Warning! Spoilers ahead for Law & Order: SVU season 24 premiere. Kelli Giddish's impending exit from Law & Order: SVU makes a cut Amanda Rollins and Sonny Carisi scene even worse. The longest-running scripted live-action TV show returned for its 24th season with a three-way crossover event with Law & Order and Law & Order: Organized Crime. Despite a more intricate narrative playing out across all three shows, a cut scene from Law & Order: SVU's season premiere has become its most newsworthy element.
The scene happened after Rollins got fatally shot by a perpetrator while protecting a teen girl. She was immediately rushed to the hospital for medical help, and it was uncertain if she was going to survive. This prompted her former partner/current boyfriend, ADA Carisi, to rush to the scene. He was met by Captain Olivia Benson, who caught him up with what happened. The whole bit was included in Law & Order: SVU's original NBC broadcast but was cut on the next-day version of the show streaming on Peacock.
Cutting Carisi's emotional scene as he gets worried about his girlfriend is already bad enough, but Kelli Giddish's upcoming Law & Order: SVU departure makes the removal even worse. Joining the long-running police procedural in season 13 (on the heels of Christopher Meloni's unexpected Law & Order: SVU exit) the actress has played Amanda Rollins for 12 years. It's still unclear why Giddish is leaving the show, but various reports have claimed that she is being forced out of it. If this is the case, cutting Carisi's bit, which establishes how serious their tryst really is, appears to be an indirect way to ease fans out of their investment in her. The fact that there is limited time left for Rollins and Carisi in Law & Order: SVU makes it more tragic. After years of developing their relationship, which even included a will-they-or-won't-they dynamic similar to Benson and Stabler, the show finally brought them together — only to separate them again.
Kelli Giddish's SVU Exit Is Bad News For Rollisi Fans
It's uncertain how Kelli Giddish's controversial Law & Order: SVU exit will be handled. Aside from confirming the news that she is leaving the series, the actress hasn't made any other comment about it. Meanwhile, neither NBC nor Wolf Entertainment has addressed the matter or the controversy surrounding it. However they do it, one thing is for sure: Giddish's departure also marks the end of Amanda Rollisi on Law & Order: SVU. If Rollins comes out of the show alive and just decides to retire from the force, her absence from the series would make it impossible to properly tackle her relationship with Carisi. So, even if the characters stay together after Giddish leaves Law & Order: SVU, the show wouldn't spend time and effort to progress their love affair. Any potential development would be happening off-screen.
Amanda Rollins's near-death experience in the Law & Order: SVU season 24 premiere could be setting up the character's looming exit from the show. Perhaps the character decides it's time to retire from the force and focus on raising her two daughters. Otherwise, there's also the possibility of a darker end for her. Whatever the case may be, here's hoping that the show gives Rollins and Carisi some more time together before Kelli Giddish leaves.
Law & Order: SVU season 24 airs every Thursday on NBC.