Kelli Giddish & Peter Scanavino Are the Cutest Family with All 3 of Their TV Kids
It's an adorable behind-the-scenes photo from an intense SVU episode.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit emerged from its winter hiatus in a big way, ending its return episode ("First Light") with a poignant scene that finally allowed Peter Scanavino's Sonny Carisi to catch his breath — and we've tracked down an adorable behind-the-scenes shot to commemorate the significant character moment!
On January 16, the series shared an adorable Instagram photo of the on-screen Carisi family, and Scanavino, Kelli Giddish, and the kiddos were beaming! The fam may technically not exist in the real world, but the pizza, smiles, and good vibes were 100% authentic. Check out the photo below.
"Cheesin' big with our fam. 🍕🥰," the caption read.
However, although the behind-the-scenes shot of the fam would bring a smile to anyone's face, the circumstances Scanavino's character has endured in the last few episodes would do anything but.
RELATED: Is Kelli Giddish's Rollins Back Working for the SVU?
The last time SVU fans saw Carisi, he found himself inadvertently in the middle of a hostage situation at a local bodega that nearly ended in his death. He refused to undergo counseling to deal with his immense trauma, despite pleas from Giddish's Amanda Rollins.
"First Light" focused on Carisi attempting to cope with the events that happened in the bodega that day, despite criminal proceedings of the bodega case pushing him further into mental anguish. It became more and more likely that Carisi would leave the force entirely as the episode went on.
At the end of the day, it was a conversation with Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson, and a plea deal by the defendant, that convinced Carisi that he'd come too far in his career to walk away from everything.
The episode ended with Carisi, alongside Rollins and their three kids in a local pizza shop, breathing a sigh of relief as he put everything into proper perspective.
"We're gonna be okay," Rollins said as she placed her hand atop her husband's.
"Yeah, we are," Carisi said, a relieved smile crossing his face.
Peter Scanavino speaks about the final scene of "First Light"
In a January 16 interview with TV Insider, Scanavino spoke candidly about the importance of that final pizza shop scene during "First Light."
"I think with all the chaos of what's been going on in the case, what he's going through emotionally, just have this quiet moment and the simplicity of just having pizza with your kids and your wife and that you love all these people and how simple it is, but how fortunate you are to be able to do that, he gets to see [that] and things get put in perspective," he explained. "And he feels grateful as opposed to what he'd been feeling up to that point, which was the anger that this had happened, almost anger at the world. And now he gets to kind of realize, 'Oh, I have all this, that I do have love and joy in my life, and I will find it again.'"
The star also spoke to the impact of Benson's words, calling it a wake-up call for his character.
"Yeah, I mean, if it had been anybody else, he probably would've said, 'Go kick rocks,'" he confessed. "But the fact that it's coming from her, I think, made him able to hear it."
