“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” killed off an original cast member during the season 27 premiere.
The Thursday, Sept. 25, episode featured a memorial service for Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), who died offscreen before the events of the premiere.
“He was the best boss I ever had,” Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) told Dominick Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino). “Everything I know about being a captain, I learned from him.”
Florek made an appearance in the episode via old footage of Cragen making a speech at his retirement party.
“It’s been a long road. It hasn’t always been pleasant, and it certainly hasn’t always been easy,” Cragen said in the clip. “I lived for my job, I don’t think that surprises anybody, and I can’t imagine my life any other way.”
Florek was an original “SVU” cast member, along with Hargitay, Christopher Meloni (Elliot Stabler), Richard Belzer (John Munch), and Michelle Hurd (Monique Jeffries). He starred as Cragen for seasons 1-15 before returning as a guest star for seasons 16 and 23.
Cragen’s death marks a new chapter for Olivia and Elliot.
“I feel like we’re entering the ‘all our friends are dying’ era,” Olivia told Elliot during the episode.
Elliot agreed, calling it the “worst era,” before reminiscing about their days as partners with Cragen as their boss.
“Not that you can go back, and not that I’d want to, but we had a pretty good run there for a minute,“ Elliot said.
Olivia reassured him, “We still do, just different.”
READ MORE: ‘Law & Order: SVU’ cast changes: See who isn’t coming back
Later in the episode, Olivia told a rape survivor who asked how she does her job every day that she once had “a really great boss who believed in” her, referring to Cragen.
“[He] told me I was worthy, and then eventually, I started to believe it. He worked a lot longer than he needed to because he was so good at his job and because it gave his life meaning. He and I were a lot alike, and I don’t think I fully realized it until after he was gone,” she said.
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” airs on NBC on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes are available to stream on Peacock the day after they air.
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