SVU’ kills off main character in Season 27 premiere

It’s the top of an period. 

Season 27 of “Regulation and Order: SVU” opened by killing off an authentic character.

Spoilers beneath. 

Within the season premiere of the lengthy working NBC procedural, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) attends the wake of her previous boss, Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek).

He was an authentic character who was round for the reason that present’s premiere. A recovering alcoholic, Cragen appeared in over 400 episodes of the “Regulation and Order” franchise, together with the primary three seasons of “Regulation & Order” and the primary fifteen seasons of “SVU.”

He additionally appeared on “Regulation & Order: Organized Crime.”

“He was the perfect boss I ever had,” Benson says within the episode. “Every thing that I find out about being a Captain, I discovered from him.”

Followers on-line had been distraught. 

“That is yalls final season to piss me off,” one individual wrote by way of Instagram.

“THEY F–KING KILLED MY PEEPAW,” one wrote on X, previously Twitter, subsequent to a photograph of Cragen.

One other fan commented, “Me googling ensuring Dann Florek didn’t move away in actual life lol. [He’s] alive and kicking,” referring to the actor, 75. 

“Good morning to everybody besides the author who dared to put in writing ‘Craigen’s [sic] useless’” one other irate fan stated. 

The main points of precisely how he died are usually not revealed, however footage is proven of his retirement speech at his funeral. 

“It’s been a protracted highway. It hasn’t all the time been nice, and it definitely hasn’t all the time been simple,” Cragen says within the speech. 

“I lived for my job, I don’t suppose that surprises anyone, and I can’t think about my life every other manner.”

Benson leaves his funeral to seek out Stabler (Christopher Meloni) ready by her automobile. 

“I simply really feel like we’re getting into into our ‘all our buddies are dying’ period,” she says.  

Referring to their partnership, he says, “Not you can return, and never that I’d wish to, however we had a fairly good run there for a minute.”

She says, “We nonetheless do, simply totally different” as they embrace. 

Their unending “will they or gained’t they” relationship additionally will get teased. Earlier than he leaves, he says “Love you. Goodnight.”