After months of no reveals on the Law & Order front due to the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike, the franchise is set to return to NBC in the 2024 TV schedule. Now, SVU fans have some exciting news: Kelli Giddish will reprise her role as Amanda Rollins for the Season 25 premiere in January. Talk about a way to kick off a milestone season, and leave me dying for details on what's up with Rollisi!!
How Rollins Is Coming Back
Kelli Giddish will be back on her old SVU stomping grounds in the first episode of the 25th season, according to TVLine, although there's no news whether or not she could return beyond the premiere. Given that SVU is only expected to run for thirteen episodes in Season 25 due to the long strike delays, I for one would love to see her return in at least recurring capacity, especially after the show said goodbye to its only female series regular other than Mariska Hargitay in the Season 24 finale with Muncy's decision to take a job elsewhere.
The longtime Rollins actress was written out of SVU as a series regular halfway through Season 24, when the detective chose to leave the NYPD and begin a teaching job after tying the knot with Carisi. Giddish's character was back in investigative mode by the end of the 2022-2023 TV season, starting with a guest appearance in the penultimate episode of Christopher Meloni's Law & Order: Organized Crime and then playing a part in the SVU/OC finale crossover.
In those episodes, Rollins showed some dissatisfaction with the less exciting teaching job that seemed like a potential hint that she could return to her work at Special Victims, but she was also pregnant... and that leads me to my Rollisi curiosity.
Why I Want Some Rollisi Details ASAP
The only plot twist that I'm going to predict with confidence for Rollins and Carisi in Season 25 is that she'll have already given birth to their child by the time the premiere airs, unless SVU is going to ignore the much longer break than usual between seasons. She might have still been pregnant in the Season 25 premiere if it had aired as usual in September, but if the long-running drama goes for a time jump from spring to January with the Rollisi baby still unborn, then the poor woman would have had a bun in the over for the better part of a year.
But my assumption that the baby has been born just raises the question of Rollisi's status and whether she would return to the NYPD as anything other than a consultant who stays out of the kind of danger that got her shot at the beginning of Season 24. Part of why she left Special Victims last season was her fear of leaving daughters Jesse and Billie behind; would it make sense for her to return to the job now that she has a third child, and could it happen without straining her marriage with Carisi? Is Giddish really coming back for a one-off appearance?
It's safe to say that Carisi will be an incredible dad to his child, after he's been filling the role of father figure for Rollins' two kids since before they even began a relationship. His job also keeps him out of danger since he's no longer a detective, so the youngsters would still have one parent safe no matter what. But he was more thrilled than even she was that she was stepped away from the NYPD, and I would love some details about what's ahead for Rollisi sooner than the premiere in January.
Honestly, I'd be willing to suspend my disbelief, just because I'd love to have Rollins back. SVU avoided actually acknowledging her pregnancy until nearly the very end of the season, to the point that it was a stretch that Benson somehow didn't know until well after her friend was showing. Plus, Kelli Giddish was pregnant in real life, so it's possible that Rollins was only expecting because it would have been difficult to hide the actress' bump for her finale return. Of course, this speculation could be much ado about nothing if Rollins is just showing up socially rather than part of a case that could bring her back more frequently.
If we do indeed have to wait until Season 25 arrives for some details about Rollisi, then Law & Order: SVU fans may want to pen Thursday, January 18 at 9 p.m. ET into their calendars for the Season 25 premiere, in between Law & Order at 8 p.m. (which is losing series regular Jeffrey Donovan) and Organized Crime at 10 p.m., all on NBC. You can also revisit earlier Rollins episodes streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription and/or Hulu subscription.
