Dominick Carisi Jr.

Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. is a fictional character on the NBC police procedural drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Peter Scanavino. Carisi is a detective with the Manhattan SVU at the 16th Precinct of the New York Police Department. His badge number is 0188.

Background

Carisi is an inexperienced detective who transfers to the Manhattan Special Victims Unit as Detective Nick Amaro's (Danny Pino) temporary replacement when Amaro is reassigned to Queens. He began his law enforcement career as a patrol officer in the Bronx. After getting his detective's shield, he did some time in Homicide and then did a few stints in the Special Victims Units for various boroughs before transferring to Manhattan SVU.

Carisi grew up in Staten Island ("off Arden [Avenue]") which is where his parents still reside. He is Roman Catholic, and wanted to be a priest when he was a child; two of his cousins are in the priesthood.

Character within SVU

Carisi gets off to a rough start with his new colleagues in the sixteenth season premiere episode "Girls Disappeared", coming off as blunt and insensitive during his initial meeting with Sergeant Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Detective Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish).^[1] He is a nonetheless a talented detective with a knack for interrogations, getting suspects to talk by playing the "good cop". He also eventually wins his colleagues' respect and friendship.

Unlike his older, more seasoned colleagues, he has difficulty keeping his emotions in check when confronted by the horrific crimes he sees. He is particularly upset by a case in which a prominent dentist rapes his own niece; while taking the dentist's fingerprints, Carisi loses his temper and nearly breaks the man's hand.^[2]

In the fifth episode, it is revealed that Carisi has permanently joined the Manhattan SVU team. In the same episode, Carisi helps turn one suspect against another during the investigation of a porn star's rape, earning him praise from Benson.^[3] Throughout season 16, he mentions that he is going to night classes at Fordham University's law school. A running joke has Carisi annoying Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba (Raúl Esparza) with unsolicited advice on how to prosecute cases. Barba eventually allows Carisi to shadow him for a trial, with Carisi helping Barba spot a key inconsistency in a witness' testimony. Some months later, Carisi reveals that he has recently taken the bar exam and thanks Barba for the earlier opportunity. The season 17 episode "Intersecting Lives" reveals that Carisi has passed the exam; however, in the season finale "Heartfelt Passages," he decides to postpone his plans to become an assistant district attorney for the time being. At the end of the episode, he serves as a pallbearer for Sgt. Mike Dodds (Andy Karl) after the latter is killed by a corrupt corrections officer.

In "Parole Violations", his sister Bella's (Marin Ireland) fiancé Tommy (Michael Chernus) reports that his female parole officer raped him at gunpoint in her office. While he dislikes Tommy, Carisi comes to believe his story and works hard to make sure that the woman is brought to justice.

In "Next Chapter", he is held at gunpoint and nearly killed by a rape suspect, former police Sgt. Tom Cole (Chris Bauer). Benson saves him by shooting Cole in the back of the head, killing him.

Appearances and crossovers

• Chicago PD — episode: "The Number Of Rats" (2015)

Development

In May 2014 following the conclusion of the fifteenth season finale episode, SVU Executive Producer Warren Leight revealed that a new detective would temporarily replace Nick Amaro (Danny Pino) for the first three episodes of the sixteenth season.^[5]

Peter Scanavino was approached to portray Detective Dominick Carisi, "a guy who has a little less polish...who maybe needs a little bit of refining". Initially, Scanavino was not a permanent addition to the cast, but rather a guest star. However, he was promoted to the main cast in the fifth episode of the same season, "Pornstar's Requiem".^[5][6]

Carisi isn't the only character Scanavino has portrayed in the Law & Order franchise. In 2013, Scanavino guest starred in SVU's fourteenth season episode, "Monster's Legacy", as an attempted murderer, Johnny Dubcek. Prior to that, he had appeared in Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order in various roles.

References