Kelli Giddish once again returned to “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” after leaving the show as a series regular in 2022.
In the third episode of season 26, titled “Divide & Conquer,” her character, Detective Amanda Rollins, returns to the fold – and has a heartwarming reunion with her former partner, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay).
In season 24 of the NBC procedural, Rollins married ADA Dominick Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino) and resigned from the Special Victims Unit to accept a teaching position at Fordham University. She returned as a guest star in a later episode of season 24 and in two episodes in season 25.
Rollins returns for season 26 and now works as a sergeant for the NYPD Intelligence Bureau.
“Sergeant!” Benson says as she and Rollins hug in the hallway. “Your first citywide briefing at the Intelligence Division, huh?”
“Captain,” Rollins says sweetly. “Yes, the last time I was at one of these things was with you.”
Rollins then introduces Benson to her new partner, Detective Corgan, played by John Clarence Stewart. Benson asks Rollins how she likes the new gig.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I love it,” says Rollins. “It’s like you want to eavesdrop on the whole world. And I want to thank you for putting in a word for me and steering me in the right direction. I missed my family with all those long hours, and that made me miss who I was even more.”
Benson proudly replies, “It’s so good to see this version of you again.”
In a pre-episode interview with Entertainment weeklyGiddish teased that this won’t be Rollins’ last. She said fans can expect to see her again in an episode that is “totally out of the ordinary.”
When asked if her happy ending could be complicated if Rollins returns to law enforcement, Giddish said, “No, she is happily married. She has a new baby, so she has three children. I think her relationship with her mother is a little better and her relationship with Benson [is] always developing. I think the fact that she has such a solid foundation with Carisi makes a huge difference in the choices she thinks she can make and how encouraged she feels to take her life in her hands and make some good, still interesting to make decisions. I don’t think she’ll get into trouble, but now it’s different because she’s not a detective in the Special Victims Unit.”
Giddish first appeared on “SVU” as a sexual assault survivor named Kara Bawson in 2007. She returned in 2011 playing Det. Amanda Rollins is a series regular through season 24, in 2022. She has appeared in 258 episodes of the procedural.