Kelli Giddish has spoken to the press about her career strategy; she explicitly asks Dick Wolf for "troubling storylines." She does not want Amanda Rollins to seem like a superhero. It's moments of vulnerability--involving addictions, involving difficult family members--that make a character interesting.
The most recent SVU feels like a bit of "retconning." For a while, Kelli Giddish was written off the show--presumably because she was asking for too much money. (It's a notable bit of irony that SVU, a series that purports to have a feminist basis, would handle a female cast member in this way. I notice that Ice-T is allowed to stick around--despite his inconvenient salary requirements.)
Now, a writer has decided that the career trajectory of Amanda Rollins is a sign of her fundamental instability. It's (allegedly) a part of the grand plan to have Amanda fumbling with job questions. This shows that she doesn't know herself--she is always on the run, and her impetuousness could be a liability. She can't even take note of the time when she is sitting at her desk! She leaves Carisi alone at his restaurant of choice; the entree is getting cold.
Of course, impetuousness becomes a major issue in "Career Psychopath." It hurts Amanda when she chooses to badger a vulnerable witness. Conversely (and absurdly), the impetuousness *helps* Amanda when she violates orders, assumes the role of Encyclopedia Brown, and does some backstage sleuthing at Sing Sing. It's a fine twist of the script that Amanda is left *undecided* on the impetuousness question--it's by no means clear that she is going to make an effort to reform her character.
I'm so pleased that she is back.
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