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:
