Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series)

Part 33 (2019)

Kelli Giddish: Detective Amanda Rollins

Photos 

Quotes 

• Olivia Benson : Amanda. Come on. You and I both know what he was telling her with that gun. He was telling her that I could kill you at any minute, and I would probably get away with it.

  Amanda Rollins : Tommy is the one that ended up with the bullets in him, though.

  Olivia Benson : Yeah, and where was he shot? Two in the heart and one in the groin. And believe you me, that last one was not a mistake. That was not a miss.

  Amanda Rollins : Did she say that to you?

  Olivia Benson : She didn't have to. You have no idea what utter terror is. What pure and utter terror is. You know, they say that your heart beats faster, but that's not true. It doesn't. It stops. Everything stops. You don't breathe because you're scared that it might upset him. And if you get a cramp in your foot, you tell yourself, "Just let it throb" because you'll live through that pain. And that's a hell of a lot better than what what he'll do to you. And the pain is is so complete and it's so it's so overwhelming. You can go without food for... for three days and you don't close your eyes because you... because you're scared that you'll never open them again. You pray. You pray "Please, God "don't let him climb on top of me again."

  Amanda Rollins : Okay, Liv. I am so sorry.

  Olivia Benson : Nobody should have to live like that. Nobody.

  Amanda Rollins : Tommy Pearl is not William Lewis. Annabeth was not held hostage.

  Olivia Benson : Wasn't she? She lived with that fear every day for six years. But maybe we're all victims. Maybe... maybe we're... we're just all victims of our past. But the good news is that I am just a rebuttal witness, which means I'm only used if needed.

  Amanda Rollins : What are you gonna do if Stone needs you?

  Olivia Benson : I don't know, but somebody has to stand up for Annabeth, and somebody has to tell her has to tell her that she survived and she's gonna be okay.

• Amanda Rollins : Okay, you know what? It's not all on us, though, Carisi. We do our part, but the rest is up to a judge and jury.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : All right, so what happens upstairs, that doesn't concern you at all?

  Odafin Tutuola : The short and sweet is fine with me.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Oh, please, give me a break. This from the guy who flew to Cuba on his own nickel to catch a fugitive rapist.

  [to Rollins] 

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : And you, with that Labott girl...

  Odafin Tutuola : Enough. Carisi, have a donut.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Are you telling me that you never even think about this? I mean, the the responsibility? The... the power that we have? I mean, I could get up on that stand and I could lie. I could say, "Yeah, Annabeth told me" she planned on killing Thomas for the past six months. Now, I do that, she is done. No question. Or I could say I don't recall. I don't recall to anything that Stone asks me, and maybe she gets to live a nice, peaceful, safe life in a Chelsea apartment.

  Amanda Rollins : Or door number three, you tell the truth.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : All I'm saying is It's a lot of power. And who the hell are we?

• Odafin Tutuola : [to Rollins]  You alone?

  Amanda Rollins : Yep. What you got?

  Odafin Tutuola : [as he opens up the box of donuts and offers it to Rollins]  All right. Anything but the jellies.

  Amanda Rollins : Ooh, thank you.

  Odafin Tutuola : No sign of Liv?

  Amanda Rollins : No, I was hoping you heard something.

  Odafin Tutuola : [sighs]  Scruples are a hard thing to live with.

  Amanda Rollins : What if she doesn't show?

  Odafin Tutuola : Then she doesn't show.

  Amanda Rollins : Her testimony will be the nails in Annabeth's coffin. Without it, Stone...

  Odafin Tutuola : [after he touches the hot coffee and drops the cup on the floor]  will be hot as that cup of coffee.

• Dominick Carisi Jr. : Lieu, I'm sorry. I'm not feeling okay about this case, okay? Maybe I feel like SOBs like Tommy Pearl get exactly what they deserve.

  Amanda Rollins : When a cop gets killed, it's an itch I can't scratch.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : He's a cop who abused his wife!

  Amanda Rollins : With his words. Annabeth didn't have to listen.

  Olivia Benson : Look, guys, stop. Stop. And law without empathy doesn't help anyone, Rollins.

  Amanda Rollins : I... I'm all about empathy. Come on, it's... it's coming out of my ears. For eight years, I'm drowning in it.

• Amanda Rollins : You know what, I've got one question for you: Why didn't she walk out the door? Why didn't she leave the damn bastard?

