To evolve, Law & Order had to ax one of its long-running characters
polygon.comLaw enforcement both real and fictional has undergone a reckoning in recent years, albeit a confusing one. Many wondered, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the resurgence of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, if cop shows were over. Law & Order: Organized Crime dumped its showrunner Craig Gore amidst controversial Facebook comments about the 2020 protests (the show has since had five showrunners across its three-season tenure). And yet, last year the original Law & Order was resurrected, and the sister Chicago P.D. law enforcement franchise is going strong, so it would seem that cop shows are doubling down.
Still, cop shows no longer exist apolitically, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actress Kelli Giddish appears to have been a casualty of Law & Order’s shakeup, with her departure announced ahead of SVU’s 24th season premiere on Thursday. But this writer won’t miss Giddish’s Detective Amanda Rollins and her legacy of victim blaming and slut shaming, and her departure shows just how far the Law & Order universe has to go.
This is not a celebration of actress Kelli Giddish’s exit from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit — which was not of her own accord, and was cited by the series’ new showrunner David Graziano as just part of the “complex” behind-the-scenes creative and financial decisions that steer the show — but rather of her character’s. Giddish’s Amanda Rollins entered the Dick Wolf televisual universe as a member of SVU’s elite squad for the show’s 13th season after the departure of Chris Meloni’s equally problematic Detective Elliot Stabler (who is now back in this role in Organized Crime, as well as plenty of cameos in the spinoff that made him famous). And she quickly (and often) became an example of
Read more on polygon.com
