Summary
- Kelli Giddish’s return to SVU as Rollins in season 25 was only temporary, so her future on the show is uncertain.
- Rollins’ character played a crucial role in season 25, adding depth and meaning to the team dynamic.
- Giddish’s possible return to SVU for season 26 is still uncertain, but her guest appearances in season 25 suggest a possible exit.
Kelli Giddish back to Law and Order: SVU in season 25 as Amanda Rollins, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she will be back on the show forever. Amanda Rollins was part of the Law and Order: SVU Team from season 13 to season 24, but then she was quickly removed from the show. In season 24 Rollins suddenly announces that she has married Dominick “Sonny” Carisi (Peter Scanavino) and will be leaving the Special Victims Unit to become an associate professor of criminal behavior at Fordham University.
Rollins was a talented detective in the unit and her loss was a huge blow – not only to the characters but also to Giddish, who had no plans to leave the show. Giddish negotiated for fairer compensation and when the salary dispute was not resolved, she was forced out. It was such a big problem that even SVU Veteran Mariska Hargitay could not prevent Giddish from being fired. However, fans got a welcome surprise when the character returned for a few episodes in season 25, but You would be well advised not to read too much into it.
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Kelli Giddish’s Amanda Rollins returned for two episodes of Law & Order: SVU Season 25
Rollins played a crucial role in episode 11, “Prima Nocta”
Amanda Rollins appeared in two episodes of season 25, episode 1, “Tunnel Blind,” and episode 11, “Prima Nocta.” In the season premiere, the gang comes together to celebrate the baptism of Rollins and Carisi’s baby, a boy named Nicky. It’s only a small appearance, but it was still a welcome surprise to see Rollins. In episode 11, Rollins gets a larger-than-life role. Here, it is revealed that Rollins was bored with her job as a teacher. She even turned down a permanent position and quit the job altogether.
Amanda Rollins and Sonny Carisi are the only main characters in
Law and Order: SVU
who also married main characters.
Available to freelance, Rollins returns to the Special Victims Unit to help with a case involving a runaway bride who seeks SVU’s help on her wedding day. Rollins rejoins the team in this episode, as if she had never left. The episode is a powerful reminder of how important Giddish’s character is to the show. She is one of the few female characters on the team dealing with heinous crimes that are often directed against women. In “Prima Nocta,” the Bride only feels comfortable opening up to another woman, an important note from the show.
She is a core member of the team and “Prima Nocta” is proof of how much better everyone gets along with her.
Rollins is a complex and realistic character who has overcome many problems during her time on the show, such as her gambling addiction. She is a core member of the team and “Prima Nocta” proves how much better everyone gets along with her.
It is unclear if Giddish will return to SVU (as a cast member or guest star)
Kelli Giddish also did not talk about her guest appearances in season 25
It is unclear whether Kelli Giddish will return for Law and Order: SVU Season 26 or if her appearances in Season 25 were just one-offs. After Season 24, Giddish spoke about her exit from the series, but carefully avoided any questions about salary negotiations. She said about a return to the series (via diversity),
“The door is open. The world that Dick Wolf has created with all these shows — I mean, the crossovers that happen, the people that come back. Chris Meloni was gone for 12 years and then his character came back. S. Epatha (Merkerson) is on Chicago Med. These characters are so beloved and so well-defined because you see them day in and day out. We’re in people’s living rooms. The audience loves these characters, they know us. Dick Wolf has such a fertile universe where people can show up in different places. That’s a really cool thing that he’s created.”
This was before season 25, so the fact that the door wasn’t closed could refer to her guest appearances and the door could well be closed by this point. Unfortunately it seems that Kelli Giddish will not return to Law and order:SVU for season 26. If she had wanted to, she probably would have appeared in at least one more episode of season 25. Rollins wasn’t even in the finale. Fans should probably just hope for some guest appearances, like in season 25, because that seems more likely for Amanda Rollins’ future on the show.
Law and Order: SVU
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) is a crime drama television series created by Dick Wolf that follows cases from the 16th Precinct of a fictional New York Police Department that revolve around sex crimes. The series follows a rotating group of detectives as they tackle some of the most heinous crimes while helping victims – and themselves – adjust to the new normal as the darkness of the world is revealed with each new case.
- Pour
- Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Richard Belzer, Dann Florek, Michelle Hurd, Stephanie March, Ice-T, BD Wong, Diane Neal, Tamara Tunie
- Release date
- 20 September 1999
- Seasons
- 24
- Creator
- Dick Wolf
