We’re So Glad Law & Order: SVU Brought Rollins Back — Now It’s Time to Give Her Something to Do

As Law & Order: SVU settles down for its short winter’s nap, there’s time for the long-running police procedural to think about what to give fans for the holidays and in the new year to come.

I know the gift I’d like to receive: Sgt. Amanda Rollins being the complicated cop, mother and wife that she is. Because though the series brought former series regular Kelli Giddish back in recurring fashion in Season 26, her appearances so far haven’t felt emblematic of a fan-favorite character with more than a decade of history with the show.

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Please note: This isn’t Giddish’s fault. With the character newly promoted and reentering police work via the NYPD’s Intelligence Unit, not to mention raising a family with Assistant District Attorney Dominic “Sonny” Carisi, Rollins should have tons to do whenever she’s on screen. But that wasn’t the case when she first showed up this season, to collaborate with Capt. Benson’s squad on a case involving Albanian crime tourists in Episode 3.

That hour established Rollins in her new job and introduced us to her new partner, Det. Vince Corgan, which was a plus. But everything else about the episode, from the clashing between departments to the way Benson Liv-splained sexual assault to her FRIEND WHO’D WORKED IN SVU FOR YEARS AND WAS ASSAULTED HERSELF, felt like it could’ve been any non-SVU cop working the case. And would it have killed the show to give us one fleeting nod to the fact that Rollins and Carisi, who shared scenes during the hour, are soulmates enjoying a hard-won, happy marriage after years of painful pining? Even a “Can you pick up milk on the way home?” would’ve sufficed.

Perhaps I should be careful what I wish for, though, because the fall finale this week swung too hard in the opposite direction. When Carisi went to buy flowers for his paralegal’s birthday, he wound up trapped in a hostage situation that left one person dead, another raped and Sonny in tears by the refrigerated drinks case, wondering if he’d ever see Amanda and the kids again.

Benson summoned Rollins to the scene, where she worried, got in the way and argued with the hostage negotiators who (correctly!) stated that she should not be there. Was I, a #Rollisi ‘shipper, happy to see Carisi fold into his wife’s arms the minute that he was free? Of course. Stalwart men of the Law & Orderverse falling to pieces is my entire personality!  But at the same time was I, a Rollins enthusiast who loves seeing smart, strong women do their fully realized thing, worried that the character won’t be used to her full potential this season? Also yes!

Amanda Rollins is a capable, flawed, loyal and loving badass. SVU, please let her be all of those things when the season resumes in January.

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