Spoilers ahead for Episode 14 of Law & Order: SVU Season 23, called “Video Killed The Radio Star.”
Law & Order: SVU never fails to raise the stakes of the case every week, but things got personal for Rollins and Carisi in "Video Killed The Radio Star" when she went undercover and off-script, and Carisi... was not a fan. The tension came just one episode after they happily disclosed their relationship to their respective bosses, and was perhaps inevitable in a show like SVU. And it leaves me wondering: do Rollins and Carisi need to be separated professionally, or can they keep it together even when Rollins puts herself in danger and ADA Carisi has to watch?
The case went off the track when an undercover Rollins improvised to a suspect that she was private investigator Amanda Jones, to the dismay of Benson and Carisi, and Carisi already wasn't thrilled with Rollins' plan to get a rapist alone without the benefit of her badge. He was undercover as well as her husband (at Benson's slightly amused suggestion), and nobody's cover was blown, but there was some tension that might not have been there before romance was added to their work dynamic.
Or, more specifically, before disclosed romance was added to their work dynamic! Benson specifically called Rollins out for her habit of behaving more recklessly to sabotage herself whenever she feels like she's too happy, and Carisi has obviously been making her happy. And it's hard to argue that Rollins wasn't being at least a little bit reckless with how she rolled with the punches of the case, to the point that I – paranoid SVU viewer that I am – was nervous every time she sipped from a drink that the baddie of the week poured her. If I was nervous, of course Carisi was on edge!
He was also a lot huffier than usual, and probably more than he would have been before they disclosed. Their work relationship just seemed more tense, which leads me to wonder if the best thing for their romantic relationship would be keeping more separate professionally. After all, Carisi is an ADA now; if he's going to venture out into the field with Special Victims from time to time, perhaps it would be best if he's not paired with Rollins.
That said, Carisi's crack about Rollins rarely cooking was possibly my favorite moment of the episode, and that undoubtedly wouldn't have happened back when they were being careful to avoid tipping people off, so I'm not going to complain! I'm just interested to see if and how SVU will explore how their relationship affects their workplace dynamic moving forward.
And I might be more alarmed at the idea if not for the expansion of the L&O universe now that Organized Crime is moving into its third arc of Season 2 and the original Law & Order is back. Carisi could lend his talents on one of those shows as well as on SVU and have plenty to do in the courtroom, if he does ultimately spend less time with boots on the ground with his old unit.
See what happens next for Rollisi – hopefully including that family dinner with Carisi's mom on the way – with new episodes of Law & Order: SVU on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC in the 2022 TV schedule, between Law & Order (which will soon deliver a classic "ripped from the headlines" episode) at 8 p.m. and Law & Order: Organized Crime at 10 p.m.
