| “ | Every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place. | ” |
―Holt in "Game Night" | ||
Deputy Commissioner Raymond Jacob Holt (portrayed by the late Andre Braugher, 1962-2023) is a main character in all eight seasons of the show and the only character besides Jake Peralta to appear in every episode. He was the NYPD's first openly gay black police captain and Captain of the 99th Precinct for most of the show's run. In the penultimate episode of the series, he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police Reform, heading the new unit in charge of the police reform program he developed with Amy Santiago.
He is the husband of Kevin Cozner, owner of the dog Cheddar, and father figure to Jake and Amy. Though he is often lampooned by his colleagues for his lack of displaying emotion or facial expressions, he is held in the highest regard by them and has developed close relationships with all of them. And despite his stoic nature, he is known to go above and beyond both personally and professionally for those he loves.
Physical Appearance
Holt is a tall, ageing dark-skinned man with thin grey hair. He is usually portrayed with a white shirt, black tie, the captain's insignia on both collars, with the NYPD's captain badge. When he was demoted to being an officer in Season 7, his collars had the number "99" on them to represent his precinct. He has 4 breast bars, which includes the WTC bar and the Medal of Valour. He is also sometimes shown with a black jacket and a captain's hat.
Personality
Outwardly, Holt is strict, hardworking, stoic, staunchly professional, and a stickler for the rules. Inwardly, he is a warm, empathetic, devoted, and kind-hearted man who cares deeply about the officers and employees under his command. He is shown to go above-and-beyond for the squad both personally and professionally.
Especially at the beginning of the series, he does not show much emotion, and finds it hard to connect to feelings, like Rosa. He does not understand pop culture references, often accidentally making them, or accidentally allowing the squad to reference them. He is shown to follow rules to a T and was called a robot by Jake, due to his nature. Holt gets along well with, and mentors Amy, as they similarly care about grammar and proper procedure, and dislike being corrected. He is often calm and collected but has been shown to get very angry when somebody hurts him, his friends, his husband, his dog, or his squad. We saw him at his most angry when it was suggested that someone with a Ph.D is not a doctor.
As the series progresses, while not becoming laid-back, he does smile more and can be found not only having fun, but at times indulging in more "childish" behavior. He is competitive, easily accepting Jake's Halloween Heist Plots, and loses any semblance of professionalism around his enemy Madeline Wuntch, oftentimes finding clever ways to snipe with her.
Biography
Holt's age and birthday have never been officially established, but he is described by Det. Peralta as being of "advanced age". He is from Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in an upper-middle-class household with his sister Debbie, his mother Laverne Holt—a judge on the ninth circuit court—and his unnamed father. An introverted child, Holt largely kept to himself and developed a personality similar to that of his mother.
Very little else has been revealed about his upbringing; however, he does reveal that when he was seven years old, he would sneak into his father's study and peek at his father's antiqued globes as a substitute for playing with toys. Holt also kept a diary in his youth. In Return of the King, he says that in grade school he wanted to spend his free time drawing graphs and charts, but his father never saw his potential and insisted he play basketball (based on his lack of knowledge about basketball it can be assumed that he never actually played).
When Holt grew up, he went on to join the NYPD around 1977 and was promoted to detective after 1 month. He came out as gay in 1987. As a black, gay police officer, Holt experienced an avalanche of discrimination, profiling, homophobia, and slander for many years but fought through it all anyway with his head held high and even went on to marry Kevin Cozner, a classics professor. In addition to decades of police work, during which time he arrested over six hundred people and caught a number of very high profile criminals (e.g. The Disco Strangler), Holt spent eight unhappy years in the public affairs office all the while fighting to become eligible for a command of his own. At another point, he worked with FBI Special Agent Bob Annderson and became good friends.
Season One
Holt got his long-time wish in 2013 when he was promoted to Captain and assigned to Brooklyn's 99th Precinct following the retirement of Capt. McGintley. Holt immediately made his presence felt on his first day by taking the brash Detective Jake Peralta down a peg and issuing new directives to restore some professionalism in the precinct. Having learned about his staff from Sgt. Terry Jeffords, Holt resolved to curtail some of Peralta's more childish habits, making him a better detective in the process and helping him become more mature, thereby making the 99th even better.
Season Two
In Beach House, he joins the squad at their "Detectives Only" getaway when Jake invites him out of guilt when he hears that Holt was never invited when he was a detective. At first, he brings down the mood and the squad attempt to host two parties with him, but by the end he is making fun of himself with the squad.
At the end of Johnny and Dora, he announces he is leaving the Nine-Nine, taking Gina along with him to fulfill his unwanted promotion to the Captain of Public Relations. He is replaced by Seth Dozerman.
Season Three
In New Captain, Holt's first duty is overseeing that the new mascot for NYPD gets named. He is later made to wear the suit by Wuntch. While at first, reluctant to take the position seriously, in Boyle's Hunch, with the help of Amy, he starts a campaign asking for advice from the citizens of Brooklyn to make the police department better.
