“Disrespectful”: Law & Order: SVU 35-Year Veteran Breaks Silence On Cragen’s Death

A couple of months since Law & Order: SVU season 27 killed Captain Cragen, Dann Florek breaks his silence about what happened to his character. Being one of the earlier shows that kicked off the 2025-2026 TV season, the NBC series opened its year with a major revelation. Apparently, long-time Manhattan SVU Captain and Olivia Benson’s mentor/father figure has already died. The surprise was quite unnerving, considering that there was no indication that Captain Cragen was even battling any illness.

Florek’s involvement in Dick Wolf’s famed procedural franchise preceded the inception of Law & Order: SVU, as his character was originally introduced in the flagship. While he had already retired from the force for years now, effectively paving the way for Benson to take over the team, he remained a presence, both in the show and Chris Meloni’s subsequent headliner, Law & Order: Organized Crime.

During a conversation with Tis Yourself podcast, Florek candidly revealed what he thought about Law & Order: SVU killing Captain Cragen in season 27. He shared that he didn’t have any input as to the fate of his character, but admitted that he was on set when the service was filmed. Florek did acknowledge the backlash against what seemed like a pointless death, citing how it was described as “disrespectful.” Watch his full video below:

@welltisyourself Did Dann know Cragen was gonna die? and how did he feel? I asked him on the Tis Yourself podcast- out now! #svu #svutiktok #lawandorderspecialvictimsunit #lawandorderSVU #cragen ♬ original sound – Tis Yourself Podcast

Ahead of Law & Order: SVU season 27’s premiere, set images of Mariska Hargitay, Christopher Meloni, and Florek made the rounds online while filming the opener. Of course, at that time, nobody knew that it was for Captain Cragen’s service, so there was excitement about seeing, arguably, the three biggest pillars of Law & Order: SVU. Learning about Florek’s sentiments about the matter, it becomes more curious why exactly the show had to kill his character.

Until now, there’s still no narrative explanation as to how it impacts Benson and her team’s story in Law & Order: SVU season 27. Granted that the premiere event resulted in Finn getting attacked, which set up his ongoing personal storyline, the show could have gotten to that same narrative result without having to kill anyone, let alone a 35-year veteran of the procedural franchise. Beyond that, Captain Cragen’s guest appearances in Law & Order: Organized Crime offered Stabler much-needed guidance.

With Law & Order: SVU season 27 now in its winter hiatus, NBC has the rest of the back season to follow up on the impact of Captain Cragen’s death on the show. Benson’s current conflict with Chief Tynan is expected to be the main conflict for the character, but perhaps NBC and Wolf Entertainment are able to incorporate her mentor’s legacy to what happens to her moving forward. Maybe it might also factor in Stabler finally winning her over.