Law & Order: Special Victims Unit wrapped up its 16th season last night and while fans knew that the long-running show is coming back this fall, there was still a surprise in store.
Amaro, played by Danny Pino, was shot when he went after sex trafficker Johnny D. The detective, who joined after Stabler (Christopher Meloni) left the show, ended up surviving his injuries, but he still told Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) that he plans on retiring. He’s decided to go move out of New York to be closer to his children.
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, it’s not clear if the SVU writers plan on bringing in another detective for next season. They recently brought in Detective Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino) to fill in for Amaro when he was on a temporary assignment.
Us Weekly shared some photos of the making of the episode, with the cast and crew saying goodbye to Pino.
Pino, who was only on the show for four seasons, took to Twitter to thank the cast, crew and the show’s fans. Hargitay also posted a picture with him, adding “#FriendsForLife.”
SVU starts its 17th season this fall.
image of Ice T & Mariska Hargitay courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com