Holland Manners

"It took me a while to realize how the world is put together and where I belonged in it. Actually, the world isn't that complicated: it's designed for those who know how to use it."

- Holland Manners

Holland Manners was a high-ranking lawyer and executive at Wolfram & Hart, one of the top servants of the Senior Partners.

Biography
"It's not about good or evil, it's about who wields the power - we wield a lot of it here and you know what? I think the world is better for it."

- Holland

Holland Manners was one of the oldest and most experienced lawyers in Wolfram and Hart, and the supervisor of Lindsey McDonald, Lilah Morgan, Lee Mercer, and a number of other lawyers by year 2000. His job consisted of assigning cases to and enforcing loyalty among those under his watch, carrying out latter task by employing mind-readers and having disloyal staff "terminated". He was also responsible for arranging the murder of all outside parties who are seen as a threat to the interests of the firm. During his first years in the firm, Holland had also recruited personnel, among them fallen champion Número Cinco. Eventually, he would marry Catherine, a woman many years younger than him.

In early 2000, Holland was supervising the legal team defending assassin Vanessa Brewer, while at the same time rooting out the best among the lawyers under his supervision. He used a pair of mind readers and discovered that Lee Mercer had chosen to move to Klein & Gabler, a rival firm, and take his client list with him. Manners immediately had Mercer shot by Phil, a security guard. The mind-readers also detected that Lindsey had agreed to help the vampire Angel save three innocent children, putting Holland in the difficult decision of whether to terminate Lindsey, who had become Holland's favorite in the company, or not. Lindsey, however, had prepared incriminating evidence against his employer. In recognition of Lindsey's savvy and aware of his potential, Manners allowed him to go through what he referred as a "crisis of faith". After Brewer was eliminated, Holland welcomed Lindsey back and offered him a promotion to junior partner and a new office, Holland's very own. Manners had been given a promotion to Vice President of Special Projects.

After his promotion Manners, oversaw the firm's operations regarding Angel, as the firm planned not on killing him or having him loose his soul, but corrupting him to their side. In particular, he supervised the resurrection of Angel's sire Darla by the demon Vocah, then having Lindsey handle all affairs concerning Darla.

Meanwhile, he also oversaw Lilah's pet project regarding Bethany Chaulk, a telekinetic Lilah sought to groom into an assassin to replace Vanessa Brewer. However, when Angel became involved, Holland ordered Lilah to cancel the project, as Bethany's presence at the Hyperion Hotel threatened Lindsey's project involving Darla.

Holland kept close tabs on Lindsey's handling of the Angel project, as the young lawyer not been given complete information. Lindsey believed that Darla was meant to give Angel a moment of happiness. However, Holland had in mind a more devious plan; he had Darla go through a nervous breakdown and then arranged for a pair of the firm's agents try to kill her so Angel would save her life and then obsess with the notion of saving her soul, meanwhile neglecting his duties to The Powers That Be.

Afterward, Holland and Lindsey arranged for Drusilla to be brought to Los Angeles in order to sire Darla. After the latter was reborn as a vampire once again, Holland offered the two women the firm's full support for them to engage in any activity they might desire, all to keep Angel hunting them down and further falling into darkness in his drive to destroy them.

Believing himself successful, Holland organized a wine tasting at his mansion, inviting many lawyers, including Lindsey and Lilah. However, Darla and Drusilla crashed the gathering after being invited in by the oblivious Catherine Manners. Angry at being used by a pawn, Darla wanted to kill Holland and his cohorts. Even though the Powers That Be did not want Angel involved in Darla's revenge, he nevertheless appeared at Holland's wine cellar, having been allowed entrance by Catherine. Filled with fear, Holland begged Angel to save his life and that of his employees. However, in a form of poetic justice, Holland had succeeded in corrupting Angel so thoroughly that the heroic vampire instead locked the employees in the cellar and gave Darla and Drusilla free reign to attack them. Holland was the first to die, drained by Darla.

Undeath
"I'm quite dead. Unfortunately my contract with Wolfram and Hart extends well beyond that."

- Holland Manners

However, Holland's death, while serving the firm's agenda in corrupting Angel, was not planned by the Senior Partners, and his contract extended beyond his death. Even though he was dead, Holland's corpse was reanimated, keeping his memories and personality intact, though the bite marks caused by Darla remained.

When Angel stole a Band of Blacknill in order to teleport to the Senior Partners' realm to wipe them out, Holland appeared to offer him an elevator ride to the firm's Home Office, which Angel believed to be where the Senior Partners' dwelled.

During the ride, Holland informed Angel that the power of Wolfram & Hart came not from a demonic source, but from the evil within humanity itself; thus, none of Angel's heroic deeds would ever amount to anything. Angel understood Holland's point when the elevator ride came to an end and the two were back on the same spot the ride had began. Holland watched as Angel observed everyday evil committed by regular people, the humanity Angel so desperately wanted to be a part of. As the firm's now broken enemy stepped out of the elevator, Holland wished him a nice day and closed the elevator's door, himself still inside, returning to his new role as an eternal servant of the Senior Partners.

Legacy
"We will never be able to replace Holland Manners. He was a man of extraordinary talents."

- Hunt Acrey

Proceeding this encounter, a distraught Angel turned to Darla to help him "not care", having sex with her in an attempt to shed his soul and revert to Angelus once again. Instead of perfect happiness, however, Angel found perfect despair, and, in a moment of clarity, realized that his purpose was still to do all of the good he could, if not all of the good he wanted, and rejoined Angel Investigations.

Holland's death left an opening at the Special Projects Division, and with half of the firm's contracts department dead at Darla and Dru's hands, the Senior Partners decided to appoint both Lindsey and Lilah, sole survivors of the wine cellar massacre, as joint acting Co-Vicepresidents of Special Projects. Meanwhile, Holland's position supervising the firm's activities was given to the cold and ruthless Nathan Reed. Months later, Holland's favorite protege, Lindsey, would quit the firm, while Lilah would be promoted to sole Vicepresident of Special Projects.

Holland was also given a homage during the Highway Robbery Ball, where he was featured in a video to promote East Hills Teen Center. In it, Holland was depicted as a kind, fatherly figure concerned with the future of Los Angeles youth.

During his years overseeing Wolfram & Hart, Holland Manners proved himself to be one of the greatest assets of the firm due to his wisdom and ruthlessness, as his administration was remembered by clients such as Corbin Fries and Senator Helen Brucker.

Personality and traits
In contrast to his charming personality, Manners has proven himself to be one of the most cold-hearted agents in Wolfram & Hart's employ. He shows no hesitation or remorse when liquidating any and all threats to the interests of the firm. Respected and feared by those around him, he conceals his incredibly calculating mind behind the guise of a caring father figure, in a manner similar to Mayor Wilkins. He uses power's allure to control those below him and keep their interests in line with Wolfram & Hart's agenda. When Angel tells him that his actions will cause the death of several innocents, he coldly replies, "And yet, somehow, I just can't seem to care."

Behind the Scenes

 * He was portrayed by Sam Anderson.

Appearances
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Angel Season 1

 * "Blind Date"
 * "To Shanshu in L.A."

Angel Season 2

 * "Untouched"
 * "Darla"
 * "The Trial"
 * "Reunion"
 * "Blood Money" (in video tape)
 * "Reprise"

Angel Season 5
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 * "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco"