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‘Law & Order: SVU’: Fans Believe This Character’s Death Is One of the Show’s Worst Decisions

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is known for having several notable recurring characters outside of the main detectives and lawyers. For one character in particular, fans are still taking the show to task for this death and how it was handled.
by Trey Mangum
Published on
2 min read

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is known for having several notable recurring characters outside of the main detectives and lawyers. For one character in particular, fans are still taking the show to task for this death and how it was handled.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Seas
(L-R) Stephanie March as A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot, Ice-T as Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola, Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler, Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson, Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen, Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch in ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’ Season 3 | Craig Blankenhorn/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

Sister Peg on ‘Law & Order: SVU’

Sister Peg was a longtime recurring character on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by actress Charlayne Woodard. She appeared in several episodes of the show from the third season to the twelfth season.

The character is a nun that frequently took in prostitutes and victims of sexual assault. Because of this, she frequently worked with detectives with the Manhattan Special Victims Unit like Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni).

In the season 12 finale of the show, Sister Peg is killed when the daughter of a deceased victim carries out a shooting attack on the police station. The episode is notable because it is the last one to-date for Meloni, as Stabler feels that he could have done something about the shooting.

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Fans wish that she was not killed off

Many of the shows viewers do not think that Sister Peg should have died on the show and that the way she was written off the show was not a good decision.

In a thread on Reddit that questions if Stabler should have died instead of Sister Peg, a user wrote, “I’m upset about losing sister Peg. I liked Stabler more, but I didn’t like the rash of SVU getting rid of recurring characters who made for good episodes.”

For some fans, even if Sister Peg was slated to be killed off, she could have gotten a better send-off than the police station shootout. “Sister Peg should have been given a dedicated episode if they wanted to axe [sic] her character. It actually could have been a way for Stabler to leave. Benson and Stabler investigate her murder and catch the culprit but Stabler decides he’s had enough. Obviously, I would’ve preferred they never got rid of her,” wrote one fan.

In a separate thread about the character, another person said, “I loved this character. And the actress really fleshed out the character. They shouldn’t have killed her off. That particular episode was heartbreaking enough.”

The current season Law & Order: SVU airs Thursdays on NBC.

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