Rollins is back! Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 3 spoilers have her working a case that could easily be a backdoor pilot for her own show.
The promo video is fast-paced, suggesting an action-packed episode that would fit in equally well on Law & Order: Organized Crime.
These spoilers give us the first taste of Rollins in her new role as an Intelligence Officer.
Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 3 Spoilers Confirm Rollins’ New Role
As reported over the summer, Rollins will be working for the new-to-the-franchise Intelligence Unit.
Like the real NYPD Intelligence Unit, this department involves international travel and counter-terrorism work.
Both of these things are common on police procedurals, but we haven’t really had any idea what it will look like for Rollins until now or how her new job will intersect with SVU.
The promo video answers that question, though I’m not sure I like this for an SVU episode.
The story appears to involve a robbery victim who was tied up and sexually assaulted, which is standard SVU fare. Then Rollins enters and explains how this crime is tied to an international syndicate.
SVU occasionally jumps into international crimes, but this always felt unrealistic to me, especially when Stabler went to Eastern Europe in pursuit of a suspect.
Since when does an NYPD department have jurisdiction in other countries?
It’s especially annoying because there is another show in the franchise that would fit this story much better than Law & Order: SVU.
Organized Crime involves crime syndicates, including those with ties to foreign countries, and Rollins has worked with Stabler before.
Besides, I thought SVU was going back to basics. Whatever was meant by that, these kinds of stories aren’t it!
I want to like these Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 3 spoilers, even though they seem off-topic and strange.
I could never get sick of Rollins, no matter what she’s doing, so I’m all for her return despite my skepticism of the plot.
If this story leads to a Rollins-centered spinoff next year, it’ll be worth having a story that seems, on the surface, ridiculous.
I’d prefer Rollins have a less contrived reason to work with SVU, but it’s often hard to tell from spoilers what’s actually going to happen.
Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 3 Spoilers Don’t Say Anything About Rollins’ Home Life
Although the promo video focuses exclusively on Rollins’ joint mission with Benson and the SVU team, I hope we’ll get to learn more about her home life.
Last time Rollins visited on Law & Order: SVU Season 25 Episode 11, she had quit her teaching job and was bored with her life, which is why she tagged along with Benson on a case.
Presumably, her new gig at Intelligence has solved that problem.
While it doesn’t need to be the sole focus of her guest appearance, she and Benson should have a conversation about the changes in Rollins’ life at some point.
Rollins and Benson are supposed to be close friends, which is one reason I love it when Rollins shows up.
There aren’t enough female friendships on TV to begin with, and SVU has lost that closeness since they wrote out Rollins in the middle of Season 24.
It would be a shame if SVU didn’t capitalize on that friendship, at least for one scene. Besides, I want to know how Rollins’ life has been other than taking a new job.
I also hope that we’ll get some Rollisi scenes, even though Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 3 spoilers don’t say anything about that either.
Rollins’ need to travel has to be hard on Carisi, and he just prosecuted a case that must have made him think about how vulnerable his stepdaughters are.
That’s worth a conversation between him and Rollins while she’s on-screen.
Rollins’ Mental Health Needs to Be Addressed
Regardless of how quiet Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 3 spoilers are about Rollins’ mental health, it should be addressed.
Not only was she depressed and unfulfilled during her last visit, but she has a history of gambling addiction, low self-esteem, and trauma responses stemming from escaping a dysfunctional family and having been raped by a supervisor in Atlanta.
She’s been doing better every time she reappears on SVU, but she’s never been entirely happy. That’s why I want more scenes showing her home life; I want Rollins to finally have some happiness on-screen for fans to experience along with her.
How Will Rollins Interact With The Rest of The SVU Crew?
There’s a whole new crop of detectives on Benson’s team, and Rollins doesn’t know all of them.
She and Fin have been friends forever, but she’s only met Bruno once or twice, and Kate Silva is brand-new.
This set-up offers plenty of conflicts for the sake of drama, and Rollins might have mixed feelings about walking into the squad room when it’s not her home squad anymore.
She walked away from it and didn’t jump at the chance to get back in, so Benson had to fill the space with someone else, and Rollins is supposedly fulfilled in her new job.
Still, it’s never easy re-entering a space that was once yours after you’ve moved on, and Rollins’ reaction will be interesting.
I’m also especially curious about her interactions with newcomer Kate Silva.
Silva is an enigmatic figure so far; all we know about her is that her father is a Deputy Commissioner and that she transferred from Homicide for unknown reasons.
Rollins might have more information, so any conversations she has with Silva will be fascinating.
Over to you, SVU fanatics. What do you think about these Law & Order: SVU Season 26 Episode 3 spoilers?
Hit the comments and let us know!
Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9/8c and on Peacock on Fridays.
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