In The Oolong Slayer, Jake Peralta bribes Chief Garmin into bringing him back to the Nine-Nine and resumes his position as Captain of the 99th Precinct.
FBI sting and witness protection
In Maximum Security, he helps the squad work on a plan to fake Adrian Pimento's death, and in The Bureau contacts Annderson to help find the agent working as an informant for Jimmy Figgis, but is held hostage by Annderson (who is in fact one of Figgis' informants, having killed the other and been caught by Holt), until the 99 squad captures Annderson and get him to give up Figgis. However, a week after putting 75 of Figgis' henchmen behind bars, Figgis calls Jake from hiding and threatens him and Peralta. The two are forced into witness protection.
Season Four
In Coral Palms Pt. 1, Holt and Jake have been living in Florida in witness protection under the assumed guises of "Greg Stickney" (Holt) and "Larry Sherbet" (Jake) for the last six months without any contact with their friend and loved ones. Holt/Greg has taken a job at a local arcade/family fun center, but finds that Jake is still trying to track Figgis, wanting him to stop due to how dangerous it is for both of them. However, Holt eventually joins Jake in coming up with a plan to lure Figgis to them. However, their plan goes awry when they are arrested by the local sheriff for the number of guns they bought. The two eventually escape from custody by pretending to fight then kiss, but Holt is injured while running away due to falling on a piece of rebar in a junk pile. He removes the piece at Jake's hideout, but the injury forces him to rely on Gina's help once the rest of the squad reaches Florida. He and Gina eventually help stop Figgis at the fun center.
In The Night Shift, Holt is back on duty with the rest of the 9-9. However, due to their insubordination in heading down to Florida instead of staying in New York as ordered, they are all demoted to the night shift.
In The Overmining, Holt and Jake work with the new daytime CO, Jason "CJ" Stentley, to bring down a major drug dealer, but are annoyed by Stentley's incompetence. Holt, while at first not wanting to do anything resembling sabotage, later calls several reporters to a ceremony for Stentley receiving a medal for it, knowing that their questions would make CJ look like a buffoon in front of everyone. The plan works, and Holt and the other 9-9 squad members are reassigned to the day shift.
Season Five
In 99, he is considered for promotion to the position of Commissioner, which he tries to sabotage because his secret dealing with gangster Seamus Murphy (by getting the information which freed Jake and Rosa from prison) compromised him. He is afraid of what he would demand once Holt is in such a high position. Jake, however, convinces him to go for it nonetheless and work out the problem with Murphy as a team. Through a spectacular show of knowledge on Amy's part, they manage to arrive just in time for Holt's interview.
Season Six
In The Suicide Squad, Holt appears to be serving a temporary sentence as a low-ranking patrolman by order of acting-Commissioner Wuntch after she finds out that he was promoted to detective without having served the correct amount of time as a regular officer beforehand. (It could be assumed that this temporary change was in return for Lt. Jeffords being allowed to stay at the Nine-Nine because Wuntch is Captain Holt's nemesis and would be unlikely to do him that favor without taking something in return).
Season Seven
In Manhunter, Holt adjusts to his new position as a uniformed officer and is put on a case with Jake and Charles as his superiors.
In The Jimmy Jab Games II, Holt competes with Rosa in the competition to win the day off so he can spend it with Kevin. However, after finding out Rosa broke up with Jocelyn, he throws the competition along with Rosa, and they are last seen sitting at the bar listening to death metal music.
In Ding Dong after Madeline Wuntch dies, the Chief of Personnel calls to let Holt know that he is going to be reinstated as Captain of the 99.
Season Eight
In The Good Ones, Holt was revealed to have separated with Kevin in 2020. However, they confessed they still had feelings for each other in The Lake House and get back together in Game of Boyles, remarrying in Renewal.
New York Herald clipping
- Openly Gay Captain Appointed
- By Karen Mitchell – Staff Writer
- Captain Ray Holt was just appointed as the first openly gay homosexual active police captain in New York City.
- Detectives at Precinct 99 in Brooklyn New York will now be under Holt's command in what many city officials are calling a brave move towards equality in one of the nations most controversial police communities.
- Capt. Holt began service with the rank of Probationary Police Officer, alternatively referred to as PPO, or informally within the department, as a Probie.
- After six months of training at the Police Academy and after successfully completing various Academic, Physical and Tactical tests Capt. Holt graduated the Police Academy and was promoted to the rank of Police Officer and receive a corresponding pay grade increase.
- [Details about NYPD rank structure]
- "Cap ppointment [sic] by the upper brass of the New York Police Department is definitively a welcome shift in hiring procedures which our city so desperately needs," said Council Member Junita Martin.
- Many critics and proponents of openly gay police officers will be watching Capt. Holt's department closely and he is expected to undergo many departmental reviews over the next month as the city increases inspections.
- Detective-Investigators are the type most people associate with the term "detective" and are the ones most frequently portrayed on television and in the movies.
- "Turner and Hooch, that is my favorite detective movie of all time," said Capt. Holt on Tuesday at a press conference in Brooklyn.
