END OF AN ERA

‘Law & Order: SVU’ Shocks With Major Death in Season 27

The franchise returned Thursday with an emotional sendoff.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit stunned viewers Thursday by opening its 27th season with a funeral for an OG character, marking the end of an era for the long-running NBC franchise created by producer Dick Wolf. The premiere episode, “In the Wind,” began with Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) paying tribute to her longtime boss, Capt. Donald Cragen, played by Dann Florek. “He was the best boss that I ever had,” Benson said at the service. “Everything I know about being a captain, I learned from him.” Florek, who played Cragen for 15 seasons before departing as a series regular in 2014, returned for guest appearances, most recently on Law & Order: Organized Crime last year. His history dates back to the show’s 1990 debut, making Cragen one of the franchise’s OG characters. The episode also staged a reunion with fan favorites including Dr. Huang (BD Wong), Det. Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters), Sgt. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi (Peter Scanavino) and Odafın “Fin” Tutuola (rapper Ice-T). The franchise is the longest-running primetime live-action series on American television.