With a show as long-running as Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, there are bound to be casting changes over the years. Many characters have come and gone from the unit, but few have had quite as emotional an impact as Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), who parted ways with the series halfway through Season 24. Rollins left to become a teacher, so the character didn’t have a tragic end, but she was part of the squad for over ten years, so it was still difficult to see her go. Thankfully, she’s made multiple guest appearances on the series since her departure, due in part to her history with the squad, her marriage to Carisi (Peter Scanavino), and the real-life friendship between Giddish and SVU’s leading lady Mariska Hargitay.
Many believed that because of this real-life friendship, there would be ample possibility for Rollins to rejoin the SVU squad. This theory became even more believable when it was revealed that Rollins quit her teaching job, promptly joining the squad on an SVU case in the Season 25 episode “Prima Nocta”. Her appearance led viewers to believe that the door for a Rollins return was wide open. Unfortunately, such a thing was never confirmed, and the episode ended without Rollins being rehired by Captain Benson. Now, in Season 26, Benson finally has a stable team to round out the precinct, making Rollins’ return even less likely than it was before.
There’s No Spot for Rollins on ‘Law & Order: SVU’
After Rollins left SVU, followed soon after by Muncy (Molly Burnett), Captain Benson was left short-staffed, filing through temporary detectives from other SVU precincts in an attempt to find replacements. In Season 26, she found those replacements in Detective Bruno (Kevin Kane) and Detective Silva (Juliana Aiden-Martinez), who perfectly rounded out the squad and filled any potential spot Rollins could have taken. This shouldn’t come as too much of a shock though, since Benson told Rollins exactly this in “Prima Nocta.” Benson flat out tells Rollins that, even if she did want to rehire her, she didn’t have a desk available, making it impossible. Rollins notices the irony: “I’m finally available, and you’re not understaffed anymore.”
Benson makes it clear that it isn’t about rehiring Rollins, but rather helping her to figure out where she belongs in life. Benson has always been a sort of mirror for Rollins; someone who always says things at face value and doesn’t shy away from the hard truth. Benson is the only one Rollins lets herself be vulnerable with. Because of this, Benson understands that Rollins’ desire to come back to SVU isn’t so much about the job itself, but rather because she feels lost in life. She points out that Rollins was unemployed for one day and already couldn’t handle the boredom of it; she doesn’t want SVU to be a safety net. Benson tells Rollins to take some time and figure out what makes her happy, which Rollins says is hard for her, prompting Benson to reiterate that she knows how hard she’s been working on self-care and healing.
Rollins Is Still a Pivotal Part of ‘Law & Order: SVU’
Rollins’ future with SVU, or lack thereof, was further squandered when she made her much-anticipated appearance in Episode 3 of Season 26, titled “Divide & Conquer.” While many fans believed that Rollins’ guest appearance would finally bring the character back to SVU once and for all, the show quickly squashed that notion by moving her to a different unit altogether. Rollins is given the position of Sergeant in the Intelligence Unit, so it’s likely that we will still see plenty of her character, just not in the way we’re used to.
Even if she can’t rejoin Benson’s team at SVU, Rollins will always be a poignant part of SVU for multiple reasons. For starters, she has so much history with the squad, having been there for ten years. She also has some very impactful relationships, not only with Benson, but also with Carisi. Since the two are married, and he’s SVU’s current ADA, we will still see Rollins from time to time, even if she isn’t directly involved with a case. And who knows, maybe her new gig at the Intelligence Unit will score her a spot at Organized Crime, after all. Since she’ll likely be working with similar cases, we may get more crossovers – or perhaps even a new spin-off.
