Spoilers ahead for Season 24, Episode 9 of Law & Order: SVU, “And a Trauma in a Pear Tree.”
After 12 seasons, Law & Order: SVU said goodbye to Kelli Giddish’s Detective Amanda Rollins. The episode saw Rollins and Carisi’s sudden wedding, and Amanda struggling to tell Olivia Benson that she’d taken a job offer to be a teacher. Just like her character, Mariska Hargitay had a hard time saying goodbye to her friend and partner.
Following the episode, Mariska Hargitay took to Instagram to share a sweet message with her longtime co-star. While also adding a Rollivia hashtag to the caption, Hargitay was clearly feeling emotional, and made sure to tell Giddish that she will forever miss her on set:
It’s not just Benson and Rollins that have grown close over the years, you can tell that Hargitay and Giddish have also become close after working together for over a decade. The detectives had quite the emotional goodbye in the episode, and I have an inkling Hargitay and Giddish weren’t really acting since it felt so raw.
When it was announced that Kelli Giddish would be leaving SVU, the big questions became how Rollins would leave the unit, and how would Benson react. Even though Benson was upset that she was leaving, she couldn’t have been prouder of Rollins. Plus, she made sure to promise that they will keep in touch, even though they won’t be seeing each other every day. I'd assume the same could be said for Mariska Hargitay and Kelli Giddish as well.
Giddish also took the time to share her own post following her last episode. She posted several behind-the-scenes photos and thanked everyone who supported Amanda Rollins through the years:
Kelli Giddish had been crushing SVU in recent episodes, especially following Rollins’ incident in the big Law & Order crossover. It’s unknown if she could make an appearance in the future, but as of now, Rollins is moving on from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. However, now that she and Carisi are married, hopefully, fans can look forward to some updates. Also, assuming Benson keeps her promise, the two will definitely still keep hanging out with each other.
Although it would have been better to keep Rollins on, it’s nice that the detective got a happy ending. It will be different once the show comes back in the new year without her, but knowing that she is happy at her new job and married to Carisi, makes me happy. Although, fingers crossed that Kelli Giddish returns to SVU sometime in the future.
New episodes of Law & Order: SVU return Thursday, January 5 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. Also, make sure to check out CinemaBlend’s 2023 TV schedule to see what else is coming in the new year.
