What's Going on with Carisi on SVU Right Now?
The Law & Order: SVU mainstay has been kicking butt and taking names in the courtroom while also crushing it as a dad.
Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) runs a tight ship on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and while her squad has taken many shapes, it wouldn't be the same without their fearless A.D.A. Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino).
The SVU detective-turned-prosector has been a Law & Order fan favorite since his introduction in Season 17. Carisi has only skyrocketed from there, becoming an ADA in Season 21. Along the way, fans have adored watching the Staten Island-born investigator kick criminal butt, close countess cases, and serve indomitable arguments in court. Carisi has continued to kill it in Season 26, even as he navigates changes within his household as his wife, former SVU detective Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), starts a new job.
RELATED: Everything to Know About Sonny Carisi on Law & Order: SVU
Between his courtroom showdowns and his newfound life as a father of three fans can't wait to see where Carisi's story heads next. Here's everything that happened with Carisi on Season 26 of SVU.
Carisi's wife is now the head of the NYPD Intelligence Division
SVU fans have adored watching Carisi and Rollins' romance evolve in and out of the squad room. Rollins eventually left the SVU just as their relationship was taken to new heights after getting married in Season 24 and welcoming a baby boy to their family in Season 25. (Rollins has two girls from a previous marriage.) Nowadays, she's been focusing on her career after a period of restlessness. After leaving her professor gig, we learned Rollins is now the commanding officer of NYPD's Intelligence Unit in Season 26, Episode 3 ("Divide and Conquer").
Rollins loves the new gig because it allows her to stay on the investigative beat. Carisi has been Rollins' biggest cheerleader as she treads new territory in the NYPD, but the change does have him taking care of their three kids solo more often. Much like his career, Carisi has been crushing his daddy duties, even if that's led to occasional panic about his daughters becoming teenagers.
Carisi has been soaring as the SVU's legal defense
While Benson's job is to catch and arrest heinous criminals, Carisi has to make sure charges stick on SVU. It often comes down to his legal prowess to ensure justice is ever served, and with years on the squad as an investigator, Carisi treats his ADA job with the utmost respect. He's a bulldog in the courtroom, relentless when interrogating defendants, and the loudest advocate for the survivors.
In SVU's Season 26 premiere, Carisi prosecuted a law student who brutally murdered a classmate and assaulted another. After the defendant leveraged his college's distaste for cops, it came down to Carisi's cross-examination to expose the student's lies. After successfully catching the defendant in a lie, the perp broke down on the stand, and Carisi hit another courtroom grand slam for the squad.
Carisi had his work cut out for him in Season 26, Episode 2 ("Excavation") after a woman's repressed memories returned of her stepfather molesting her decades prior. Not only did Carisi navigate the lengthy statute of limitations, but the victim's father was a powerful judge. Despite the many setbacks and hurdles thrown his way, Carisi managed to get him to confess to his horrific wrongdoings.
RELATED: How SVU's A.D.A. Carisi Turned Off the Courtroom Lights to Prove a Rapist Was Lying
Despite the horrors he's witnessed on the stand, Carisi knows that once the jury lands in his favor, he's done everything he can to give solace to the survivors. In Season 26, Episode 4 ("Constricted"), after getting yet another confession out of their perp, Carisi and Benson shared a glass of whiskey.
"To justice," Carisi toasted in honor of another case closed.
"Is that what we got?" Benson asked.
"It's a start," Carisi conceded.
"Sometimes that's the best that we can do," Benson agreed.
Watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on Thursdays at 9/8c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
