Law and order is a beloved and wildly popular franchise made up of several police procedural series that share a unique connection. After the original’s debut Law and order series in 1990, creator Dick Wolf launched the first of many spin-off series in the franchise, Law and Order: Special Victims Unitin 1999. And even if Special Victims Unit introduced many new faces into Law and order franchise, there was a major character who transitioned from Law and order has Law and Order: Special Victims Unit: Donald Cragen, played by Dann Florek.

Donald “Don” Cragen was part of the main cast of the original Law & Order series until season 3. His departure from the series was due to an NBC executive who requested more female characters on the series. Yet even though creator Dick Wolf didn’t want to fire Dann Florek from Law and orderWolf ultimately agreed to the executive’s demands. But Wolf and Florek fortunately remained in contact, which opened up the possibility of Dann Florek returning home. Law and order franchise, but this time in the new spin-off: Special Victims Unit. Dann Florek reprized his role as Captain Donald Cragen, but this time with more creative freedom to portray the character, as well as greater involvement in the series. Don Crage quickly became a major character in Special Victims Unit, a beloved captain who knew how to make the tough decisions but also when to defend his team. However, after 15 years, Captain Donald Cragen announced his retirement in Special Victims Unit Season 15.

Donald Cragen finally retired and left Olivia Benson in charge

Olivia Benson became SVU squad commander

After 15 years as Captain of the Special Victims Unit, and many years before that as Captain of Homicide for the New York Police Department, Donald Cragen announced his retirement from the NYPD in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Season 15, Episode 11, “Amaro’s One-Eighty”. Cragen says he’s going to join his girlfriend on a six-month cruise, which gives him plenty of time to get her to her mandatory retirement date. In his place, Captain Cragen leaves Olivia Benson, who has just been promoted to sergeant, in charge. Olivia Benson becomes commander of the Special Victims Unit until William Lewis escapes from prison. Lt. Declan Murphy, who first appeared as an undercover cop in the season 15 episode “Gambler’s Fallacy”, takes over as leader of the SVU team.

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Murphy appoints Olivia Benson as his second-in-command until he has to return to his undercover work, leaving Olivia as commander of the SVU squad once again. Olivia later takes the lieutenant’s exam to formalize her role as commander, and she passes it. Olivia Benson is a sweetheart Special Victims Unit character, and his approach as commander of the Special Victims Unit is very different from that of Captain Cragen. Olivia is much more involved in SVU matters, which sometimes works both in her favor and at other times against her.

Dann Florek is a law and order veteran

Florek returned for the Law & Order movie before joining SVU

Dann Florek first portrayed Donald Cragen in the original Law and orderwhere he was in charge of the 27th Precinct’s homicide unit. Cragen worked with iconic detectives from the franchise, like Mike Logan and Lennie Briscoe, before leaving Law and order at the end of season 3. In Law and order Season 5, it is revealed that Captain Donal Cragen left the homicide unit to lead the anti-corruption task force. Cragen is replaced by Lieutenant Anita Van Buren starting in season 4.

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Cragen’s reason for leaving the homicide unit is much more positive than Dann Florek’s. Law and order Creator Dick Wolf struggled to fire Florek. The two stayed in touch and Florek returned behind the scenes to direct a few episodes of the original. Law and order series. He played Donald Cragen again in the film Law & Order Exile before officially returning to the franchise in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Florek had a much bigger role and played longer playing Donald Cragen in Special Victims Unit and was even involved in the development of the character’s story. During the time between Exile And Special Victims UnitCaptain Cragen’s wife dies in a plane crash. This causes Cragen to drink and develop a habit of soliciting prostitutes, and although none of this is explicitly stated in Special Victims UnitFlorek uses this as background information to shape his character.

