Law & Order: SVU’s 27th season has been airing on the 2025 TV schedule, and it’s brought some surprises already. The series officially wrote off Octavio Pisano’s Joe Velasco and brought back Kelli Giddish’s Amanda Rollins. However, the season also kicked off in September with a death that changed the franchise forever, and Mariska Hargitay is getting real about it.
SVU’s season premiere opened with a memorial for Dann Florek’s Captain Donald Cragen. Given Florek’s status one of the longest-running actors in the L&O franchise, fans were shocked, and the death seemingly came out of nowhere. Florek was also seen on the set of SVU over the summer during which he hung out with his co-stars. While appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Hargitay shared how difficult the loss was for Olivia, and I’m getting emotional all over again:
We lost Captain Cragen. That was a rough one for [my] character.
Cragen’s death was definitely surprising but, with it, came the returns of some familiar faces and some sweet character dynamics. That included Elliot’s love confession to Olivia. And, as Clarkson was saying, there hasn’t really been a show like SVU with such longevity. That familiarity is what Hargitay appreciates most when it comes to an emotional segment such as Cragen’s memorial:
That was so beautiful about it is these scenes, they almost act themselves because the circumstances are so powerful, right? And there’s such genuine love for the captain, for the actor, and just having the old regulars — having Dean [Winters] come back and having BD Wong come back. And then, doing that scene with Chris [Meloni] … These are so beautiful. These scenes, they’re so earned that there’s just an ease and an effortlessness to it.
Even though it was great to get some heartfelt scenes between Olivia and Elliot, it was still heartbreaking having to say goodbye to Cragen. Florek originally left SVU after Season 15 but returned as a guest star in Season 17. A beloved fixture of the franchise, Florek also appeared in multiple episodes of Organized Crime as recently as 2024, which is a big reason why his death came as such a shock. But it certainly brought characters closer together, and it’s possible that will continue as the season progresses.
It’s surreal knowing Florek was on the set of SVU the day the memorial scene was filmed, and I wonder if that was both weird and cathartic for him. That aside, it seemed like he enjoyed catching up and reminiscing with former co-stars. So I guess, if there’s any consolation, Cragen’s death brought together some fan-favorite characters, and he left an indellible mark on the Law & Order franchise.
Meanwhile, SVU’s 27th season has been keeping fans on the edge of their seats, with disturbing cases, growing relationships and much more. An episode also tied up a loose end that carried into Law & Order: Organized Crime’s fifth season, which has been airing on NBC after releasing on Peacock earlier this year. With the season still early into its run, it’s hard to predict what else will happen and what other surprises, both good and bad, will happen, but fans will just have to tune in to see.
New episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day with a Peacock subscription. Fans can also access the show with the help of a YouTube TV subscription.