Time on show 2014–present Title NYPD Junior Detective First appearance "Girls Disappeared" | Seasons 16, 17, 18 Portrayed by Peter Scanavino Partner Nick Amaro | |
 | ||
Credited appearances 52 episodes (SVU)
1 episode (CPD)
53 episodes (total) Family Bella Carisi
(sister)
Gina Carisi
(sister)
Theresa Carisi
(sister)
Jesse Rollins (goddaughter) Similar Amanda Rollins, Rafael Barba, Fin Tutuola, Nick Amaro, Olivia Benson | ||
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. Carisi is Roman Catholic, and wanted to be a priest when he was a child; two of his cousins are in the priesthood. His badge number is 0188.
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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. Carisi briefly served in the US Marines, enlisting 2 weeks after the September 11th attacks. After getting his detective's shield, he spent two months with the Staten Island SVU, Brooklyn SVU for almost a month and Queens SVU for a week before transferring to Manhattan SVU.
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). He is a nonetheless a talented detective with a knack for interrogations, getting suspects to talk by playing the "good cop".
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.
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. 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 ADA for the time being. At the end of the episode, he served as a pallbearer for Sgt. Mike Dodds, when he was killed in the line of duty by Gary Munson, the 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 almost killed by a rape suspect, former police Sgt. Tom Cole (Chris Bauer); Cole had a gun to Carisi's head and came close to pulling the trigger.
In "Great Expectations", while convincing the young suspect of a sexual assault to turn against his father, it is revealed that he had a rough childhood. A bully slammed Carisi's head through a glass window. He regretted talking about it when the bully is serving life in Sing Sing for stabbing a bar patron to death. When Rollins talked to him to see if it was true, he didn't want to talk about it.
Appearances and crossovers
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.
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".
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.