A surprise twist related to Rollins’ latest guest appearance on Law & Order: SVU opened the door for a potential spinoff. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) was a popular character who worked as an SVU cop from seasons 13 through 24 before leaving the department to take a job as a forensics professor. Kelli Giddish has returned to Law & Order: SVU three times since her departure. In these stories, Rollins usually assists the SVU crew by giving them insight into perpetrators’ psychological profiles.
Rollins’ abrupt exit came after she quickly married ADA Sonny Carisi, and her guest appearances in Law & Order: SVU season 25 has generated widespread speculation that she will return to Law & Order: SVU full-time. Mariska Hargitay couldn’t stop Kelli Giddish’s Law & Order: SVU exit and recently commented that she hopes Giddish will be able to return for Law & Order: SVU season 26. Although a change in Rollins’ circumstances seemed to be the perfect setup for this return, it also provided an opportunity for an intriguing spinoff.
Rollins’ latest guest appearance during Law & Order: SVU season 25 opened with a scene in Rollins’ kitchen where she was preparing a surprise for Carisi while getting the kids ready to go to school. This family scene, followed by Carisi’s nervousness about Rollins working undercover to help SVU catch a serial rapist, was the perfect set-up for a spin-off series featuring Rollins and Carisi. The spinoff could focus on the pair trying to balance their passion for getting justice for survivors with the needs of their family.
Rollins’ job as a forensics professor is over; she turned down an offer of tenure and was unemployed and bored, which is why she agreed to help SVU with a case. While this development could clear the path for her to return to Law & Order: SVU, it also allows her to choose a new career that could be the focus of a spinoff. Carisi casually mentioned that she could work as an investigator in the DA’s office so that they could spend their workday together. Carisi and Rollins working side by side would be fertile ground for a new series.
The Law & Order franchise has dominated Thursday nights for the past three years. However, Law & Order: Organized Crime will move to Peacock for season 5, leaving a hole in the schedule. If the franchise were to create a spinoff featuring Rollins and Carisi, the new series could fill that slot so that there continue to be three Law & Order series airing on Thursday nights. Additionally, the spin-off featuring both family and work situations would be attractive to those viewers who are hungry for family dramas.
Carisi has been the ADA for Law & Order: SVU for a while, but that wouldn’t necessarily have to change. Carisi could still cross over as needed, with or without Rollins, while the two star in their own spin-off. The set-up for Rollins’ return could lead to an intriguing spin-off as easily as it could to Rollins returning to SVU full-time, and creating a new series would solve the scheduling problem caused by the change in how Law & Order: Organized Crime will be released.