Law & Order: Special Victims Unit brings back a beloved character for its Season 27

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is entering Season 27 with a revamp that longtime fans will recognize as more of a reunion season.

After over two years of limited on-screen presence, Kelli Giddish is coming back on screen full-time as Amanda Rollins, re-establishing a familiar face to the project. This will be her 15th season on the show. After departing as a series regular in season 24, she has been making appearances as a guest star in the seasons that have followed.

Her return brings forward both nostalgia and narrative possibility for the long-running procedural drama.

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Amanda Rollins steps back into the spotlight of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Season 27 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit marks an important shift as a comeback for Kelli Giddish, whose character Amanda Rollins has stayed a fan favorite ever since her debut in 2011.

Rollins initially left the show midway through Season 24, going from detective to Fordham professor after wedding ADA Dominick "Sonny" Carisi.

While she reappeared in a few guest spots, the announcement of her making a comeback as a full-time character indicates an axel back towards already known dynamics—and possibly new ones.

Recent shifts going on behind the scenes make up the perfect timing for her return. With the exit of several cast members, as well as producers like Julie Martin and Norberto Barba, the show is going through a creative overhaul.

Stepping into the ship is Michele Fazekas, the first female showrunner in the history of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Giddish’s comeback seems balanced to help alleviate the ensemble, especially as the show continues to grow after more than 20 whole years on air.

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Why Kelli Giddish’s comeback holds a lot of emotional weight

Giddish’s comeback into the main cast of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit comes with personal stakes for the characters as well as the actors on the show.

Her long-running relationship with Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson is important to the plot appeal. In an earlier interview, Hargitay shared her feelings by articulating

"Kelli is my favorite actor to work with. Kelli is my heart. It’s a sore subject. I have a lot of say on the show, but I didn’t have enough there."

Mariska in an interview also stated,

"I can't tell you — I love this woman so much," she said. "I love her as a human, I love her as an actress, and I just — when she's on set there's a big exhale, you know, for me because I have an extra kick in my step. And we have fun together."

Their on-screen friendship, once extremely important to the show, was somewhat revisited in a Season 26 episode where Rollins and Benson shared a moment at a pizza parlour with their children.

That scene, without any stresses of casework, hinted at what many fans crave: deep and intimate storytelling. Giddish’s presence also gives off an anchor for Benson, especially as Amanda remains one of the few characters Benson has actually ever opened up to, which fans love to see.

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The comeback of Amanda Rollins to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit isn’t just another casting move—it’s a way of bring back some more of the show’s emotionality.

With cast members exiting and a new showrunner now at the helm, Season 27 is setting the bigger stage for a different kind of rhythm, one rooted in legacy, intimacy, and layered storytelling.

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