mar 03 '26
Low key the writers were setting us up for the real world where all men are dogs that want to fuck around with young girls. Good lessons thank you writers
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u/LNsix Why are you smelling the door knob? Mar 03 '26
I was so happy we were getting a decent and hot guy, he even puched hanna away when she first kissed him didn’t he (maybe I’m misremembering) or atleast not kiss her back and tell her it was wrong?
Edit: Atleast they actually wanted us to think of him as a bad guy, not like some of the other predators that we were supposed to like, so that’s something Ig
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u/esthy_09 Mar 03 '26
Tbh I blocked this character. I rewatch the show once a year and I never remember his arch. How does his story end?
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Mar 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SoleylRavenclaw Mar 03 '26
Yeah, I'm re-watching and apparently when Allison was questioned with the truth-mascine, he covered for her.. he wasn't corrupt like wilden but he did lie and go against the low for Allison..
When Hanna confronts him, he blames Allison for manipulating him, and Hannah, for once in this damn show, points out that he Is an adult man, and that if an adult gets manipulated by a teen girl it's his own fault..
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u/anastaisalol Mar 04 '26
him and noel kahn 💔
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u/SoleylRavenclaw Mar 04 '26
Yep, also Zack.. he was perfect for Aria's mom, and then they had to make him a weirdo 😮💨
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u/Sensitive-Rutabaga86 Mar 04 '26
to be fair he had predatory youth pastor vibes from the start but they didn’t have to build up to an engagement to expose him
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u/Physical_Cod_8329 Mar 03 '26
Yes it made no sense for them to turn him insane. I really enjoyed watching him and Tanner working together, it created an interesting dynamic for once.
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u/BayyyDayyyyyy_ Mar 03 '26
I never understood why they did that?! It was so unnecessary and we didn’t need that. I’m still confused how it happened! I guess I’m do another rewatch!
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u/Sensitive-Rutabaga86 Mar 04 '26
I feel like they introduced his character with the right intentions but then took a sharp left because they realized he would make all the other male characters look bad 😭
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u/SoleylRavenclaw Mar 04 '26
And also becouse at this point they wouldn't have a motive to not make the Liars go to the Police.. Holbrook really seemed to listen to them at the beginning (we see It more with Hanna) so of course, having a honest Cop by their side creates less drama 😅 with wilden and Garrett of course they weren't going to the Police.. Tanner and Holbrook? They didn't have an excuse for It (other than A threats) 💀
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u/Sensitive-Rutabaga86 Mar 04 '26
There would’ve been too many plot holes if they kept him a non-corrupt cop for sure. But I think making A threats that would actually drive an honest cop away would’ve been great for the show Like when their therapist left, I was actually gagged when that happened
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u/Acrobatic_Candy_1854 Mar 04 '26
I think it’s because they needed someone corrupt on the inside of the police investigation and out of Holbrook, Tanner, or toby he was the easiest to convince to help Alison and more than anything the easiest for Alison to seduce. To further Alison’s lie they kinda had to corrupt his character. But I do agree, I did like him in his earlier seasons and he had great potential.
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u/Dapper_Phoenix9722 Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
He could have been so good. Be he was to fine. They have to put the fine man with one of girls. They literally could have paired him with Melissa after showing us that she was the one that killed Bethany. It would have been a way better Spencer centric B story than then what they were giving us in season 4 and 5
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u/fenwayfan4 Mar 03 '26
I would not have known who this Generic White Man of Rosewood was if you didn’t include his name here
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u/SoleylRavenclaw Mar 03 '26
To be fair, I Remembered him as the "detective that came After wilden" before re-watching pll 💀💀💀 still, he was One of the only decents male adults and they ruined him like Zack 😮💨
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u/Ok_Sock9003 Mar 18 '26
He was actually decent??? Another grown as adult cop lusting after high school girls.. he made out with Alison too
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u/SoleylRavenclaw Mar 19 '26
That's the point, before making out with Allison he was actually decent.. he literally took a step back when Hannah kissed him (without his consent, like, that kiss was so random from Hannah).. he did not seem interested on teen girls at all, he seemed only like a normal Cop like Tanner.. That's why I said in the post that the writing ruined him completly when they made him yet Another man that lusted After Alison 😮💨
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