  Olivia Benson : Are you kidding me, Amanda?

  Amanda Rollins : No! For it to be a justifiable homicide, there had to be an imminent threat of death or or serious physical harm, right? And was Tommy about to beat Annabeth? No. Was he about to rape her? No! You know how I know that? Because that's what she told you.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : When I was in the bag, I took a domestic disturbance call. All right? Craig and Ellen Carter. Their neighbor was complaining because they were screaming at each other all night. They were cursing. So I show up. I calm everybody down and do, you know, what we're supposed to do. And I'm looking at this guy and I can just see in his eyes. And he's got that smirk, you know? So I take Ellen outside, and I say, "Listen. Listen, you've gotta stand up for yourself." I told her that she needed to leave this guy, but there's no signs of physical violence, so that's that's all I can do. A month later, I get another call. The same house, same complaint. Only this time Craig is taking her head and bashing it against the wall, and she's dead. So don't you stand there and say that all she had to do was walk out the damn door!

• Amanda Rollins : Did he threaten her? This is not freshman English. We don't have to read between the lines. It's not our job.

  Olivia Benson : Maybe it is. Maybe we shouldn't ignore the fact that Annabeth was a victim.

  Amanda Rollins : Well, that kind of doesn't work because it's her husband who's the one in the casket. He was a cop. Liv, he wore the same shield as we do.

• Dominick Carisi Jr. : [after speaking with a janitor]  Sometimes I wish I had a job like that guy.

  Amanda Rollins : Oh, so you could listen to cops bitch all day long?

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Something without consequence.

  Olivia Benson : Think what you mean to say is that you wish that you weren't cursed with a conscience.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Well, it's definitely a burden. It also makes us human.

  Amanda Rollins : Unless you're a sociopath.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Oh, come on. You... you actually think that Annabeth is a sociopath?

  Amanda Rollins : I think she knew what she was doing, and I think she didn't care.

  Olivia Benson : Or she didn't see another way out.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Yeah, there we go.

  Amanda Rollins : Well, luckily we don't have to read her mind.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : But we do, Rollins. Eighty grand a year and we get to determine who's spending the rest of their life in a cage and who's gonna eat dinner at Del Frisco's.

  Amanda Rollins : Worrying about it is way above our pay grade.

  Olivia Benson : We do worry about it. At least at least we usually do.

  Amanda Rollins : Yeah? You never wanted to put a couple of pops between some guy's eyes? I mean, you know, 'cause I've wanted to, and I... I would have really enjoyed it. But I didn't.

  Olivia Benson : Because you knew that it was wrong.

  Amanda Rollins : Because I knew the consequences and I chose not to.

  Olivia Benson : [stands up and gets in Rollins' face]  And maybe she didn't have that luxury!

  Amanda Rollins : Annabeth chose it. She chose to end that man's life. She chose to take someone's life. To break the law. It's free will. I mean, come on, we all learn about it in Sunday school.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're... we're free, all right. We're free to believe in the guy upstairs or not. It's like a perjury trap.

  Amanda Rollins : Okay, all we have to do is go up on the stand and say what happened! There's no choices! There's no consequences to you!

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : They put a crown of thorns on Jesus, but that did not make him king.

  Amanda Rollins : [to Olivia]  What is he talking about?

  Olivia Benson : And neither does our shield.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : But what we say in that courtroom, Lieutenant, how we say it, this... this game could be over before it starts.

• Amanda Rollins : You know, Liv, I love you, okay? And I respect you more than anyone I've ever met in my life. Don't take this the wrong way, but sometimes you see victims where there aren't any.

  Olivia Benson : Annabeth Pearl was abused by her husband.

  Amanda Rollins : Her friends disagree.

  Olivia Benson : Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors in a marriage.

  Amanda Rollins : Including you. All you have is Annabeth's word.

  Olivia Benson : Amanda, I'm sorry about what your father did to your mother.

  Amanda Rollins : See? I mean, that's exactly what I'm talking about. My mother didn't have to be a victim.

  Olivia Benson : I'm not talking about your mother. I'm talking about you. Do you really think that your father beating the hell out of your mother in front of you didn't color your whole universe?

