Is Kelli Giddish Back on 'Law & Order: SVU' For Good?
Kelli Giddish technically departed Law & Order: SVU back in December 2022. The mid-season finale saw Amanda Rollins marry Dominick Carisi and take a job teaching at Fordham University.
"Playing Rollins has been one of the greatest joys and privileges of my life," Giddish said prior to her exit. "I've been so fortunate to be a part of the Law & Order family for the last 12 years. There is simply no other character on TV like Rollins. She's grown and changed, and I have as well. I started on this show when I was in my late 20s and I'm grateful I got to spend so many of my adult years with Rollins in my life."
Fans of the series were surprised and delighted when multiple outlets confirmed that Giddish would reprise her role as Rollins as part of the Law & Order crossover.
On top of that? Rollins and Carisi are now expecting their first baby together, something Carisi let slip in last week's episode. Here's everything that happened when Giddish returned to Law & Order: SVU.
How did Rollins get written off Law & Order: SVU?
Rollins and Carisi got married before Rollins departed the series, with Rollins intending to head to a teaching position after reevaluating her life and her choices and deciding to pursue what she believes will make her happy. As Giddish told Entertainment Weekly, "Well, she got a rare happy ending. That's a huge legacy. You won't remember her for like the gruesome way she got murdered. You'll just remember that character went through a whole hell of a lot and they gave her happy ending. That's kind of awesome."
In real life, the decision was not one that Giddish made by choice. Showrunner David Graziano told Variety that her departure was "a call made from above" and the outlet added that "salary negotiations and her future on the show were part of the conversation and, ultimately, a compromise couldn’t be made."
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What is the Law & Order: SVU Season 24 finale crossover?
The event sees Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) of SVU and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) of Organized Crime working with their respective agencies to solve a murder that has been connected to a rape. The crossover began last week and concluded with the shows' finales on May 18.
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When did Kelli Giddish come back to Law & Order?
Giddish first reprised her role as Rollins in last week's episode of Organized Crime and returned to SVU in the May 18th finale. For fans of both shows, it's no surprise when she shows up at Detective Benson's office to discuss the case against Shadow?rk in the finale. The pair end up talking about how boring Rollins has found teaching, which is similar to the conversation Stabler and Rollins previously had.
As revealed by co-star Ice-T, Rollins also appears on the season finale of Law & Order: Organized Crime, ostensibly to tie up the crossover story arc.
What happened on the season finale of Law & Order: SVU?
As par for course, the Season 24 finale of Law & Order: SVU was a doozy. Detectives Benson and Stabler were busy investigating an international crime ring that operates the revenge-for-hire website Shadow?rk, which is run by Hyakunin Giri.
At the same time, Detectives Fin and Bruno were investigating a victim named Kate Wallace who was raped twice. While the team was working on her case, the rapist struck again—this time targeting a 14-year-old boy.
By the end of the finale, Hyakunin Giri has put out hits on Benson and Stabler for $50,000 each if they are killed.
Will Rollins come back to Law & Order: SVU for good?
It's unclear if Giddish will return as a full-time member of the cast, but the finale certainly hinted that anything and everything is possible. It seemed more than clear in the finale that Rollins definitely misses the job and that her teaching position might not be everything she had hoped it would be.
Giddish herself has already hinted that she'd be happy to return. As she said, "[Rollins is] still in New York. I think the door's open, sure. I loved working with everybody that was ever involved with SVU and I know they feel the same about me, so if it works in a story line or whatever, I don't think the audience would ever hate to see that."