‘Criminal Minds’ Alum Lola Glaudini Set for Rollins-Heavy ‘SVU’ Episode

A former Criminal Minds star will appear in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that could pave the way for Rollins’ exit from the NBC procedural.

According to Give Me My Remote, Lola Glaudini will guest-star in SVU’s November 3 episode, “Controlled Burn.”

No character details have been revealed, but NBC has released a brief description of that episode: “Rollins [Kelli Giddish] investigates an assault by a masked man at an underground party. Benson [Mariska Hargitay] uncovers a suspect who may be valuable as a witness.”

CinemaBlend notes that Rollins has been throwing herself into her work since being shot on the job — and speculates that the case in “Controlled Burn” may be one that “push[es] her over the edge.”

Glaudini may be best known for playing BAU agent Elle Greenaway in the first two seasons of CBS’ Criminal Minds. She left the series in 2006 to return to the East Coast, producer Ed Bernero told the Los Angeles Times.

The actress also played police administrative aide Dolores Mayo in ABC’s NYPD Blue and FBI agent Deborah Ciccerone in HBO’s The Sopranos. And she guest-starred as attorney Virginia Pell in a 2012 episode of SVU.

More recently, Glaudini recurred on The Expanse and Ray Donovan and played literary agent Candida Donadio in an episode of The Offer.

Glaudini’s return to SVU comes as Kelli Giddish’s time on the show comes to an end. The December 8 SVU episode will mark Giddish’s exit, though she’ll bring the character back for a Law & Order: Organized Crime episode later this season.

“I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of the Law & Order family for the last 12 years,” Giddish wrote on Instagram this August. “There is simply no other character on TV like Rollins. She’s grown and changed, and I have as well.”

Law & Order: SVU, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC