‘Law & Order: SVU’s 13 Biggest Character Exits, From Elliot Stabler to Amanda Rollins

The cast of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” has been in flux since its debut in 1999. The only constant is Mariska Hargitay, whose Olivia Benson is the heart and soul of the series. It seemed unthinkable when Christopher Meloni, her costar of 12 years, left in 2011 but the show continued and thrived despite his exit.

And, of course, Meloni returned to the role of Elliot Stabler 10 years later with his own spin-off, “Law & Order: Organized Crime.”

Here are some of the biggest and most dramatic departures of regular “SVU” characters over the years.

1. Elliot Stabler (2011)

The biggest exit in the show’s history was when co-lead Christopher Meloni, who’d been on the show since its 1999 debut, decided to hang up his badge as Elliot Stabler. The character left the show after the Season 12 episode “Smoked,” in which he’s forced to shoot and kill a victim’s daughter who opened fire in the squad room. (Recurring actors BD Wong and Tamara Tunie also left the series after Season 12.)

Fortunately for Benson/Stabler fans, Meloni came back as the often hot-headed cop in his own spin-off series, “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” in 2021. There have been ample crossovers with “SVU” and the original “Law & Order” since.

2. Amanda Rollins (2022)

“SVU” fans were stunned to stay goodbye to Detective Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish), who joined the series as a regular in 2011 and became one of Benson’s closest friends. The news also came as a surprise to Giddish…. Her character’s last episode as a regular saw her marrying longtime love ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino) and retiring from the force after surviving a shooting. Giddish has returned for subsequent “SVU” episodes, including crossovers with “OC.”

3. Nick Amaro (2015)

Danny Pino’s character Nick Amaro became Benson’s partner after Meloni’s 2011 departure. Stabler fans were upset when, upon his exit, Benson told him she’d learned more from partnering with him for four years than she learned from her 12 years with Stabler. However, since Stabler’s return, we see that he means much more to Benson than Amaro ever did. Pino returned to the series for a guest spot in 2021. Amaro took early retirement from the SVU squad after being shot by a suspect, and a troubled run that included assaulting fellow cop Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters).

4. John Munch (2016)

Richard Belzer played wise but conspiracy-prone detective John Munch from the very first episode in 1999. By the time of his exit in 2016, the character’s screentime had been cut down considerably, but he was an essential part of the original cast.

Belzer originated the role of the quirky cop on NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street” in 1993 and portrayed him on a surprising amount of other series, including Fox’s “The X-Files.” Munch retired in the Season 15 episode “Wonderland Story,” with the rest of the squad throwing him a farewell party.

Belzer was remembered by his former costars when he died in Feb. 2023, with Hargitay writing on Instagram, “Goodbye my dear, dear friend. I will miss you, your unique light, and your singular take on this strange world.”

5. Alexandra Cabot (2003)

Stephanie March’s character, A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot, was dramatically killed off in a drive-by shooting in a Season 5 episode. We later find out that her murder was faked so she could go into Witness Protection. The character returned in Season 5 with a job at Manhattan’s Appeals Bureau. Cabot left again in Season 11 after taking a post as prosecutor for the International Criminal Court. She reappeared in a Season 19 episode, in which her character was now retired but still helping abused women.

6. Casey Novak (2008)

Casey Novak (Diane Neal) was one of a few characters to leave the show because of inappropriate behavior: The ADA was put on three-year suspension in Season 9 after violating due process. She returned as a guest star in Season 12 and appeared frequently in Season 13, often working with ADA Cabot.

7. Rafael Barba (2018)

Barba (Raúl Esparza) joined the series in Season 14 and became a regular in Season 15. He and Benson became very close, particularly after her son Adam was kidnapped. He left the ADA position in Season 19 after being prosecuted, and acquitted, for his interference during a right-to-die case.

He returned to the series as a defense attorney who defended, of all people, Richard Wheatley (Dylan McDermott), the gangster who killed Stabler’s wife, Kathy. Being on opposing sides of that traumatic cause put a huge strain on his and Benson’s friendship.

8. Ryan O’Halloran (2009)

Forensics Technician Ryan O’Halloran had a good run on “SVU,” appearing in 53 episodes between 2002 and 2009. However, his time was up in the Season 10 episode “Zebras,” when O’Halloran was stabbed to death by unstable officer Dale Stuckey (Noel Fisher) to prevent evidence implicating him from coming to light. Mike Doyle has played so many TV characters who get killed off that the New York Times interviewed him about it after his dramatic final episode of “SVU.”

9. Peter Stone (2019)

For most of his 36 episodes, Peter Stone (the son of Michael Moriarty’s Benjamin Stone) was a by-the-book prosecutor, until he decided to frame a man who assaulted an attorney for murder. After admitting his guilt to Benson, he quit. The actor’s decision to leave did not seem to be his choice. In 2019, Philip Winchester tweeted, “Sadly for me, Peter Stone and his ‘the facts don’t care about your feelings’ attitude will not be returning [for Season 21].”

10. Christian Garland (2022)

The exit of Demore Barnes’ character, Deputy Chief Christian Garland, in the Season 23 premiere came as a surprise to the actor as well as fans. In an Instagram post at the time, he wrote, “While I know you were happy that I was here, and that I’m happy that I was here, I also know you’re sad and surprised and I am too… I don’t totally know why this happened.” Garland left the squad after clashing with his superiors on a controversial case. The character returned for one Season 24 episode.

11. Brian Cassidy (2000)

Brian Cassidy was one of the original cast members in Season 1, whose inexperience and discomfort with handling sex crimes prompted him to transfer to Narcotics after only a year. In real life, actor Dean Winters was still filming “Oz” for HBO and had to drop out of “SVU” due to contractual obligations.

His character returned in Season 13 and, in Season 14, resumed his relationship with Benson. They lived together for a while but eventually broke up. We found out in later episodes that the reason Cassidy had so much trouble as an SVU officer was because he was a sex abuse survivor himself. He last appeared in a Season 20 episode.

12. Donald Cragen (2013)

Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) had been with the squad since the first episode, but the character was written off the series when he reached retirement age. During his final season, he became a murder suspect after waking up next to a murdered escort. It was later proven to be a setup and he returned to duty after a brief suspension.

13. Chester Lake (2008)

“Windtalkers” actor Adam Beach was written off the show when producers felt there were too many detectives drawing focus from the main characters. Chester Lake appeared in 21 episodes from 2007 to 2008, and left the show in disgrace after joining a vigilante group that tracked down suspects in cold cases. He was cleared after killing one criminal cop in self defense, but not for the second rogue cop he shot.

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