Olivia Benson is dealt with another blow in Law & Order: SVU season 27, but luckily for her, Amanda Rollins is positioned to be her saving grace. Not even halfway through its run, and the year is already looking to be very rough for Manhattan SVU. For starters, Law & Order: SVU season 27 opened with the death of Captain Don Cragen.

This is followed by Fin Tutuola being jumped on his way home, and then, Elliot Stabler finding himself in the hospital — a story previously told in Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5’s run on Peacock. While the team has managed to continue being effective in their job, Benson finds herself being forced to say goodbye to one of her own when Joe Velasco says his farewell.

Losing Velasco is not ideal, although the specifics of his exit is so much better than other departing characters from the show. As it turns out, he’s relocating to San Diego for work, something that he’s excited about. Benson doesn’t try to stop him, but his exit leaves the team undermanned. Fortunately, Rollins is the key to solving the issue.

Rollins Is The Perfect Person To Help Benson In Law & Order: SVU Season 27

Ice-T already revealed that Fin will be missing more episodes in Law & Order: SVU season 27. What’s worse is that the actor/rapper also shared that his character would be carrying the trauma of what happened to him during the season opener. With Velasco also gone, Benson’s investigative team is down to Terry Bruno and Renee Curry, as well as Jake Griffin, although the jury is still out on if he can be trusted.

The good thing is that this opens the doors for Rollins to return to Benson’s team. After leaving and attempting teaching, Kelli Giddish’s character has been assigned to New York’s Intelligence Unit (not to be confused by Chicago PD‘s main team). However, it was confirmed ahead of Law & Order: SVU season 27 that the actor is coming back to the show as a series regular.

Now a sergeant, Rollins can easily reclaim her old spot in the Manhattan SVU. It’s safe to say that Benson won’t have any issues with it, considering their history. On top of it, one cannot deny the desperate need for manpower of the Manhattan SVU, and at this point, bringing back a former member is the easiest way to address it.

Why Rejoining Benson’s Team Is The Only Way To Make Giddish’s SVU Return Worth It

For what it’s worth, the announcement that Giddish is returning as a Law & Order: SVU season 27 series regular didn’t include specific details. She seems to be content with her current job — something that she even told Benson on the heels of her promotion. It is still very much possible that she stays at Intelligence Unit while working with SVU more frequently.

That said, it would be a disservice to Rollins being a series regular without becoming a bigger presence in the show. While Sonny Carisi technically works for a different team, he’s vital to every single case that Benson’s team is handling, which cannot be said for his wife if she stays with Intelligence. Because of this, it’s simply difficult to imagine Law & Order: SVU season 27 not bringing back Rollins to Benson’s team.