  Amanda Rollins : Sure it did, but not in the way you think. 'Cause I remember sitting in my room staring out the window after one of their knock-down drag-outs, and I remember looking out the window and there was a... a streetlamp, and it was the closest one was on the corner, so it was it was dark, eerie. And I sat there looking out, watching and waiting and praying for my daddy to come back. Uh, and the son of a bitch just beat the snot out of my mother, but I wanted him back home.

  Olivia Benson : Of course you did, 'cause all children want their parents together no matter what, Amanda. Good, bad, indifferent...

  Amanda Rollins : She could have called the sheriff. I mean, Christ, we had a gun locker in the house, but she had to be a martyr. I mean, I don't think she'd know what to do with herself if she wasn't suffering or cowering.

  Olivia Benson : Yes, because he made her like that.

  Amanda Rollins : You don't know! There was a weakness in her! There was a weakness and it was there before they ever even met.

  Olivia Benson : How do you know that?

  Amanda Rollins : Because this is this. It's not that. But you know, I... I know. Believe me, I know, because I was the one staring out that window waiting for my daddy's shadow to come out of that street lamp. Come up the sidewalk, up the front walk, and back into our house. I was the one that was petrified that I would end up weak like my mom if he didn't come back!

  Olivia Benson : Amanda, that's not a reason to hate your mother. Maybe it's time for you to come out from under that shadow.

• Olivia Benson : Annabeth told me that she didn't regret killing him for a minute.

  Amanda Rollins : Lack of remorse is not an element of a crime.

  Olivia Benson : You think a jury gives a damn? If I testify truthfully, then this becomes a revenge killing that is never justified. This woman goes to prison for a very long time.

  Amanda Rollins : Truth's a bitch.

  Olivia Benson : I know in my gut that she was powerless to leave her husband.

  Amanda Rollins : I know that, but she was strong enough to pull the trigger.

  Olivia Benson : That's naive, Amanda, and you know it. What about the gun?

  Amanda Rollins : What about it?

  Olivia Benson : Well, he didn't leave it out just for show.

  Amanda Rollins : Okay, did Annabeth ever say that he threatened her with it?

  Olivia Benson : No, she didn't have to because he left it out. She saw it. She saw it when she woke up in the morning. She saw it when she made dinner. She saw it. She saw it last thing before she went to bed.

  Amanda Rollins : And she read between the lines.

• Amanda Rollins : I hate this. Waiting.

  Det. Frank Bucci : Not me. I get to sit here, read the paper. Nobody's calling me an SOB, nobody's shooting at me. Life could be worse.

• Dominick Carisi Jr. : I knew Tommy, you know?

  Amanda Rollins : Who?

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Thomas Pearl. The deceased. I knew him in the Academy. Once a prick, always a prick.

  Amanda Rollins : That explains a lot.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : And this son of a bitch was in the world for himself.

  Amanda Rollins : Not anymore he's not.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : This guy, he... he never picked up a tab in his life. He never paid off his bets. He was this... this macho piece of crap who was always bragging about how he cheated on his girlfriend. Thought a woman's place was behind a desk.

  Amanda Rollins : Yeah, him and how many other cops?

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Come on, it's not like that anymore.

  Amanda Rollins : Oh, yeah? It's not? Good to know.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Wait, somebody's been screwing with you?

  Amanda Rollins : Oh, forget it, Carisi. Look, the guy may have been a dick, but if he's gonna take a bullet, it deserves to be from some... some yahoo hocking heroin or robbing a bank or something. Not from his wife.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Why? Because she promised to honor, cherish, and obey him?

  Amanda Rollins : Because he's a cop.

• Dominick Carisi Jr. : This room gives me the willies.

  Odafin Tutuola : The belly of the beast.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Yeah, well, my belly feels like the professor's about to hand out the final exam.

  Amanda Rollins : It's Annabeth that should be nervous, not you.

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : This is wrong.

  Amanda Rollins : Don't go all Liv on us, all right? The woman shot her husband because he didn't like her dinner.

  Odafin Tutuola : Life should be so easy.

  Amanda Rollins : Come on, not you, too.

  Odafin Tutuola : I don't judge. Is it hot in here?

  Dominick Carisi Jr. : Hell always is.

  Amanda Rollins : Yeah, he is. He's going full Liv.

  Odafin Tutuola : Somebody has to.

• Det. Frank Bucci : Hey, I wouldn't drink that unless your tongue is made of asbestos.

  Amanda Rollins : [dropping her cup of coffee]  You... you could have told me that before I burned my fingers.