Kelli Giddish returns as Amanda Rollins in previews for a two-week Law and Order crossover event that also includes Benson and Stabler.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime have released trailers for a special upcoming event featuring the return of Kelli Giddish as Amanda Rollins. The former stars Mariska Hargitay as Olivia Benson, who is currently an NYPD Captain and an important part of the unit that solves crimes of a sexual nature. Her longtime partner, Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) originally left the series in 2011 after 12 seasons, but has since returned to the franchise as the lead of Law & Order: Organized Crime, which began airing in April 2021.
This week, NBC (via TV Promos) dropped two promos for upcoming episodes in Law & Order: SVU season 24 and Law & Order: OC season 3. In addition to featuring another reunion of Benson and Stabler, the upcoming two-week crossover special also features Rollins returning to team up with both investigators as they attempt to track down a particularly slippery criminal who leaves behind different DNA at assault scenes, one of which points them to an unsolved organized crime murder. This will mark the first time that Rollins has appeared on any Law & Order series since her departure in 2022. Check out both teasers below:
Amanda Rollins’ Law & Order Departure Explained
Kelli Giddish originally joined the Law & Order: SVU cast as Amanda Rollins in 2011 at the beginning of season 13. She had already played unrelated character Kara Bawson on a season 8 episode in 2007, but her stint as Rollins marked the first time she joined the main cast of the series. She initially came to New York City while on the trail of a serial rapist based out of her home state of Georgia before becoming a main figure along with Danny Pino’s Nick Amaro.
After 12 years, Giddish was set to exit the series after contract negotiations between her and producers failed to reach a compromise. Onscreen, Rollins’ SVU exit came about because she left to become a professor, which Benson accepted after initially dismissing the idea. Before this impending reappearance on the pair of Organized Crime episodes beginning May 11 and the SVU episode dated May 18, her last official appearance on any Law & Order series was episode 9 of SVU season 24, which aired in early December.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime have been known for their crossovers and penchant for bringing back important characters. The series have even rekindled Benson and Stabler’s “will-they-won’t-they” romantic storyline across the storylines of both shows. However, this new two-week crossover promises to be one of their biggest and most explosive yet.