Donald Cragen becomes the victim of a frame-up

Captain Cragen is accused of murder in the SVU season 13 finale

Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Season 13 ends on a big cliffhanger when Captain Donald Cragen wakes up to find a dead woman next to him, an escort, Carissa Gibson. Cragen becomes prime suspect in Carissa’s death and is arrested and taken to Rikers. Olivia Benson and the rest of the team work tirelessly to prove Cragen’s innocence and ultimately uncover a plot against the captain. However, Cragen’s reputation took time to recover. Seasons 13 and 14 of Special Victims Unit see Donald Cragen be part of a few central storylines before his official departure from the series.

• Coincidentally, Captain Cragen’s final appearance as a main character is in Season 15, Episode 11 of Special Victims Unit.
• Cragen’s final appearance in the original Law and order the series is also in season 15, episode 11, but this time it’s in a crossover episode with Special Victims Unit.

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In Law & Order: SVU In season 13, before being framed for Carissa’s murder, Captain Cragen began taking an active role in many investigations. He infiltrates the episode “Russian Brides”, where SVU attempts to take down a mail-order bride killer. In season 14, after being cleared of all charges related to Carissa’s murder and other charges, he is briefly suspended. After returning, Cragen works alongside Benson and Munch on a case eerily similar to one they had worked on many years before. In Special Victims Unit Season 15, before announcing his retirement, Cragen encourages Olivia Benson to take the Sergeants’ exam.

Dann Florek returned to the Law & Order franchise several times after his departure

Captain Donald Cragen remains a beloved and memorable Law & Order character

Even though Captain Donald Cragen is gone Law and Order: Special Victims Unit In season 15, Dann Florek reprized his role as Cragen several times after his departure. Florek returns for the season 16 episode “Perverted Justice”, where Olivia Benson and Amanda Rollins work on a case that occurred when Cragen worked in the 27th Precinct. Cragen returns again in the season 23 episode “The Five Hundredth Episode” via FaceTime, where he assists Benson, Rollins and Amaro in an old case he worked on. In this episode, Cragen tells Olivia he’s proud she became captainoffering audiences a heartwarming moment between two beloved characters from the Law and order franchise.

Dann Florek also plays Donald Cragen in a few episodes of Law and order: organized crime. The most recent spin-off of Law and order The universe focuses on former SVU detective Elliot Stabler, who now works on the organized crime task force after the murder of his wife. Elliot first approaches his former captain to talk about his father in the season 2 episode “Can’t Knock The Hustle”. Cragen returns to organized crime in another season 2 episode, “Friend Or Foe”, where Elliot receives the Combat Cross from the NYPD. Florek returned to two more episodes of Law and order: organized crime in season 4, in the episodes “Original Sin” and “Sins Of Our Fathers”, released in 2024.

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It is safe to say that Dann Florek continues to be a key member of the Law and order franchise, even after ending his tenure as the lead actor in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Captain Donald Cragen is a beloved character that many fans of the franchise want to see return, especially those who have followed Cragen’s career since Law and order And Exile has Special Victims Unit. Hopefully with the original Law and order, Special Victims Unit And Organized crime still on the air, fans will be able to see more of Dann Florek’s Captain Cragen for many years to come, even if it’s brief appearances.

Law and Order: Special Victims Unit

This series follows the Special Victims Unit, a team of specially trained detectives from the New York City Police Department who investigate sex crimes.

Release date

September 20, 1999

Creator(s)

Wolf Cock

Cast

Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Richard Belzer, Dann Florek, Michelle Hurd, Stephanie March, Ice-T, BD Wong, Diane Neal, Tamara Tunie, Adam Beach, Michaela McManus, Danny Pino, Kelli Giddish, Raúl Esparza, Peter Scanavino

Main genre

Crime

Seasons

24

Creator

Production company

Writers

Wolf Cock

Number of episodes

Directors

David Platt, Jean de Segonzac, Peter Leto, Alex Chapple

Showrunner

Robert Palm, David J. Bruke, Neal Baer, ​​Warren Leight, Rick Eid, Michael S. Chernuchin, David Graziano

Develop