- [More generic text on the work of a detective]
Trivia
- His favorite color is beige.[1]
- He saw John William Weichselbraun perform "Bach's oboe Sonata in G Minor" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, before being escorted out for gasping too loudly.[2]
- He is the founder of the African-American Gay and Lesbian New York City Policeman's Association (AAGLNYCPA).[3]
- Holt has two tells for when he's lying.
- He is likely lactose intolerant: milk upsets his stomach. Despite this, he apparently loves milk, and hasn't drunken it in 10 years as of the episode, Tactical Village.
- He has a tattoo on his lower back of Kevin's head on Cheddar's body.
- He is right-handed.
- Turner and Hooch is his favorite detective movie of all time
- He hates the use of the word 'bone' in a sexual context.
- Holt is a skilled dancer.
- His sidearm is a revolver as opposed to the standard pistols used by his colleagues.
- He requires glasses to read.
- On his first day as a police officer, one of the older officers unironically asked him if he was there to turn himself in.[6]
- He and Kevin attend a class for hula-hooping.[7]
- Holt previously had a gambling addiction.[8]
- He used to bet on horse races. He bet on children's talent shows when his addiction resurfaced.
- His addiction put Kevin through a lot.
- He briefly had a Twitter account, before it was deactivated due to Twitter thinking that he was a bot.[9] This was likely due to the copious amount of numbers that were in its username.
- He and Kevin made an Instagram account where they post photos of Cheddar, which has over 14K followers.
- He and Kevin belong to the Park Slope Racquet Club, where they had taken home the trophy two years in a row in the annual squash doubles tournament.[10]
- Holt's regular breakfast is room-temperature water and one hard-boiled egg yolk.[11]
- Holt only eats omelettes on vacation.[12]
- Both Jake and Amy have accidentally referred to Captain Holt as their dad.
- He doesn't believe in jinxes.
- He only has one dream a year, always on Tax Day, wherein he has to file for extension.
- He once memorized the entire terms and conditions for a credit card.
- To make room for more important things he regularly purges his brain of useless facts like phone numbers and the names of peoples children (including Mac's).
- He starts and ends a text message with "Dear" and "Sincerely, Raymond Holt".
- He is multilingual, apart from his native language- English he knows: French, Spanish, Greek he is also fair with Portuguese and Flemish.[13] He said multiple sentences in fluent Ukrainian in the finale.
- He also picked up Russian after talking to a Russian woman at a coffee stand every day for 6 months.[14] However, he apparently "speaks with the accent of a peasant."
- He once went to Korea to search up new Wuntch insults.[15]
- He has a fear of being trapped in an elevator, which stemmed from when he read the municipal code as a child and learned that elevators get inspected only once every five years.
- Holt wears a September 11 first-responders badge, displayed simply as "WTC".
- He used to keep a business card of "Zeff Wilcox", the victim of the first case he worked, on his desk. The card had a used piece of pink gum on the front and the words "Thanks for nothing" written on the back as his case was never solved. Holt held onto that card for 30 years because he always wanted to remember what it felt like to let someone down, so he'd never do it again. He said that card "made me the cop I am today."[16]
- When Terry temporarily was at Holt's desk when Holt was on patrol in season 7, he threw the card away mistaking it for trash.
- After learning the significance, Terry brings business cards of all the people who Holt has helped to show him that those people are who made him the cop he is.
- He is a foil fencer.
- He has made multiple pill-popping jokes throughout the show.
- He and Kevin have an incredibly intelligent and disciplined corgi named Cheddar.
- He took a speed reading course and tested at 800 words per minute (the average speed for a college graduate is 350 WPM).[17]
- He read the entire urban dictionary to converse with the other uniform officers and finished it in 47 minutes.
- He has 16 potential reactions.[18]
- Two of which are mad and disappointed and the second strongest of which is displeased.
- The strongest of his reactions is "huffy" which he says Jake is lucky to never have seen. He then gets huffy towards O'Sullivan, scaring Jake.
- He eats refried beans as his "call for help." His reasoning is that beans "are the only food unsullied by flavor" and that it is bad that "It's bad enough they were cooked once, let alone twice"
- Captain Holt seems to enjoy food that is bland or void of flavor. An example of this are the aforementioned beans which he implies to enjoy eating raw, a bowl of "mush" which he eats in The Favor and oatmeal which he eats offscreen in 9 Days (specifically, we see an oatmeal stain on his sleeve. The fact that he didn't clean it off is a sign that he is depressed).
Quotes
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Gallery
Notes
- ↑ Adrian Pimento
- ↑ House Mouses
- ↑ Full Boyle
- ↑ Christmas
- ↑ Bad Beat
- ↑ Old School
- ↑ Unsolvable
- ↑ Bad Beat
- ↑ https://twitter.com/5261796d6f6e64f
- ↑ The Swedes
- ↑ The Wednesday Incident
- ↑ The Favor
- ↑ The Fugitive Pt. 1/The Fugitive Pt. 2
- ↑ Trying
- ↑ Ding Dong
- ↑ The Takeback
- ↑ Debbie (Episode)
- ↑ The Set Up