‘Law & Order: SVU’ Kills off Original Character in Season 27 Premiere

Spoilers ahead for the Season 27 premiere of Law & Order: SVU.

Law & Order: SVU’s 27^th season kicked off with a heartbreaking reveal.

The opening scene of Thursday’s premiere, “In the Wind,” saw Olivia entering a bar for none other than Donald Cragen’s memorial.

Dann Florek made his debut as the homicide captain in the very first episode of Law & Order, going all the way back to 1990. He starred in the first three seasons of Law & Order and appeared in an episode of Season 5 in 1995. He returned to the franchise in 1999 for Law & Order: SVU, starring in the first 15 seasons before Cragen ultimately retired. His last appearance on SVU was in Season 23 for the 500^th episode, but he most recently appeared in Season 4 of Law & Order: Organized Crime in March 2024, when Elliot was being investigated by the Internal Affairs Bureau after a shooting.

The episode brought in some familiar faces along with the regulars because of the memorial, including Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler. Despite Law & Order: Organized Crime no longer being an NBC original and now a Peacock exclusive, that hasn’t stopped Elliot and Olivia from still getting together. And it only made sense for him to show up at Cragen’s memorial, even if he didn’t want to step inside the bar.

It’s unknown why SVU decided to kill off Cragen, especially since Florek is still very much alive. However, it’s not unusual for a show to randomly kill off a character, especially if said character hadn’t been on screen for a while. His death will more than likely impact some of the team, especially Olivia and Fin, who worked with him the most.

Elsewhere for Season 27, Kelli Giddish is officially back as Amanda Rollins full-time after departing in Season 24, while Juliana Martinez and Octavio Pisano have departed. Pisano is appearing in the season premiere to wrap up Detective Joe Velasco’s story. Martinez, meanwhile, landed a new job on fellow Dick Wolf drama FBI, which could be why she won’t be back to wrap up Detective Kate Silva’s story.

And for those already missing Captain Cragen, all episodes of Law & Order: SVU are streaming on Peacock, as well as most seasons of Law & Order, including the first few seasons. New episodes of SVU air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.