Law & Order: SVU kills off a major character after 35 years
Viewers were left dismayed at the season 27 premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Viewers were left dismayed after the season 27 premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit killed off an OG character.
The episode, titled In the Wind, opened with Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) attending the funeral of Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), who has been a fixture in the Law & Order franchise for 35 years.
Florek first appeared in the original Law & Order series, debuting in the show’s pilot in 1990, and remained a part of the franchise until 2014, when he departed as a series regular with the season 15 finale.
However, the actor has reprised the role of Captain Cragen on numerous occasions, most recently on the spin-off Law & Order: Organized Crime, which began in 2021.
In the season 27 premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims, Benson said of Captain Cragen at the memorial service: “He was the best boss that I ever had. Everything I know about being a captain, I learned from him.”
Fans were quick to flock to X (formerly Twitter) to express their sadness over the news, with many expressing frustration that Captain Cragen's death had occurred off-screen.
One fan wrote: "My heart What do you mean we didn't even get a proper goodbye scene between Captain Benson and Captain Cragen?? He is just gone???"
Another added: "Last scene of Cragen in Law and Order series. We will miss you captain."
A third fan said: "RIP our first captain, Cragen."
The funeral also reunited Benson with her fellow original cast members Dr Huang (BD Wong), Cassidy (Dean Winters) and Rollins (Kelli Giddish), as well as series regulars Carisi (Peter Scanavino) and Fin (Ice-T).
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Law & Order: SVU airs on Sky Witness in the UK.
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Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
